l exists, but no more than it does with
ordinary scenery. Its solution lies in diffusing the light. No spotlight
could be used, and its enforced absence would be one of the incidental
blessings of the moving scene.

The advantages of this moving-picture scenery would be many and obvious.
Prominent among them of course are fidelity to nature and richness of
detail. The one, however, on which I desire to lay stress here is the
flexibility in change of scene that we have lost with the introduction of
heavy material "scenery" on our stages. This flexibility would be regained
without the necessity of discarding scenery altogether and going back to
the Elizabethan reliance on the imagination of the audience.

Of course, moving scenery would not be required or desired in all dramatic
productions--only in those where realistic detail combined with perfect
flexibility and rapidity of change in scene seems to be indicated. The
scenery should of course be colored, and while we are waiting for the
commercial tri-chroic picture with absolutely true values, we may get
along very well with the di-chroic ones, such as those turned out with the
so-called Kinemacolor process. Those who saw the wonderful screen
reproduction of the Indian durbar, several years ago, will realize the
possibilities.

And more than all else, may we not hope that these new backgrounds may
react on the players who perform their parts in front of them? Not
necessarily; for we have seen that it does not always do so in the present
movie play. But I am confident that the change will come. Little by little
the necessities of the case are developing actors who act naturally. One
may pose in a canoe on a painted rapid; but how can he do so in the real
water course, where every attitude, every play of the muscles must be
adapted to the real propulsion of the boat?

In short, the movie may ultimately require its presenters to be real, and
so may come a school of realism in acting that may have its uses on the
legitimate stage also.

Who will be the first manager to experiment with this new adjunct to the
art of the stage?

A WORD TO BELIEVERS[17]

[17] Address at the closing session of the Church School of
Religious Instruction, St. Louis.

People may be divided into a great many different classes according to
their attitude toward belief and beliefs--toward the meaning and value of
belief in general--toward their own beliefs and those of t