S.A. was formed!"
As one critic has remarked, "Screen credit for the author may not
bring him the credit for which he is looking." In other words, if the
director bungles a scene or allows some historical or other inaccuracy
to creep into the picture, the blame may be placed by the unthinking
spectator on the author--or even, in case of the picture's being an
adaptation of a novel, on the writer who prepared the continuity, or
scenario. Thus, while what Mr. Hoagland wrote was written in 1912, the
Red Cross flag was seen waving bravely in Paralta's "Madame Who?",
produced in 1918, and we feel sure that neither Mr. Harold MacGrath,
who wrote the novel, nor Mr. Monte M. Katterjohn, the staff-writer
who wrote the scenario, was responsible for the error.
So it will be seen that the photoplaywright may easily find himself
under the fire not only of the professional critic, but also of the
lay patron and of his brother writers. Do not, therefore, risk
anything that may, so to speak, make it easier for the director to "go
wrong." To quote Davy Crockett's motto, "Be sure you're right; then go
ahead."
As an example of what may happen if you fail to observe this warning,
consider the Vitagraph release, "A Wasted Sacrifice," referred to in
the previous chapter.
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