The script, which is an adaptation—­the short-story of a famous author, “O.  Henry,” translated into screen technique—­is in the form in which it was accepted for production.  An adaptation rather than the script of an original idea is chosen for two reasons:  the story from which it was made is accessible in every library, and the translation into production-form offers certain problems which make it a more effective lesson in idea-building.

Pretend that you are a staff writer, and that you are to “do” a certain story by “O.  Henry.”  Get from your library the book of short-stories by the famous author which contains “Brickdust Row”—­the volume is entitled “The Trimmed Lamp.”  Read the story—­read it until you are thoroughly familiar with its every word.  Read it analytically.  You are to make an adaptation of it.  What must that adaptation have for its fundamental purpose?—­the preservation of “O.  Henry’s” charm of atmosphere; the utilization of his cleverness with words, wherever possible in leaders; the emphasizing of his purpose in writing the story.  What was that purpose?  Was it not to show how a man’s code of ethics, mistakenly clung to, resulted in his misjudging a perfectly innocent girl, with resultant tragedy?  And, contributory to this, was it not the aim of the original author to emphasize and excuse the conduct of the girl—­conduct arising naturally from her environment and station in life?

These things must be conveyed, then, through the medium of characterization, with the help of little human touches.  The girl must be shown as sweet, clean, without a wrong thought; the man must be clearly depicted, his reason for being so seemingly churlish and careless of the duties imposed upon him by his ownership of many tenements must be handled in such a way that he will not be an unsympathetic character.

Then we are confronted with certain studio conditions.  The story must be made of feature length—­five or more reels.  Again, tragedy is not welcome on the screen.  Arguments might be offered to show that the original story will lose strength through the addition of the “happy ending.”  We cannot help that—­in fact, we must surmount that obstacle.  We must make the story equally strong and try, if we can, to add to its lesson.  We cannot air our ideals, and write just as we wish; we must conform to the set rules of our particular studio, as well as to the general rules covering screencraft.

The change of title is governed by so many factors that it need only be said that the alternative title was given as possessing a greater advertising and drawing power.[36]

[Footnote 36:  In Mr. Van Buren Powell’s new book, The Photoplay Synopsis, published uniform with this volume in “The Writer’s Library,” he explains why this title was changed.]

Now we have dissected “O.  Henry’s” original story.  We have decided what we must do with it.  Comes the director for consultation.  He feels that the story is not long enough.  It need not be padded, but an additional character might be introduced to bring out and emphasize the true character of our leading woman, and at the same time the required dramatic element and the contrasting of his character with that of the leading man may be achieved by his presence.