ABSTRACT
Stylistic or affected acting has another great drawback—like any fad of the moment it doesn't age well. In clothes, an extreme style from any particular period becomes a laughing matter or an object of curiosity. The same is true for stylistic acting. The film actress spoke clean-cut, Midwestern American, a manner of speech with few affectations. The scenes in which they appear are colored by their acting styles; those of one seem cleverly contrived, while those of the other carry the feeling of reality. When acting is founded on the basic ethical and moral attitudes of humankind, they remain dramatically effective through generations of time. Most artists would like to believe that, contrary to Marc Antony's pronouncement, the good that they do will live after them. For all artists that means presenting, whether in painting, in literature, or in films, the essence of human thought and behavior.
