The Film Daily (1919)

Sunday, July 6, 1919 ajjff^ DAILY 19 Not Enough Action in Story That Doesn't Get Below the Surface Dorothy Dalton in "Other Men's Wives" Paramount DIRECTOR Victor L. Schertzinger SUPERVISED BY Thomas H. Ince AUTHOR C. Gardner Sullivan CAMERAMAN John Stumar AS A WHOLE Strives for emotional drama, but doesn't often get below the surface of life; action frequently drags. STORY Better suited to printed fiction than to the screen; situations on which much of the story is based are difficult to adapt to picture terms. DIRECTION Shows a tendency to keep charac= ters too far in the background. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally good LIGHTINGS High lights do not always strike scenes from advantageous angles. CAMERA WORK Composition indicates more regard for pictorial effects than dramatic values. STAR Is handicapped by a role permitting few variations in mood. SUPPORT Forrest Stanley and H. E. Herbert are hero and willun respectively; most of the characters merely conventional screen figures. EXTERIORS Pleasing INTERIORS The right thing for a millionaire crowd. DETAIL Nothing notable CHARACTER OF STORY Points the folly of grafting on a lot of rich friends. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 4,698 feet «/\THER MEN'S WIVES" is an interesting title giv^ ing promise of a driima with a pertinent bearing on troubled marital relationships. The theme is not particularly pleasant. Init it stands a chance of beingmade siguilicant and human. Expert craftsman that he is, C. Gardner Sullivan missed out in the preparation of this story for the screen, in that the central flgiu-e is not likely to be received as a really sympathetic person ; moreover the plot does hot lend itself to five reels of screen action. Some of the big scenes have conflict, but it is essentially the conflict of verbal argument, which gets over best in printed form or on the stage. An expression of emotion is not lacking in the performance of Dorothy Dalton, but the situations do not permit of much variety of mood. Considering that the entire story hinges upon the vicissitudes of the distressed shero, it is important that an audience should see her troubles as she sees them, yet this is a bit diflicult to do in view of the conditions. Many women, for example, may not respond to the sorrows of a girl who flits from country home to country home, the guest of millionaires, buys costly gowns, and then worries about paying the bills. This is Avliat Dorothy does, and you are asked to believe that because she is an orphan and poor and a memlier of the smart set there is no other course open. The bid for sympathy isn't any too well founded. At all events, when the social grafter is tempted, not by love, but by a large sum of money, she falls, after a bitter struggle to keep clear of the trap laid by H. E. Herbert, wlio has fallen in love with Forrest Stanley's wife, played by Dell Boone. Scenes presented at considerable length concern the discussion between Dorothy and Herbei't relative to his proposition that she shall win the love of Stanley thereby giving the wife grounds for divorce. The essential part of the action transpires at a mountain lodge where Dorothy, having accepted a $10,000 retainer, half-heartedly proceeds to fulfill her part of the bargain. But she honestly comes to love her intended victim, wlio never questions the sincerity of their growing friendship. She tries to break the agreement but can't, and then there is a chance happening suppl,ying material for a divorce action, although. St) far as the audience sees, the incident would not hold in court. After this lesson, Dorothy drops her old life, gets a job as secretary and having established herself as a self-supporting person is ready to become the wife of the man she had been hired to vamp. A point in direction open to criticism is the keeping of the characters far back in the set during dramatic passages when sub-titles indicate discussions of a decidedly personal nature. These would be more intimate if the players were in the foreground where facial expressions might be registered. Title Is Good and Name of Star Will Help Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor Standing strictly on its merits, as pictures will have to in a not very distant day. "Other Men's Wives" would have some trouble in meeting competition. Small technical shortcomings don't matter much with the average audience if a story carries a real heartthrob, which, in this instance, seems to be lacking. The title is good and you may use it to attract attention, doing what you can to carry out the suggestion that you have a dramatic story concerning marital problems. Another angle to strike in making a bid for the patronage of women may concern the old "fine clothes and happiness" idea. Ask, for instance: "Have you discovered the secret of happiness? Do you think it lies in having fine clothes and millionaire friends? Dorothy Dalton finds that it doesn't in "Other Men's Wives'." Probabl.v the most successful play can be made for the patronage of women. The title suggests a woman's story, and the society atmosphere will help to put the picture over with a crowd that likes films dealing with the millionaire set. Dorothy Dalton should be a reasonably sti'ong drawing card in most neighborhoods. Others in the cast may not mean much to the average fan. but it would do no harm to use the names of Forrest Stanley and H. E. Herbert.