Motion Picture News (Oct 1915)

96 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 12. No. 15. ■ fejiiiiiiiiiiiiiilii niiiiiimiiiin TABLOID REVIEWS FOR THE BUSY EXHIBITOR PRODUCTIONS FROM ALL PROGRAMS ■■■ Hi I ■■■I — mi — — — in mi iiiiiE^ ■■■■■ ASSOCIATED SERVICE The following pictures are released the week of October 1 1 : “A Movie Nut.” (Banner. Two reels). — -As good an imitation of Charlie Chaplin as imitations of the great can be. There is a great lot of rough house in the two reels, which is not as laughable as the sincerely attempted imitation. ✓ “Joe’s Devotion.” (Navajo). — At the outset this looks like an unusually fine picture, and while it fully entertains in many respects, its ending arrives without intensity. The acting is commendable, the story is average, but the direction could have been better. The photography is good in most of the scenes except the distant views in which the backgrounds are a glaring white. Lee Hill as Joe, the faithful friend of his mining partner’s wife gives the best performance. “The Blind Music Master.” (Santa Barbara. Two reels). — A melodramatic number, interesting until the closing scenes are reached where the development is rather poor. The man who carries the title role does well and the actress is interpreted by an accomplished lady. The maid of the boarding house loves one of its inmates, a blind man. He loves an unworthy actress. Regaining his sight (by a fall), he discovers which is the better of the two women. “Too Much Elixir of Life.” (Alhambra). — An excellent comedy made out of aged material. It was written by Anthony Coldeway and produced by Bruce Mitchell. The man who plays the fool rises well to the demands of his part. Withal it is very good — better than the average. “Montana Blount.” (Ramona. Two reels). — This contains a story that virtually should have been done in one reel. It is quite full of padding at times, being rather inconsistent ; for instance, a man relates action that he never witnessed. The story is a Western and possesses several original situations that almost counterbalance the above mentioned faults. The cast is typical of the parts played and does good work throughout. “The Highest Bidder.” (Empire. Two reels). — Ultra-melodrama, with a rural setting, producing several thrills despite the unconvincing action. The villain is foiled in his attempt to force the heroine into abject poverty, by the good old townsfolk, once her beneficiaries. The photography in this gives the appearance of being blurred. “Meshes of Fate.” (Federal). — This contains fine photgraphy and good scenes. The picture gives the appearance of having been cut down from a longer subject, and the consequences can be imagined. The picture is extremely rapid in development, more ground being covered between scenes than in them. It is a melodramatic romance, containing fragments of a good story. “Nolan’s Wooing.” (Liberty). — An enjoyable rural comedy with Josephine West shedding her glory ever the cast. GENERAL FILM PROGRAM “Pippa Passes.” (Biograph. Fri., Oct. 15). — This is a reissue, directed by D. W. Griffith, and founded on Browning’s poem. Gertrude Robinson, as Pippa, takes her guitar and wandershe forth, her song uniting broken homes and healing sorrow and curing crime wherever she goes. Other characters are portrayed by George Nichols, James Kirkwood, Mack Sennett, Billy Quirk, Arthur Johnson, Marion Leonard and Owen Moore. ‘‘Jealousy’s Fools.” (Biograph. Mon., Oct. 11). — Two partners, alone in a secluded cabin, answer a matrimonial advertisement, and receive a photo, with which both fall in love. A request for $100 for travelling expenses is complied with, and while awaiting the girl’s arrival, jealousy starts a quarrel and one of them is shot. Instead of the girl, the train brings a letter with a receipt for $100 from “A Fool There Was.” Augusta Anderson, Charles Perley and Robert Nolan compose the cast. “Blow for Blow.” (Biograph. Two Reels. Tues., Oct. 12). — A clerk, repulsed by his employer’s daughter, vows vengeance on the man she finally marries. He annoys her in her husband’s absence, and forces her to leap to death off a cliff. The husband marries again, and pursuing his scheme of revenge, the clerk induces the dead woman’s twin sister to pose as the wife who was supposed to have been dead. A butler, who witnessed the suicide, comes forward and clears up the situation. In the cast are W. J. Butler, Mary Malatesta, Ivan Christy, Joseph McDermott, Charles Bennett, Gus Pixley and Frank Bates. The production was made by Wray Physioc. ‘‘The Dawn of Courage.” (Biograph. Thurs., Oct. 14). Sands is released from his engagement after a display of physical cowardice in his sweetheart’s presence. Some time later he is told that he has contracted leprosy. Knowing himself to be incurable, he risks his life to protect the girl, and then learns that the supposed leprosy is a mark on the arm caused by a chemical. Isabel Rea, Hector V. Sarno and Curtis Cooksey compose the cast. “The Inevitable.” (Biograph. Sat., Oct. 16). — A frivolous wife abandons her husband and child and flees with an artist, who later tires of her, and flings her aside. Thought of the child prevents her from committing suicide, and impels her to live honestly. She is drawn toward the child, and, worn out with the struggle, reaches her cousin’s home, where the child is. The little one runs for her father, and brings the two together just before the wife dies. Claire McDowell, Alan Hale, Vola Smith and Ilean Hume are in the cast. The picture was directed by Walter Coyle. “The Breezy Widow’s Suit.” (Edison. Wed., Oct. 13.) — A comedy of the seashore. Sally Crute, as the charming widow, is pursued by a crowd of men of varying types. She leads them a merry pace, including dips in the ocean, and excursions around the summer hotel. Most devoted and most unfortunate of the admirers is Albertus, who is compelled to plunge into the surf in his street clothes to rescue the widow. On the day she leaves the hotel she discovers that she is really the widow of Albertus’ late father, and as “Mother” Albertus has the privilege of a parting salute. “Gladiola.” (Edison. Four Reels. Fri., Oct. 15). — Reviewed at length elsewhere in this issue. “The Little Saleslady.” (Edison. Sat., Oct. 16.) — A really delightful story of a shop girl, whose winsome ways bring her the regard of her associates, and her young employer, who several times protects her from flirts, a grasping landlady, and other annoyances, ending by telling her is raising the salaries of many of the girls — “but I can’t raise yours; 1 want you to share mine.” Leonie Flugrath is charming as the shop girl. “Tides That Meet.” (Essanay. Three reels. Mon., Oct. 4.) — Bryant Washburn, Ann Kirk, Edmund F. Cobb, John H. Cossar and Jack Meredith make the most of this rather ordinary plot. The locale is Mexico, and the story concerns a Red Cross nurse ; her brother, who, in order to save his sister from outlaws, shoots an American at the behest of the king of the outlaws, and the subsequent meeting of the nurse and the wounded American. All end.s happily, with only a modicum of tragedy. “The Old Sin.” (Essanay. Three reels. Tues., Oct. 5.) — A melodramatic story that could have been told in two reels. A young lawyer marries a chorus girl without inquiring into her past. Five years later, after he is district attorney, the inevitable villain turns up in the person of a wealthy traction magnate, whom the district attorney is about to prosecute. The attorney, finding that the magnate is the man in his wife’s past, shoots him, but the bullet hits a watch in the villain’s pocket. The wife at the same time is saved from suicide by her maid. The magnate relents, and husband and wife are reunited. June Keith, John Lorenz, Hugh E. Thompson and John II. Cossar are the principals. “The Girl and the Mail Bag.” (Selig. Tues., Oct. 5.)— This Western melodrama, produced by Tom Mix from a story by Cornelius Shea, is capably acted by Tom Mix, Victoria Forde, Leo Maloney, Sid Jordan and others. The postmaster’s daughter, discovering a plot by a gambler and his pal to rob the stage coach of the mail bag, takes a short cut that involves some furious riding, gets the bag when one of the outlaws pushes it off .the stage seat, and afterwards brings the. villains to justice. “Bronco Billy, Sheepman.” (Essanay. Fri., Oct. 8.) — Not shown for review; the story follows: Bronco Billy, the Sheepman (G. M. Anderson), goes to the village store and purchases an engagement ring for his sweetheart, the school teacher (Marguerite Clayton). On his way home he is fired upon by the cattle king and his gang. This hostility is due to his being a sheepman. Broncho Billy wounds the leader, but is wounded himself. He goes to the schoolhouse, where he is protected by his sweetheart until help arrives. In the meantime the wounded cattle king has been picked up unconscious by Billy’s parents. When he discovers who has saved him he rushes to the schoolhouse, where he begs Billy’s forgiveness. The support is given by Eva Heazlett, Robert McKenzie and Lee Willard. “The Village Homestead.” (Essanay. Three reels. Mon., Oct. 11.) — -Canby, a secret service agent, buys a homestead in -a village where he suspects moonshiners are at work. There he falls in love with an untutored mountain girl, Sallie Samson. The leader of the moonshiners is also in love with her, and she is uncertain as to which one she loves better. After trying several schemes to drive Canby from the village the leader grows desperate, and plots to kill the intruder. Sallie overhears this scheme, and hurries to warn her lover. After a desperate battle with the moonshiners, in which he is wounded, Canby finally captures the illicit liquor men, and find* that he has also captured the girl’s heart. The part of Canby is taken by Darwin Karr. His support consists of Betty Brown, Joseph B. Totten and Howard Lang. “The Great Deceit.” (Essanay. Two reels. Tues., Oct. 12.) — John Allen, after two years of AA I Kl A SEND THE AUDIENCE AWAY /▼V*V\ with a smile / COMEDIESX RELEASED EVERY THURSDAY ON THE GENERAL FILM PROGRAM Table of contents will hereafter be found every week opposite inside back cover.