Motion Picture News (Apr-Jul 1915)

76 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 11. No. 22. 1I11IIIIIIII|||I|IIIII1MIIIII|I||| HI uiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiii Br'BBi:.; Vi'S"!Ti INTERESTING FILM REVIEWS PRODUCTIONS FROM ALL PROGRAMS GENERAL FILM PROGRAM "The Buckskin Shirt." (Biograph. Mon., May 31.) — A Western prospector and a little boy in the East figure in this effective story. The prospector fights off a band of outlaws to save a buckskin shirt which he has made for the small boy back in the East. Irving Christy is seen as Whistling Sandy, the hero. "The Maid o' the Mountains." (Biograph. Two reels. Tues., June 1.) — The regulation moonshiner and revenue officer story, with a mountain girl far superior to her class as the heroine. A variation is provided in the disappearance of the girl after she becomes the wife of the wealthy Northerner, and their subsequent chance meeting. Louise Vale and Franklin Ritchie are the principals. Others in the cast are Edward Cecil, Kenneth Davenport, Jack Drumeir and Charles Bennett. met Violet, a half portion, aged eighteen. She did not know who was President, but she was a cutey to look at. She landed him without a struggle, and now he is a proud father. ■ "The Heart of an Actress." (Biograph. Thurs., June 3.) — In order to bring an estranged rural couple together an actress on a vacation flirts with the man, and then laughs at him. In his disillusionment he returns to his former sweetheart. Of course the actress really loved the man herself, but made the sacrifice for the other woman, who had sayed her life. The cast includes Frank Newburg, Madge Kirby and Isabel Rea. "Her Dormant Love." (Biograph. Fri., June 4.) — A strong Western story of a young wife who falls in love with her husband, and having done so takes a desperate chance in order to save him from danger at the hands of an outlaw. The cast consists of Charles West, Claire McDowell and Harry Carey. "For Her Friend." (Biograph. Sat., June 5.) — A matchmaking woman is a bit careless about her methods and unconsciously leads her husband to suspect that she is too much interested in another man. He finds out his mistake in a way which makes him appear more than ridiculous. The cast consists of Charles Perley, Augusta Anderson, Violet Reed and Robert Nolan. "The Dumb Wooing." (Edison. Sat., May 29.) — Two stuttering suitors seek the hand of a fair lady. Each finds his agitation is so great when he starts to propose that he decides to try a proposal by sign language. The girl thinks the two men have gone crazy. They nearly do when they have to stand by and see a third person win the prize for which they have been striving. Maxine Browne and Raymond McKee are in the cast. "Cartoons in the Barber Shop." (Edison. Wed., June 2.) — Short pieces of comedy scenes in a barber shop serve to connect the sections of very excellent animated cartoons which make up the greater portion of the film. Dr. Bear nails down a leopard's spots when the animal calls for treatment. Another very good section is called "One Hundred Years of Fashion Slavery." Raoul Barre is the artist. "A Chip of the Old Block." (Edison. Sat., June 5.) — A melodrama of a scheming mother "who plans a marriage of brilliance for her daughter. The polished suitor selected by the mother turns out to be a thief. Augustus Phillips and Marguerite Prussing are the principals. "The Longer Voyage." (Essanay. Mon., May 31.) — An ambitious man goes on a yachting trip with a millionaire broker. He learns that his wife, of whom he has lately become indifferent, is the only woman that the millionaire had ever loved. He returns home with a new appreciation for her, but in his absence she has undergone a serious operation which proves fatal. "The Coward." (Essanay. Three acts. Tues.. June 1.) — Reviewed at length in another part of this issue. "The Fable of the Intermittent Fusser." (Essanay. Wed., June 2.) — Through high school and college Walter was an inveterate fusser, but when his father set him to work he was so filled with business that he had no time for the fluffy gender. At forty he was known as a good business man but all the fair sex had passed him up. Then he "Sophy and the Faker." (Essanay. Thurs., June 3.) — A Snakeville comedy showing how a magic electric belt enabled Sophy's husband to beat up two men who had been making love to Sophy. Harry Todd, Victor Potel, Ben Turpin and Margaret Joslin appear in the cast. "The Clutch of Circumstance." (Essanay. Two acts. Sat., June 5.) — This picture contains some beautiful Tennessee mountain scenery, and is acted by a good cast, including E. H. Calvert, Lillian Drew, Betty Scott and Jack Meredith. It shows how a mountain girl thwarts the plot laid by her former sweetheart, an unscrupulous lawyer at the State capital, to get his rival, the son of the governor, out of the way. The action is exciting, and it is filled with many tense situations. "A Railroader's Bravery." (Kalem. Sat., May 29.) — Helen frustrates a gang of wiretappers in this exciting chapter in the "Hazards of Helen" series. She uncouples the engine from a freight train and pursues the gang after she has discovered their plan of action at considerable risk. The gang members flee on a gasoline speeder, but Helen gets them just the same. Incidentally she reforms Henry, the former relief_ operator, who fell into bad company when he joined the gang. As usual the daring of Miss Holmes is the chief attraction. There are thrills aplenty and an interesting story. "Ham in the Nut Factory." (Kalem. June 1.) — One of the best of the always good "Ham" and "Bud" comedies. The two comedians become keepers in an insane asylum. After many trying encounters with the patients they are pursued by one of the fiercest. Exhausted they fall to the ground, expecting to be killed. But the patient catches up to them, taps them both play; fully on the shoulders and says, "Tag, you're it." "The Secret Well." (Kalem. Two reels. June 2.) — Marin Sais and an all-star cast are seen in this thrilling drama. Miss Sais plays Netty, a special investigator in pursuit of a moonshine gang The most thrilling scenes come when Netty is suspended by a rope from a high window and the members of the gang threaten to cut the rope if the police try to arrest them. Lesan, one of the policemen, saves Netty's life by a,, daring trick. The police, freed from the fear of endangering Netty, capture the moonshiners after a terrific battle. Arthur Shirley plays Lesan. Frank Jonasson, W. H. West and Thomas Lingham are also in the cast. "The Bell of Penance." (Kalem. Fri., June 4.) — A Carlyle Blackwoll, Alice Joyce re-issue, in which there is some good horseback riding by Blackwell in the role of the American lover. Alice Joyce in her impersonation of the Spanish senorita has a great chance to show her natural aptitude for the languid, and leaves nothing to the imagination. The interior settings are very good, especially that of the sentencing of the American to "do penance that all may know." A good story and good acting throughout. "The Human Chain." (Kalem. Sat., June 5.) ■ — This latest of the "Hazards of Helen" is surely above the average release in that it is replete with thrilling situations. Helen in the role of the station agent does some great diving and swimming stunts, to say nothing of mounting a moving train, and, climbing down from a railroad bridge over the hanging forms of two other men swinging from the bridge, a veritable human chain. There is an exciting race between a launch and train, all because of a registered package that was in Helen's charge, being secured by three crooks and finally re-captured by Helen. The photography is excellent. "The New Butler." (Lubin. One reel. Sat., June 5.) — Here Billy Reeves is giving us an entirely new departure from his preceding impersonations, and it is also the first release in which he is supported by a large company who add to the general hilarity. From the time Bill is engaged as butler until he has to give up his job, willy nilly, there isn't a peaceful moment in this picture. When Bill finds the master flirting with the maid,_ the situation is in his hands, and he carries^ it through all sorts of comical adventures, ending at last in an unwilling descent through the dining room ceiling, right on to the table where a dinner party is in progress. An indignation meeting results and Bill is hustled off the premises, and forced to hunt a new job. The company comprises Mae Hotely, Chas. Griffith, Amy Forrest, Johnny Doyle, Patsv De Forest, Billy Potter. "The Decoy." (Lubin. One reel. Fri., June 4.) — The familiar tale of a "tenderfoot" being almost taken in by two Western sharpers and saved at the critical moment by the inevitable girl. In this case the daughter of the chief sharper is Robert Snith. Flo has been used as a decoy by her father, but falling in love with Bert Sheldon warns him and helps him escape, in spite of his Eastern sweetheart. In the end she reforms her father, a compensation in some measure for her hopeless love. "His Pipe Dream." (Lubin. Split reel. Tues., Tune 1.) — One of the popular cartoons all audiences are now clamoring for. Rastus, after carefully filling his pipe and settling down to a good smoke, has a wonderful vision of himself as rich, as a successful prize fighter, as a hero aiding a maiden in distress ; finally, after running all over the universe, he finds himself her accepted suitor. Alas ! 'tis only a dream. "The Actor's Boarding House." (Lubin. Split reel, with "His Pipe Dream." Tues., June 1.) — Slapstick from start to finish with no plot, but only Pat Rooney's acrobatic stunts as excuse for its being, this comedy shows nothing new. The pranks of Rooney and his pal with the dancer, tragedian, trombone player, landlady and other types, will doubtless amuse those who like this class of diversion. "The Blood Yoke." (Selig. Two reels. Mon., May 31.) — A drama produced by E. J. Le Saint from a story by Catherine Henry. It tells of the love of a man for a girl who, unknown to anyone but her guardian, has negro blood in her veins. When the girl and the man are told of this, the latter first turns from her. His love conquers race prejudice, but the girl will not consent to the marriage. "Polishing Up Polly." (Selig. Tues., June 1.) — A comedy by Maibelle Heikes Justice in which Polly after inheriting a fortune goes to the city to live with some supposedly rich relatives. Her country lover arrives upon the scene and elopes wtih her just as she is about to be married to the snobbish son of the family to save them from financial ruin. "Red Wins." (Selig. Wed., June 2.) — An in teresting and touching drama showing how a little girl of the slums supports her two baby brothers, and rising above her sordid surroundings marries a rich man. Well acted by Elsie Greeson and the children in the juvenile roles. "Beautiful Belinda." (Selig. Sat., June 5.) — June settings, savages and wild animals make this an unusual and interesting comedy, t:.ough the humor is at time rather silly. It deals with a bug chaser's infatuation of a girl from her photograph. He thinks she has been kidnapped by savages, and after a perilous chase is much disappointed to find he has rescued an insignifican dog instead of the girl he loves. "Mrs. Jarr's Auction Bridge." (Vitagraph. Mon., May 31.) — The ninth of the Jarr family series by Roy McCardell. Mrs. Jarr gives what she thinks will be an exclusive affair at Hay Corners, but Uncle Henry and a_ potent punch order otherwise. A good picture in an excellent series. Harry Davenoort and Rose Tapley are as usual seen as the Jarrs. MUTUAL PROGRAM "Miss Fatty's Seaside Lovers." (Keystone. Sat., May 15.) — Roscoe Arbuckle dons the regalia of an heiress and succeeds in causing great commotion in a seaside hotel. Mr. Arbuckle also directed this, which is uproariously funny from start to finish as the Strand audience well testified.