Motography (Jul 1918)

74 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XX, No. 2. Big De Mille Special Ready for Release "We Can't Have Everything," Out July 8, Presents All-Star Cast in Rupert Hughes' Satire on Divorce CECIL B. DeMILLE'S big special production, "We Can't Have Everything," is scheduled for release under the Artcraft trademark July 8. Featuring an all-star cast which for general excellence has seldom been equalled, this picturi.r zation of Rupert Hughes' brilliant satire on divorce is said to be a worthy successor to Mr. DeMille's former Artcraft specials, "The Whispering Chorus" and "Old Wives for New." Practically all of Rupert Hughes' stories are studies of contemporaneous life and his keen knowledge of men and affairs, which is said to be manifested to the highest degree in "We Can't Have Everything," has made them as authoritative and instructive as they are entertaining. In dealing with the subjects of marriage and divorce the author in this story looks upon the foibles of modern society with the eye of a cynic. The marital difficulties of Charity Coe Cheever, a former nurse, and Jim Dyckman, multimillionaire and member of one of New York's most exclusive families, furnish the theme. Dyckman, who has always loved Charity and considers himself immune from the wiles of any other woman, is tricked into a marriage with Kedzie Thropp, a motion picture actress whom he has rescued from a picture villain who was pursuing her along a busy street just ahead of a camera. Charity is eventually relieved from her unhappy connubial relation through the avenue of divorce, which also points the way to Dyckman for release from the tie that binds him. There are countless opportunities for brilliant satire and Mr. DeMille is said to have seized them with all the rare artistry for which he is noted. In the entire cast there is hardly a person who would not be entitled to stellar honors in a production less pretentious, for in addition to the featured players, Kathlyn Williams, Elliott Dexter, Wanda Hawley, Theodore Roberts and Sylvia Breamer, there are Thurston Hall, Raymond Hatton, Tully Marshall, James Neil, Ernest Joy, Billy Elmer, Charles Ogle and Sylvia Ashton. The same date, July 8, marks the release of "Shark Monroe," in which William S. Hart is presented by Thomas H. Ince. In this production Hart forsakes the western type of role, which has come to be inseparably associated with him in the minds of picture fans, and is seen as a "sea dog," the skipper of a sealing schooner who is widely known for his cruelty. In a Seattle saloon he meets Marjorie Hilton, a girl from the east, and her dissipated brother, whose journey to Alaska has been halted by lack of money as a result of the brother's drunken extravagance. The two agree to work their passage on Shark's boat to Skagway and on the way the girl succeeds in softening the heart and inspiring the love of the primitive shipmaster. When Marjorie and her brother fall into the hands of "Big" Baxter, a disreputable trafficker in women, Monroe, by an artifice, assumes the place of Baxter in a marriage ceremony and saves her from the designing monster. Shark's devotion and sacrifice finally touch the heart of Marjorie and she goes to him, avowing her love. The story is from the pen of C. Gardner Sullivan. Katherine MacDonald plays the part of the girl and Joe Singleton, Bertholde Sprotte and George McDaniel are conspicuous in the supporting cast. Mr. Hart himself directed the picture under Mr. Ince's supervision. Pays Big Price for One-Reeler Jewel has just acquired world' rights to Windsor McCay's pen picture, "The Sinking of the Lusitania," for what is said to be the highest price ever paid for a single reel subject. This announcement is notable for two reasons — because "The Sinking of the Lusitania" is the first serious animated cartoon and because Jewel considers that it possesses sufficient feature quality to merit being listed with "The Kaiser" and "The Man Without a Country," other Jewel releases of a patriotic nature. Mr. McCay is authority for the statement that to complete this thousand-foot film 25,000 separate drawings had to be made and photographed one at a time. The draughting was done by a staff of six men and required eight solid months of labor. The work was particularly arduous because Mr. McCay departed from the accepted method of drawing upon paper and had every one of the 25,000 separate pictures drawn upon celluloid sheets. The release date for the feature has not yet been set. Madge Kennedy in a scene from her new Goldwyn picture, "The Service Star. New Barriscale Play Dramatic "A Wife's Conscience" will probably be the title of Bessie Barriscale's latest Paralta production, now being filmed at the Brunton studios in Los Angeles. The plot centers about the woman's little daughter, a girl whose dark hair is a matter of surprise and comment with her blonde father and mother, and among their friends. The perfect faith of the husband and the love of his wife for him make the ensuing distrust and the entrance of another man upon the screen all the more poignant, and render the final, surprising solution the more happy. In this production, Bessie Barriscale is directed by her husband, Howard Hickman. The story was written by William Parker1.