The Moving Picture Weekly (1920-1921)

Record Details:

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''Conflict Has New York Premier New Priscilla Dean Feature Shown in Central Theatre Favorably Compared With ''Way Down East'' ^( y-^^ONFLICT," Priscilla Dean's new Universal-Jewel I . production, had its premier presentation last Sunday night in the Central Theatre, Broadway and Forty-seventh street, and was acclaimed as one of the most thrilling and forceful pictures of the year. Accompanied by a musical setting which emphasized the tenseness of its mystery phases and which galloped with the suspense of its heralded log-jam rescue scenes, the picture made an impression upon its audience far more striking than anything ever before done by Miss Dean. The biggest crowd which has stormed the Central Theatre since it was turned into a moving picture house, was on hand Sunday night many minutes before the doors were open. Some had been in line more than an hour. The house was sold out long before the box-office line had dwindled. No elaborate prologue had been arranged for the picture. It had been determined that no prologue could do justice to the intensity of the theme or the thrill of its climax. Storm music, with lightning effects, was the only prelude to the opening scenes of the big north woods feature. It is expected that "Conflict" will be held in the Central Theatre for several weeks. Only the desire to release it to Universal exhibitors in the New York territory keeps the film company from letting it run in the Central indefinitely. Its release date has been advanced by several weeks due to the imminence of the rail strike. The Universal sales department promised its exhibitor patrons throughout the country that "Conflict" would be available to them, by truck, by aeroplane or otherwise, regardless of the railroad situation. "Conflict" was highly praised by New York newspaper critics, who likened it to "Way Down East," announced that the log jam scene in the Priscilla Dean feature has as much if not more thrill power than any scene ever shown on the screen. Among the comments made upon the picture by Miss Harriette Underbill, reviewer for "The New York Tribune," she said: "As we watched these river scenes, we were eonstantly reminded of 'Way Down East,' only, D. W. Griffith did his picture in the winter and Carl Laemmle did his in the summer. Instead of ice floating dovsTi the river there are logs and if you don't believe that a hero floating towards the falls on a raft of logs can be quite as spell-binding as a heroine on a cake of ice — go and see 'Conflict.' As a matter of fact, there is not a dull moment in the whole picture." Speaking of the weirdness of many phases of the picture, so gripping that it reminds one of Poe's strange stories. Miss Underbill said: "It is all terribly grewsome, but we, who love being horrified, enjoyed every minute of it." "Mystery, drama, adventure and one of the most thrilling passages ever seen on the screen, all are found in 'Conflict,' the new Priscilla Dean picture which opened at the Central Theatre yesterday," said the Neav York Evening Mail reviewer. "The scene in which she rescues her lover from death in a raging torrent on the brink of a steep waterfall is a marvel. The famous ice scene in 'Way Down East' scarcely equals it for sheer thrill. One can readily believe that Miss Dean actually took her life in her hands in its screening, as she drifted down stream, running over log-jams, and finally riding a pair of logs until she was plunged into the waters. "The entire episode is filmed remarkably well, with the suspense maintained through successive scenes of stirring thrill to the final rescue. "The picture is purely melodrama, but it is good melodrama and deeply absorbing." The reviewer for the New York Evening Telegram, after seeing "Conflict," voiced the opinion that no oldfashioned melodrama could equal this film. " 'Conflict'," he said, "crowds into one picture enough thrills to last through an entire serial. It has mystery, excitement ad sentiment in big, unadulterated doses. No old-fashioned melodrama could equal this film. "The old melodramatic productions, for instance, could only suggest a log-jam. This camera play actually shows the mighty Columbia River with its swollen banks and its piles of congested logs. "That eighteen cameras were required to register the varying aspects of this scene and that more than a thousand persons appeared in the big scene are enough to indicate how thrilling the big picture is. "Miss Priscilla Dean," declares the Telegram reviewer, "is the heroine about whom all the excitement centers. She looks like Ethel Barrymore and acts with the feverish power of Nazimova, and she has more strong men in her support than usually falls to the lot of a movie queen. The rugged company in boots and rough shirts includes Herbert Rawlinson, Edward Connelly, Martha Mattox, Milton Brown, Bill Gillis, Olah Norman and Knute Erickson," Robert G. Welsh, the Telegram's editor, continues. "There are other musical and screen offerings to make the program as varied as those of other Broadway houses. But the main thrills are to be found in 'Conflict,' and they come fast and furious and lift the most hardened movie fan out of his seat in the excitement."