The Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1913)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 38i the destruction of a railroad by means of ripping up the rails and ties and heating and twisting the rails and burning the ties. There are several battle scenes, which are well handled. GOD'S WAV (Selig), April 1;. — This is a much better picture than its title led us to expect. It tells a slight story that is not at all dramatic, but is truer to life and humanity than usual. It is sweet and wholesome and. finely acted as it is, we feel sure that it will widely please. The players are natural and most engaging in the simple way in which they embody their roles. The photography is clear and has quality. Hardee Kirkland produced it from the script of Chris Lane. Harry Lonsdale is a pardoned, innocent convict; Gloria Gallup is his wife; and a personable younger player, who deserves mention, takes the role of a girl whom they adopt. William Stowell plays a good tough, father of the girl. "HANKOW, CHINA" (Selig), April 15.— On the same reel with the above is this clearly photographed picture of the great tea market in China. It has a thrill in a series of views taken from a tram coming down a steep slope very fast. "THE PAWNED BRACELET" (Lubin), April 15.— The best scenarios are those that take up a bit of real life for us and criticise it; their stories have some basis in fact that we can touch, handle and examine. It is remarkable how few pictures do this and we call attention to this offering as showing what we mean. There are said to be a great many women whose husbands are rich, but who have no allowance or regular pin money. In this picture, one of these women (Lottie Briscoe) has to pawn a bracelet given to her by her husband (Arthur Johnson). In getting it back to her again. Howard Mitchell, who is acting for one of her woman friends, plays the fool and gets her into trouble with her husband; but there is a happy ending. We heartily commend the offering as worth while. It was produced by Arthur Johnson from George Terwilliger's script. Every character in it is graceful and human and the sets and photography are perfect. Miss Briscoe is growing better looking every picture and she has some pretty new gowns. A good offering. "THE FORTUNE" (Vitagraph), April 15.— While there were very fewlaughs over this Bunny picture there is much of it truly amusing. The situation is good and the acting of Bunny, at times, hits the mark squarely. The development from the situation was old in Shakespeare's time and has been used in a number of pictures and perhaps this did a good deal to keep laughter down. Bunny is told by a fortune teller that he will soon be rich. He doesn't worry, but gets drunk to celebrate. Some jovial practical jokers take him home and make him think that his fortune has come true and the following evening when he is drunk again take him to his home. The photography is fair. It was produced by Wilfred North. "THE FIRE OF VENGEANCE" (Patheplay), April 15.— An interesting picture with a new twist, a new kind of vengeance. A marchioness buys all the paintings of an artist whom she hates and, after ten years, invites him to an "exhibition" where he has to see them burn. That climax is very well done and effective and the release a commendable offering to the public. The sets and photography are good and the acting is fair. It is a picture made in France. "THE ACCUSATION OF BRONCHO BILLY" (Essanay), April 15.— Broncho walks in his sleep and takes gold dust belonging to some miners who, next day, think he stole it. They are going to hang him when they find him asleep, but putting it back. It is not a great picture. "THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN WINTER" (Edison), April 15.— Some good views of snowy hills and valleys. "JONES GOES SHOPPING" (Edison), April 15.— This picture, by Susan Dyer, gives a woman's version of a man shopping. Mrs. Jones (Mrs. C. J. Williams) gives to the husband (Herbert Prior) a bit of cloth to match and be has his troubles in the department store. The offering was very popular with the women and they laughed heartily over it. The men grinned. It is one of C. J. Williams' productions and is a success. Mr. Prior is popular as a comedian; it is hardly necessary to say it. "THE NEW PUPIL" (Edison), April 15.— A picture of pretty scenes and pretty acting. The story gives an impression of being cheaply written without care or much trouble and, in itself, gives little entertainment. The producer, George Lessey, might have saved it in one or two places. That tough-mug janitor didn't help to make it convincing and in no scene was there any touch that made it seem like Paris. Augustus Phillips and Mabel Trunnelle play the leads. It is clearly photographed. The author is John MacCormac. Independent Kinemacolor "NATHAN HALE" (Kinemacolor). — Here is a historical drama that will more than interest — it will charm. It marks the beginning of a series that will portray the lives of great men. The best scene in the film is a panoramic view of the British camp. Many redcoats, afoot and mounted, are being drilled, and make an impressive picture. The use of the American flag at General Washington's headquarters in 1776 will be pardoned as a historical license. The photography is excellent and the acting acceptable. Gaston Bell plays Nathan Hale. The representation of Washington is well done. Much care was used in the selection of backgrounds. While the picture was made in California the topography will easily pass for the neighborhood of Long Island Sound. "THE BERNESE OBERLAND. SWITZERLAND" (Kinemacolor).— Fine scenic, one of the best scenes being of the Jungfrau. "KEEPING UP WITH HUBBY" (Kinemacolor).— A comedy, with a bit of fun in it, but notable chiefly for the fine gowns worn by the wife, who on the advice of her sister starts out to arouse the jealousy of her negligent husband. "WATER BABIES" (Kinemacolor). — Pictures of animals in the water. There are seals, Himalayan and brown bears, hippopotamus, polar bears at play — and they do play, too — sea lions and Russian bears. "THE BLACK CHANCELLOR" (101 Bison), April 26.— This product of the Great Northern company, purchased by the Universal company to take the place of a film the negative of which was destroyed in the recent burning of one of their Los Angeles buildings, is a real feature in all departments. It is more than a feature. It is a great picture. There are splendid settings — Old World settings, of castle, of moat, of mansion; there are beautiful exteriors, of flowering field and smooth highway; there are splendid actors, and those who portray soldiers have been soldiers — that is plain; there is excellent direction — the drama runs smoothly, consecutively. Above all, there is a grade of photography that is in a class by itself. "CUPID IN A DENTAL PARLOR" (Keystone), April 21 — A short reel, in which the love episodes occur in a dental parlor. The girl is the dentist's daughter. Lots of action but a slight plot. "A DOG IN THE BAGGAGE CAR" (Thanhouser), April 13.— Here is a railway story with certain amusing incidents in it. The husband and wife are stranded actors in the West, with only enough money to buy one ticket home. The husband gets in a trunk and rides in the baggage car with the dog. When the baggage agent misses his sandwich, he blames the dog, and finally throws the animal out of the door. Then the wife gats off the train and makes her husband do likewise to recover the dog. A fresh little plot. "THE RUNAWAYS" (Kay-Bee), April 18.— The story of an elopement by an artist and a girl. There is the familiar irate father who tries to intercept the match, but he is thrown in jail by a friendly constable and released only after giving his sanction to the match. An old plot, handled in a fairly interesting way. "A FISHY AFFAIR" (Keystone), April 24.— A successful half reel, full of interesting foolishness. Schnitzler's fishing experiences were certainly laughable, and he winds up in an alligator farm. "THE BANGVILLE POLICE" (Keystone), April 24— More laughable absurdities, in which Fred Mace appears as police captain in a home-made automobile. As a whole, this reel is very pleasing and full of laughs. "THE DRAGON'S BREATH" (Rex), April 24.— Here is a gripping story and original enough to insure it a place of its own, setting it out from the commonplace releases as a distinctly interesting picture. It is the tragic significance of its situation that is so effective in it; but the setting is suggestively natural and the acting, especially of the two leaders, is clearcut and powerful in bringing out its meaning and its emotional result. It is a story of the Pacific coast. The dragon's breath is opium, a need for which the young bride (Lois Webber) of a college president (.Phillips Smalley) unconsciously contracts while caring for a sick servant, a Chinaman. It is a commendable offering. "LOVE AND GOLD" (Ramo), April 23— This picture has a quality that will be very noticeable — the beauty of its photography which gives us some new and charming scenes taken on the northern end of Manhattan. Most of them are looking out over the Hudson, but one or two give glimpses of the Harlem river. The story is wholesome, conventional and very old fashioned and gives us the girl (Mary Alden), daughter of a miser (Will Davis) and the young physician who loves her against the wishes of his father who wants him to marry money. We commend the offering for the sake of its acting and its photography. "THE BATTLE OF LONG SAULT" (Briam).— A special two reel picture, now ready for the market. It is the initial offering of the BritishAmerican Company of Montreal, Canada, and is released through the Film Supply Company. It surely is a good beginning and can be commended as a first-class feature, a historical picture dealing with an Iroquois expedition against Montreal in 1660, which is heroically turned back by the determined resistance of seventeen brave Canadians who defend an outpost stockade and perished in it. It shows one thing that we have not seen before, except in the mind's eye when reading old ballads — the air thick with arrows. There are thrills and some are big ones. The glimpses of the war expedition of the Iroquois in their canoes is one, and there are many during the fighting around the stockade. It has, we believe, a high educational value. The photography is of good quality. We congratulate the Briam Company. "HIS SON-IN-LAW" (Solax), April n.— A farce with a fairly amusing ending, but too long. There is much in the early scenes that has been shown too often. The photography is good. Marian Swayne is very pretty in this picture. "THE LADY DOCTOR" (Solax), April 9.— A farce featuring Blanche Cornwall as a lady doctor in a college town. She reads in the college library and four of the men (there seem to be only four at the college at the time) fall in love with her. Darwin Karr wins her. The trouble with it is that it has nothing new and the scenario is weak. "POOR LITTLE CHAP— HE WAS ONLY DREAMING" (Eclair), April 20. — One of the Newlywed screams, and just as laughable as any of its predecessors — if anything more so. "FIRE" (Eclair), April 20. — A scientific film showing many facts about fire, especially as to how it was created in primitive days; interesting. "HIS FRIEND JIMMIE" (Nestor), April 21.— Good comedy. A youngster in college gets married against his father's wishes. In order to fool his dad he dresses the bride as a boy and carries her home. There are many amusing complications. "BURGLARIZING BILLY" (Gem), April 22.— A lively Billy Quirk comedy. "THE REGENERATION OF JOHN STORM' (Imp). April 21.— Here is good drama, although it seemed crowded — as if there were too plainly an effort to get the picture into a single reel. The acting was excellent. Vivian Prescott and Guy D'Ennery had the leads. "WHEN DOLLY DIED" (Powers), April 23.— A child picture, in which the leads are taken by Matty and Early, the talented "Powers K Matty especially was at bis best. The story holds throughout.