Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1914)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 417 "The Shadows of the Moulin Rouge" A Solax Feature In Four Parts. Reviewed by W. Stephen Bush. THIS is undoubtedly the best feature that ever came out of the Solax studio. It was directed by Madame Blache who has made notable progress in the art of staging and directing feature productions. The story is distinctly French in plot and in flavor. The idea of the play has evidently been taken from one of the best tales of Balzac. Balzac was a master of invention and in proper hands his works ought to be a treasure house for the producer who does not specialize in freak features. The directress has achieved such pronounced success in this t Scene from "The Shadows of the Moulin Rouge" (Solax). instance because she has understood how to condense and how to keep away from the diffuse style of the Balzac narrative. This, however, is by no means the only merit of the play. The plot hinges on the substitution of a dead woman for a living one. A series of thrilling, and at times mystifying, adventures follow, the interest of the spectator is kept at high tension through every change in the situation while every trace of confusion is happily and skillfully avoided. In the course of the story, and as necessary parts of its development, many of the famous and some of the notorious resorts of Parisian life are introduced. The arrangement of the groups in these scenes, the settings and the selection of characteristic types entitle the director to great credit. With all the sensations in the plot, and with all the introductions of scenes from the seamy side of life, there is not the faintest trace of any objectionable feature. The acting in this production is decidedly above the average. Throughout I noticed the sympathetic and intelligent cooperation between directress and artists, without which no good picture is possible and which is doubly important in the production of a feature of some pretensions. Another point of merit, which must not be passed over, is the absence of lost motion. It would be impossible to cut even fifty feet from this feature without endangering its dramatic development and dulling the edge of its climaxes. The settings are superb all the way through and the highest praise must be bestowed upon the photography and the camera work generally. FAMOUS PLAYERS SECURE MADAME KALICH. The Famous Players Film Company will shortly present the illustrious artist Madame Kalich in a pretentious and spectacular film version of "Marta of the Lowlands." Madame Kalich attained separate dramatic triumphs in the stellar roles of "Monna Vanna," "The Kreutzer Sonata," "The Light of St. Agnes," and more recently "Rachel." "Marty of the Lowlands," the subject selected for Mme. Kalich's first appearance in motion pictures, possesses a big, gripping theme. Marta, a young orphan, reared in poverty, meets a wealthy mill owner who gives her shelter and protection at the cost of the innocent girl's honor. She looks upon him not as a lover or friend, but as her master. Later the master becomes financially ruined and marries an heiress. Still infatuated with Marta, he marries her to an honest, untutored shepherd of the highlands, so that, undetected, he might continue his relations. The shepherd is unaware of her past, but subsequently learns it, and though he loves Marta with a primitive strength, the knowledge keeps them apart. In Marta's heart a great love springs up for the simple shepherd, a love that opens her eyes to her past degradation, and she spurns the mill owner. The shepherd learns that the master is responsible for Marta's sorrows, seeks him out, and returns to Marta telling her in the simple language of the shepherd, "I have killed the wolf!" Marta and he are reconciled, and they find peace and happiness in the hills. Madame Kalich is remarkably suited, in type and temperament, for the role of Marta. WITHDRAW FROM WARNER'S FEATURES. Notice is given in an advertisement elsewhere in this number of the Moving Picture World that no further releases of Helen Gardner or Marion Leonard features will be made through the Warner's Features, Inc. The notice is signed by Charles V. Barker, Inc., of Brooklyn, N. Y., who will handle these pictures in the future. We are informed that suit has been instituted against Warner's Features, Inc., for moneys due the Gardner Company. GEORGE STEVENSON ON BERMUDA TRIP. When the Royal Mail steamer "Arcadian" sailed from New York, Saturday, January loth, it carried with it no less personage than George Universal Stevenson, editor of the Universal Weekly. George has put in a strenuous year and has earned a vacation, which is why he is now in Bermuda. Mme. Bertha Kalich. PHILLUMMINDIL ENTERTAINS. Philip Mindil, head of the publicity department of the Mutual Film Corporation, entertained at luncheon on Saturday, January 10, a dozen representatives of the trade press. The party gathered at the Masonic Club, in Twenty-third Street, at 1 o'clock, and sat down to a real feed. Assisting Mr. Mindil was Hopp Hadley. After a couple of hours around the board the Mutual's publicity chief escorted his guests to the projection room of the Mutual, where was witnessed the showing of "The Great Leap," the Reliance four-reel subject directed by Walter Christie Cabanne and featuring Mae Marsh and Robert Harron. It is a stirring and dramatic feud story. Following this was the first reel of "The Mutual Girl," in which Norma Phillips is shown as a country girl coming to New York to visit her aunt and being fitted out with a wardrobe that is up to date, in preparation for her coming entertainment. In the projection room watching the picture together with the trade press men were Harry E. Aitken, Charles O. Baumann, Roy Aitken, W. A. Seligsberg, J. A. Naulty and Mr. Peckham. It was a complete and most pleasant occasion. STELLAR PHOTOPLAYERS GO TO FLORIDA. Francis J. Carroll, president of the Stellar Photoplay Company, and Wiljiam Robert Daly, producer, left New York on Sunday, January 10, for St. Augustine, Fla., to produce the feature photoplay, "Forgiven; or. The Jack of Diamonds." The company followed on Wednesday. In the cast are Edwin Forsberg, Frederick Burton, late leading man in "General John Regan"; Hector Dion, Luke J. Loring, Daniel Bertona, Miss Caroline French, Miss Fritzi Brunette and Miss Ricca Allen. H. L. FORBES JOINS AMERICAN FORCES. H. L. Forbes, an experienced moving picture actor, has been engaged by the American Film Mfg. Co. as assistant director to Lorimer Johnston. Mr. Forbes' past experience in pictures has been such as to well equip him for the strenuous duties that confront him.