The Moving picture world (November 1926-December 1926)

Gttirough the 5ox-Office ^ndow J (^viewers' Views On feature ^Ums Edited btj C.S.SewdL "What Price Glory" Fox Scores Big Success in Screening Slalling's Powcrl ul Dramatic and Humorous Soldier Plav William Fox Presents "What Prire Glory" Based on play by I^ureiice Stallings and Maxwell Anderson Directed by Raoul Walsh CAST: faptain PlasS Victor Mol.aKlen Sst. Quirk Kdmund Lo"e fliamiaine Dolores Del Kio Cognac l»etc 'Williaiii V. Moner Hilda o£ China rhylli.s Haver Carmen Klena Jurado lit. >fo€>re Leslie Fenfon Kreueh Mayor \UBnisl Tollaire I*»-t. I.eivisohn Barry Norton Pvt. i^i|linsk> Sammy Cohen l'^t. Kiper Ted MeVamara Length — 11.411(1 Feet Flagg and Quirk, hard-boiled soldiers, have hated each other and loved the same women. In France it is the fiery Charmaine. Twice they return from the front lines. Flagg wins her in a gamble, but gives in because she loves Quirk. A third time they go forward to what seems like certain death. Vivid and powerful human document of life behind the front with tense drama and fine comedy relief. A(;RE.AT PICTURE! In every sense of the wort! and from every angle the William Fox jiroduction "What Price Glory" 1)ased on the daringly realistic and phenomenally successful play is a picture that can stand up alongside the screens most notable achievements without fear of comparison. It is a picture that is one hundred percent entertainment, a picture that grips you. IT IS .\.\ LXL.^L.VL type of story that Herbert Brenon lias filmed lor Paramount in "God Gave Me Twenty Cents" a whimsical story of the under stratas of society to be found along a great city's waterfront. The plot centers around the romance between a sailor and a poor little orphan, the only good girl he ever ran across and drama is supplied by the almost successful efforts of a shady woman, his former pal. to win him back. With characters and backgrounds that are suggestive of those of Dickens or Thomas Burke, Mr. Brenon lays a groundwork that whets the interest and makes one look forward to a vivid and poignant drama. This expectation is only partly fulfilled. The romance between Steve and Mary and the "atmosphere" of the story is developed in such detail that it slows down the action and a good proportion of the footage has Reviewed by C. S. Sewell thrills you, amuses you, a picture that is tremendous in its appeal. Except for introductory sequences in China and the Phillippines which indelibly establish the characters of Flagg and Quirt, two red-blooded hard-boiled he-men, the entire action takes place in France during the World War, and although the war scenes form no small part of the picture and are as fine as any ever screened, "What Price Glory" is a storj' of soldiers rather than war, the drama and the comedy of the loves and hates of these two men to whom a "soldiering" was a profession and who fought fiercely, and loved women and hated each other as fiercely as they fought. As in the play, it is the stark reality that makes the drama and comedy so vivid and powerful, their actions are not merely human, they are life itself, sometimes a bit raw in their attitude toward women and their language to each other, but absolutely real. They swear at each other like mule drivers yet there is not a profane word in the subtitles although their lips sometimes seem to tell a different tale. Comedy predominates in the first half of the picture, wonderfully natural and spontaneous laugh -provoking comedy that is vital to the story for it is largely by this means that the two characters are planted and it is the grim humor of their encounters even more than the tense drama that makes them so effective. Cropping up continually through the humorous aspects is the deep set admiration of each for the other as a soldier and hatred because of their rivalry over women. So intense is this that every time Flagg and Quirt come together there is a regular electric thrill in the atmosphere and terrific suspense as to what is going to happen next, will it be drama or humor? There is drama all the way through, the great overshadowing drama of the war, the life-drama of some of the minor characters such as the poignant pathos of one known as Mother's Boy who is killed in action, but we doubt if there has ever been more touching drama than the final sequence where after all their quarreling and bickering, when the call to the fi-ont and what you are made to feel means certain death comes, Flagg although on leave starts out with his company and Quirt, wounded, yells after him "Hey, Flagg, wait for Eaby" while Charmaine standing in the doorway says "They came back once, they came bacTc twice, but they will not come back again." No heroics, no grandstand (Continued on page 301) "God Gave Me Twenty Cents" Waterfront Furnishes P>ren()n with Locale tor Decidedly Unusual '1 yi)e of Drama and Komance Reviewed by C. S. Sewell been utilized before there are any signs of dramatic conflict. From this point the action speeds up and the interest quickened I)y a series of melodramatic developments that are in an entirely different tempo from the earlier scenes. There is a suggestion of O. Henry's style in the angle that gives the picture its title, the entire later developments hinging around two dimes and the fact that they are phoney is well hidden until the end, keeping up the suspense, but plausibility is weakened by the coincidence of Mary finding and being saved by the same dimes that caused her husbands downfall, also in her getting in with Steves old pals when fleeing from the police. Lois Moran is excellent in the drab and pathetic role of Mary, and Jack Mulhall capably handles the rather thankless role of Steve, while Lya Dc Putti manages to bring to the character of Cassie more sympathy than it really deserves, and her death bed scene is a marvel of realism without overacting. This picture is by no means a special but it will probably prove of fair entertainment value although its rather sordid atmosphere may detract from its general appeal. Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky Present "God CJnve Me TiventJ Cenf»" V Herhert Brenon production Featuring Lois Moran. Lya De I'utti and Jack Mulhall Based on story by Dixie Wilson CAST: Mary "■"•'« Mo»-nn CaK.sie De Puttl Steve Jaek ^lillhall Barney William Collier, Jr. Ma Taiinuin \dri«-nne D" \mbri<-<>iirt Dufour '•«■<• IV'Mloron Mrs. Dufour Rosa Hos»no«i FlorLst CIniiile Brooke Length — 6,532 Feet Steve, sailor on leave, marries Miiry. an or|)han. Cassie of the underworld, an old pal, lures him away through trickery, with two phoney dimes, which, by chance, also save Mary from suicide and eventually Steve and Mary are reconciled. Dramatic and unusual story of the waterfront.