Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Jul 1929)

62 Tne Screen in ReViev? the person of LeRoy Mason, half an eye's vision sees that he comes from the land of musical comedy on the other side of the Carpathian Mountains, in the direction of Broadway. His brutality begins when he clips Rascha's braids, this being, according to local ethics, an unforgivable insult. Whereupon Rascha vows vengeance and is abducted, screaming and kicking, by Jorga, who takes her to his mountain lair where anything can happen to a lone girl without her bear-tamer's whip. But nothing more terrible happens than her complete melting. Just love is savage, ferocious, untrammeled Rascha's undoing. She becomes a good, plain cook — and reliable too, purring as she waits on her man. More than the usual number of close-ups fall to the lot of Miss del Rio, who has not exactly shown aversion to them in the past ; but through them all, as well as the various manifestations of Rascha's violent nature, she does not succeed in making one feel that it matters, or that she believes a bit of it. The same holds good for the others, including Mr. Mason, Rita Carewe, Jose Crespo, and James Marcus. Their efforts are given in vain to a singularly unsatisfying picture. Mr. Gilbert at His Best. Evidently John Gilbert finds irksome the heroes he has been successively playing, for he casts them overboard to portray no hero at all in "Masks of the Devil.", Instead, he is the dashing Baron Reiner, who has the face of a hero and the soul of a devil. It is among his most notable impersonations, if not actually his best, and at all events is mature and intelligent. Mr. Gilbert's courage in playing a character which has all the earmarks, not to say the horns, of a satanic villain, may cost him a tithe of his great popularity ; but it cannot fail to restore him to the graces of those who despaired of seeing him assert his right to a place among the most adroit actors as well as the leading stars. His more rabid fans should be willing to vouchsafe him a fleeting holiday from conventionality, in which to recapture the nonconformists. However "Masks of the Devil" may rate with fans at large, it qualifies as unusual and arresting with those on the alert for novelty. Mr. Gilbert is commended for his courage in playing a role which is palpably unsympathetic, but the acting he reveals is indeed sympathetic to those who look for something more than sentimental flubdub. Briefly, Baron Reiner is an unscrupulous libertine whose many transgressions culminate in his betrayal of his best friend, Manfred. Meeting Manfred's virginal fiancee for the first time, he determines to possess her, his first step being to back an expedition to Borneo which takes Manfred out of the country. Whereupon he exerts his charm upon the unsuspecting Virginia until the childlike girl is bewildered by the magnetism of a man who is supposed to be looking after her in Manfred's absence. Baron Reiner uses every means at the command of a worldly man to bring about the girl's capitulation. As he progresses in wickedness he sees in a mirror that his face is beginning to reflect his inner self ; that the devil whose existence Virginia does not suspect is asserting himself for all to see. It is unnecessary to impart the conclusion of this unusual conflict between good and evil, equally as it is superfluous to detail the Baron's side issues in villainy. Enough to^ say that the end is powerful and is not altogether unhappy. Apart from Mr. Gilbert's brilliant acting, the picture has the advantage of Victor Seastrom's significant direction and a rich and colorful production, to say nothing of a splendid cast. Incidentally, this significant direction includes a technical innovation seen for the first time on the screen. You might as well take heed of it, because it will be duplicated by at least half the directors in Hollywood within the year. I think Mr. Seastrom should be duly credited. The innovation consists of showing a character in the act of doing something conventional, while at the same time his entirely opposite thoughts are visualized. True, this is used in the play "Strange Interlude," but as every director and actor visiting New York has attended the play, without attempting the same process on the screen, additional honor belongs to Mr. Seastrom for "A Woman of Affairs.'* doing it first.