Show World (November 1909)

THE SHOW WORLD November 20, isoj 20, 190!. f. [SI COMBINED SYNOPSIS AND CRITICIS JULIUS CAESAR, Dramatic, Itala: Opinion of exhibitors is divided as to whether this product of the Itala stu¬ dios is greater than “Nero,” which was previously released, with the odds much in the favor of Julius Caesar. It is un¬ questionably the greatest film of the year from every approach. The scenic ef¬ fects, the costuming, the staging, the photography all are of such a high stand¬ ard that it would be difficult indeed for other manufacturers to imitate them. Caesar returns in triumph from his victories on the fields of battle and the populace in its enthusiasm would defy him. He is offered the crown of Rome, but wisely refuses it. Several of the Roman senators, believing that Caesar might later be tempted to accept the crown and dissolve his parliament, con¬ spire against him. Brutus, held in es¬ teem second only to that of Caesar him¬ self, is made an accomplice of their conspiracy. He is selected to and does stab Caesar. Marc Anthony, however, remains true to Caesar and at the bat¬ tle of Phillippi, Brutus and his fellow conspirators are routed, Brutus commit¬ ting suicide rather than be taken pris- dlsconsolate, and later is shown fumr lng ii Independent Subjects BY WALT MAKEE. Interesting and exceptionally well pho¬ tographed scenes in a steel foundry, showing the several processes in the manufacture of steel. Some of the mol¬ ten metal scenes are particularly sharp and of intense interest. by. The performer pounces upon him and, believing that he has killed him, he throws the body down a steep incline. The tramp revives and appears before the performer while he is performing with weights. The performer is so frightened that he drops a weight upon his chest and is killed. As a contribution to the quickly grow¬ ing library of historical productions, this film will probably be accorded a leading place. A MESSAGE TO NAPOLEON, Dramatic, Great Northern: This picture was conceded by the ex¬ hibitors on this occasion to be one of the best pictures the Great Northern had produced for some time. Although it is an incomplete story, being but an epi¬ sode in the life of Napoleon while he a prisoner on the Island of Elba, " • incidents are exciting and well told, the action moving swiftly from beginning to end. It relates that certain friends of the fallen emperor plan his escape from Elba and select one of their number to carry the message. Among the con¬ spirators is an enemy of the emperor, who reports the conspiracy to the po¬ lice, and two officials are assigned to track the messenger on horse back. A most interesting chase and fight THE ALCHEMY OP LOYE, Dramatic, Itala: The story in this reel Is not altogether clear. It is probably Intended to relate that the son of a rich man is in love with the daughter of a poor alchemist, who is bent upon discovering a means to make gold. The match is opposed by the young man’s father. The young man plans a ruse. He takes a bag of gold pieces and dumps them Into the smelter at which the old man has been working —while the old man’s attention is tem¬ porarily distracted by his daughter. The old man returns to his work and sud¬ denly announces that he has at last solved the problem of making gold and that his fortune is made. Upon this an¬ nouncement the young man’s father con¬ sents to the marriage. Some of the pho¬ tography is good, but considerable of it is by no means up to the standard es¬ tablished by Itala. A SERIOUS ERROR, Comedy, Lumiere- Pathe: A really amusing comedy and one which should win much commendation for the new studio. A young lady is troubled with a growth of hair upon her face. She reads a physician’s advertise- -. the e ff ec t that his patent medi- A good comedy “filler” tending to prove, it would seem, that courage is of¬ ten due to accident. The policeman in the story is a coward, but circumstances so evolve as to make him a hero. His first offense is to appear in the guise of a “kid-chaser,” interrupting a crowd of young boys at play. He then detects a thief breaking into a place and instead of going after him, personally, he sum¬ mons two comrades. A chase ensues. The two comrades are in the lead and finally catch up with the thief and have a hard tussle with him in which all three are exhausted. When the thief and his two comrades are “down and out” the brave (?) policeman reports the matter, locks up the thief and is given the credit. His pictures appear in the newspapers the next day as the hero of the hour and passers-by stop to recognize him and congratulate him while he patrols his beat with a chest inflated to balloon will remove the hairs. She sends _ maid to obtain a bottle of It. An old army general is becoming bald. He sues. The messenger escapes: arrives at a farm house; finds a friendly farmer; obtains a new suit of clothes; has the farmer misdirect his pursuers and he himself escapes. It is not shown how he leaves the mainland and arrives at the Island of Elba, but he is shown—in a magnificent r - * *■* " reads the advertisement of u - _ - torative and sends his orderly for a bot- The maid and the orderly meet. comes bald. Too much time has been wasted upon the non-essentials of the It should move more swiftly to _____a views—landing _j the rocky shores of the island. He is held up and wounded by a sentry. He pretends to fall into the sea, but swims around a rocky point and lands elsewhere. The final scene shows him greeting the emperor, but this, being but a episode, does not relate whether the emperor receives the plan kindly or not, nor whether he attempts to escape. His¬ torically he remained on the island for some time. Despite the fact that the film does not leave a satisfied impres¬ sion upon its audience, it is undoubtedly of high class production. THE RESUSCITATED, Dramatic, Italia: The scenes are laid in a fishing vil¬ lage. A fisherman loves a certain young girl and the mother approves of the match. The lover goes aboard his ship. The ship is supposed to have been wrecked and several years are supposed to have elapsed. The young lady is ill. A doctor is called to attend her. Mean¬ while a paper has arrived with the news that the ship upon which the fisherman has sailed has been wrecked and all on board have been lost. The physician, while attending the girl, falls in love the climax. THE END Or TWO BOLD ROBBERS, Comedy-Drama, Itala: A film which begins with a frank ex¬ hibition of the first act of the opera “Erminte,” and is mildly amusing up to the point where the two robbers escape from the hotel, following their thefts at the conclusion of the Bal Champetre. From this point the story departs from the opera and a chase which , might well have ended in a comedy, of at least the same light vein as the introductory scenes, ends in the shooting of the two robbers by the pursuing soldiers, for which there is absolutely no excuse. AN Itala: A lot of horseplay, as o ern stage. A party of t Comedy, seltzer at each other. THE ATHLETE’S PUNISHMENT, Dra¬ matic, Lumiere-Fathe: lieves the doctor is her only salvation, and she agrees to marry him. They are happily married. The scene shifts. A year later, or perhaps two years, the young woman and her doctor husband are shown with their baby boy. Another scene shows the sailor returning after the wreck; a scene -* „„„ „ _ _t is most dra¬ matic and highly picturesque. He is picked up by a ship. He is landed at _ containing several thrills and calculated to hold the Interest of the average audience. A "strong man” is performing in the streets of Paris. The crowd throw money to him, but not enough to satisfy him, so he and his wife and daughter begin to gather up their paraphernalia and move on. As they are about to go an old tramp sees a stray coin In the street and stoops to pick it up. The performer sees him and pounces upon him and would beat him but the crowd interferes. The scene shifts to the outskirts of the city where the performer and his family are shown in their camp wagon. The tramp passes GYPSY’S REGRET, Dramatic, Powers: A young woman, believing that her sweetheart has failed to keep his word with her, listens to the oily tongue of a leader of a gpysy band and marries him, becoming the queen of the tribe. Six years elapse. The former sweetheart of the gypsy queen has married and has a young son. The wife and son have their fortunes told at the gypsy camp. The Queen recognizes the son by his re¬ semblance to his father. The boy is later stolen by two of the gypsies. The queen starts to return him to his par¬ ents; is caught and tied to a tree by the gypsies. She escapes; ties the boy to a horse, which she knows belongs to his parents, and starts the horse off. It takes the child to its home. The queen arrives, declares her identity and the guilt of her tribe and dies of a broken heart at the feet of her former lover. It is a good story and is told in a consecu¬ tive manner, calculated to invite the in¬ terest of any audience. The photography is of a very good grade throughout. DRUNKARD’S GOOD NIGHT, Mystic, Itala: An unusual conclusion for a reel of film. A drunkard is thrown out of a cafe at closing time. He returns, pulls his revolver and shoots at the drawn curtains. At each shot the words "good night” appear upon the curtain in white letters in a half dozen different lan¬ guages. THE HAUNTED CASTLE, Comedy, Lumiere-Fathe; A light comedy-drama with the scenes laid about an old ruined castle which is supposed to be haunted. A young peas¬ ant girl has three suitors. She decides to marry the bravest of the three and in order to determine this point, she disguises herself as a ghost. She offers her hand to the man who will take a certain bouquet of flowers from the hand of the ghost. Two of the men are driven off in fear, while the third man suc¬ ceeds in wresting the bouquet from the supposed ghost. LOVE AND HOME, Dramatic, Itala: The story of a young man studying for the priesthood, who falls In love. The lady declares that she would not marry a man unless he could prove to her that life of his unknown rival from three ruffians. He carries the doctor home and there he learns the truth. He departs, NEW FILM EXCHANGE I! IS FORMED IN CHICAGO FOREST RANGER’S DAUGHTER, Com¬ edy-Drama, Imp: The fourth release of the Imp films is destined to be a winner. The plot is new and refreshingly told. A game war¬ den swears in a young deputy and arms him with placards to tack up in the woods, warning sportsmen that the fine for shooting a doe is $200. The young warden falls in love with the old war¬ den’s daughter. They ride together through the forest but she has the fleet¬ est horse and outraces him. She shoots a doe. The young warden detects her. At this juncture the father arrives and arrests both of them, although he knows his daughter is the guilty one. He hand¬ cuffs them and while they are thus bound together he summons a clergyman and the pair are married. Immediately the father informs his son-in-law that a husband is responsible for a wife’s debts. The young warden willingly pays the The Fistiana Film Exchange is the latest of the film companies to step Into the field. Joseph P. Geiger, for over a year and a half identified as the man¬ ager of the fight picture branch of i Chicago Film Exchange, is at the head of the concern. Jimmy Coffroth, the dean of fight promoters, is affiliated with Geiger and there is every indication that the new exchange will prosper. Mr. Geiger already has . in his possession films of the first championship fight in which Battling Nelson engaged, the fight that won him the white lightweight championship, _ the _ Brltt-Summers fight two hundred dollar fine and all ends hap¬ pily. The pictures for the most part are clear and the story Itself will hold the interest of any audience. in England, the Attell-Moran feather¬ weight battle, films that have never been shown here, the Nelson-Hyland fight, and a few copies of the Ketchel-Papke fight. — --J of Physical rather than mental courage. The lover takes the casts his robes aside and joins the army He is sent into the Soudan. His swS' heart, unknown to him, has joined Red Cross and is sent with Z a nurse. A terrific and mo,t savages ensues in realistic battle .. _ which the lover is wounded. picked up on the field of battle by tm, ,-i ’ nfs in sweetheart, pital until h then propose--- all ends happily. The story is n THE BRAVE (?) POLICEMAN, Comedy, particularly good In the battle°scenes" POOLSHEAD, CHIEF OP POLICE. ( edy. Itala: . ‘'Foolshead” edy, Itala; It would appear mat picture could be bad and _ _ ing that now famous Itala character on : a still hunt after two thieves, who have stolen a table, is ludicrously tony throughout. THE CERAMIC INDUSTRY, Educa¬ tion, Itala: A most interesting series of views showing how pottery is made, from the “ ^ -" the clay to the ccMpl Itala: V story of two men who are in love ”• ~n actress, who has been forced to -*-— a livelihood through with__, adopt the stage_ the death of her husband. The two_ become jealous of each other and the one who is an actor and who plS the leading part opposite the woman, threat¬ ens to kill her. Her maid sees him load the gun, which is to be used in the play, with real bullets. She enters upon the scene to warn her mistress and hei— becomes the victim of the tragedy. The actor is arrested. A rather morbid pre¬ sentation of story, which, despite this fact, will hold interest by reason of the very novelty of its scenes. EPISODE IN THE MIDDLE AGES, Dra¬ matic, Itala: neath the castle. The wife plots with a , servant and has him drug the wine of , the keepers of the goal. They fall \ asleep. She visits her lover in his cell ( and both commit suicide. The costum¬ ing and scenic effects as well as the t clever acting of this film will serve to \ redeem the morbid effect. THE PRINCE OF CHALLANT, Dra¬ matic, Itala: A beautifully costumed, ' splendidly photographed and well acted story laid in the time of one of the crusades. The stepmother of a certain crusader falls in love with the Prince of Challant. . They plot and kill the old than by means , of poison, dropped into his ear, a la Bor¬ gia. The son, off at war, has a vision of what is happening, and returns at once to kill his stepmother and his para- LOGGING IN THE ITALIAN ALPS, Educational, Ambrosio: One of the most interesting educa¬ tional films ever issued. It shows how timber is cut, slid down into a fast run- ning stream and is then made up Into rafts, which are guided for many miles through the dangerous current and are finally cut up into boards for commer¬ cial uses. The pictures are highly ex¬ citing and the film should be destined to long life among the exhibitors,,., . j LA MOSCA (THE MOTH), Comedy, l fly annoys a painter and h model and causes lots of destruction in the studio before it is finally driven out. A fairly good comedy of Its kind. THE WRONG REDSKIN, Comedy, XW- miere-Pathe: An Indian escapes from a zoo. Aai ar¬ tist who has been holding an a HaBfilg session in his studio, is painted red by of his half drunken companions. some UL ms nan uiunsen wuingm The latter is persued by the police with ludicrous results. The right redM@(® finally captured and all ends well, a good comedy along unusual lines, - w* “Joe” Geiger and “Jimmy” Coffroth Behind Fight [Film Venture and Promise Many Surprises. He is negotiating with England for the Welsh-Summers battle and it is said he will secure the Johnson-Ketchel contest as soon as Coffroth has played the big houses. Coffroth, who probably has had more fight pictures than any one man or company will turn all films over to Geiger and fights which are of less Im¬ portance than a title affair will be se¬ cured by Geiger. Geiger, who for years was prominently Identified with news¬ paper work, took up work for the Chi¬ cago Film Exchange when that corpora- - secured the Gans-Nelson films t— Geiger earned over $60,000 for that firm through his untiring efforts. He is ship¬ ping his films all over the country. He has opened offices at 1338 South Troy street. Order of Film Releases LICENSED. , Monday—Dubln, Pathe, Blograpb, Selig. Tuesday—Vitagraph, Edison, Gau- mont. _ Wednesday—Essanay, Pathe, ur¬ ban, Melies, Gaumont Thursday—Selig, Biograph, Lubin. Friday—Pathe, Kalem, Edison. Saturday—Pathe, Vitagraph, Gau- mont. „ , i« Sunday—Pathe (occasionally). INDEPENDENT. Monday—I mp, I. P. P. Co., Phoe- Tuesday—Columbia. Wednesday—Centaur. Thursday—Phoenix. Friday—Bison. Saturday—Great Northern