The Bioscope (May-June 1912)

The Bioscope, June 13, 1912. 819 THE PICK OF THE PROGRAMMES. WHAT WE THINK OF THEM. BRONCHO BILLY AND THE BANDITS. This is a delightful example of a Western dramatic comedy, acted by those splendid men and accomplished artists, the Essanay players. We have remarked before on the extraordinary realism of Essanay pictures, and it may hardly be necessary, therefore, to return to the subject here. For all that. one cannot refrain from commenting upon the value of this company’s productions; they are something better than plays—they are a kind of mental tonic, keen and stimulating, and wonderfully curative to the mind after some of the mawkish, sensuous work which is too often given to us in the sacred, but ill-used, name of ‘‘ Drama.” It is an ancient simile to liken the Western film toa breath of fresh air, but it is, natheless, a very apt comparison. Many of these Essanay films create in the spectator a positive physical exaltation, such as one would derive from a draught of the strong, sharp prairie winds. They are all the more welcome at the present moment, when irresponsible individuals are attempting to bring odium upon the picture theatres, on account of their alleged harmful influence. Essanay films are aconstant example of the actual good that pictures can do. Their atmosphere invigorates, refreshes and uplifts; they teach the joy of the open and the splendour of manhood. They are far better than a dozen stuffy prose sermons, which attempt to reinforce the tired brain with prolix platitudes. The preacher shores up health and morality with banal, uninspiring logic; the cinematographer replaces argument, with visible facts, and renders them so attractive that they make their own appeal. We do not wish to accuse the Essanay Company of a desire to moralise—they are much too good artists for that; at the same time, the amount of incidental good which they do is extraordinary. As we have said, “Broncho Billy and the Bandits ” is a delightful Western film, which, besides embodying all the ethical virtues we have mentioned, is also an excellent little play. Mr. G. M. Anderson is always a host in himself—every inch of his massive frame is eloquent of humour, or drama, or pathos, as the circumstances demand. It is a splendid sight to see him in the present film, seated on a sugar tub in a store cupboard, where he has been severely locked away by a mistrustful little girl, about to rescue his frightened captor from some villainous bandits, lovingly fingering a brace of six-shooters the while, and positively brimming over with pleasure at the anticipation of a “scrap.” He can be fierce and terrible, too, when there is cause, as the bandits find to their cost, but, in spite of his moments of stern menace, he is essentially the great, goodhumoured “Billy,” of whom we have all learned to grow fond. His overflowing geniality, the twinkle of his humorous eye, as well as his sure, Digitized by Go gle sober strength in times of peril, are magnetic. He wins respect for himself even across the screen. The film is remarkable for the fewness of its subtitles—always a sign of a well-devised play. It seems a little unnecessary for the old storekeeper to carry a lighted lamp about with him, as he does in one scene, when it is apparently broad daylight—but the satisfactory suggestion of darkness has always been a difficulty with the cinematographer. One would have liked to see “ Billy” made happy in a few more feet of film, and to have witnessed the return of the storekeeper with the doctor for his sick wife, but the present finish is a very pleasant one, and, if it is not entirely conclusive, it is sufficiently so for the purposes of the play. Altogether, it is a first-rate picture. (Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. Released July 7th. Length 994 ft.) \ A PAIR. OF BABY SHOES. We have here a pretty, sentimental little story, capably acted and excellently staged. If its theme is not very new or very convincing, its popularity is well proved, and there will be a hundred audiences ready to make it welcome. It tells how a young couple, after losing their only child, are gradually estranged from each other, until they decide to separate, being brought together again at the eleventlr hour through the instrumentality of their old butler, who finds the dead baby’s shoes, and places one in each of their bags. The memories evoked by these result in a reconciliation. A clever character study is giver by the old butler, whose solicitude for the welfare of his young master and mistress is almost paternal. Good, also, are the wife and husband themselves, with their unhappy bickerings, more the result of youthful impetuousness than of actual discordancy, and their eventual, half-shy, but wholly glad, reunion. There seems nothing much else to say. (Nestor film. R. Prieur and Co., Ltd. Released July 3rd. Length 950 ft.) Original from NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY