Camera - April 14, 1923 to February 16, 1924 (April 1923-February 1924)

MER A ! 'The Digest of the Motion Picture Industry' Page Seven THE SILENT TREND COMPOSITE OF VIEWS, PREVIEWS AND REVIEWS OF MOTION PICTURES ■Ve are back again after a vacation. It ms a reviewer of pictures good to have re■te from projection rooms for a few weeks Mry once in a while. Protracted sieges Id to warp the judgment and to make one H as if none of the films are what they ■mid be. Fatigue is responsible for this. Hedless to add, one can become extremely ngued as a result of watching fifteen to lenty full-length productions projected »ry week without music and often even Hhout good air. The cinema art deserves ikv viewpoints and such can be obtained By through rest. According to our way of Unking, it is entirely wrong to send a tired Hn to criticise any photoplay. In order to be ■It in any appraisal one's mind, primarily, list be clear and in view of the fact that ffre are so many angles to observe, study 1 analyze in a picture production, it is ential to be sitting somewhat at ease with world if anything worth while is to be •eloped in the subsequent review. So now t we have had our recuperation, we shall ;in all over again, devoutly hoping to be istructive and helpful in everything we do this department. Wallace Beery as the king in "Richard, Lion-Hearted" is one of the forthcoming ats. This production might well be called equel to "Robin Hood," but of course it not nearly as pretentious nor is it equal Fairbanks' classic in story value and esially in romantic interest. However, it an intriguing picture and gives Mr. Beery pie opportunity to go further in his prov; that he is more than screen villain. In t, he makes King Richard such an outnding characterization that it seems alist certain of living as one of the hightits of the present generation's cinema lievements. It will not be easy to arouse public to much excitement over the story the Crusades, which constitutes the basis this film feature and therefore it seems e essence of wisdom to exploit along lines ch as will make its "Talisman" qualities ite secondary. The picturesque character Richard and the delightful interpretation ered by Mr. Beery seems to be the outinding advertising point for this picture, any rate, when one sees it and studies it, ere will be full entertainment while one ins real education. Jesse D. Hampton's production of "The foilers" is having all kinds of encomiums stowed upon it and well does it deserve is praise, for it is one of the outstanding reen classics of current times. Although it to be admitted that comparisons are ious, it is irresistible to admit this new oduction of the famous Rex Beach story considerably superior to the original veron. The improvements in methods of picre-making and story-telling are discernible an advantageous degree and far from the ast important is the superiority of the cast players Mr. Hampton selected to portray e numerous characters. Fully a half dozen embers of this cast are decidely in the runng for the very first honors and it would difficult to choose THE one out of the lot. nna Q. Nilsson and Barbara Bedford both fer superb performances while Noah Beery, ilton Sills, Robert Edeson and Robert Mcim are at their best throughout. The diction of Lambert Hillyer is also worthy special mention — he has handled the unlding of the story in a masterly manner id his handiwork is always one of artistic TENDENCIES TERSELY TOLD The, inclination of various groups of exhibitors to squabble and fight is not abating any and the continuance inspires the question: What are they fighting about? As near as we can ascertain, it is all a battle between a few leaders and near-leaders and it's very certain no good can come of the situation. It seems authors cannot avoid the unpleasantness of suits. Whatever may be the merits of the various cases, it docs strike one as more than passing strange that the ones who write the screen material have the most trouble getting any credit therefor, and frequently they seem even unable to collect all the money due them. It is to be hoped that eventually the writer will find his sun in the film business. The coalition of A. L. Erlangcr and the Messrs. Shubert is being bitterly assailed as an attempt to gouge the public. These leaders of the legitimate field have announced their intention of maintaining a motion picture circuit and the project docs not have the approval of leaders in the film field. This promises to be the banner year for screen adaptation of published novels. Never before have so many books been on studio schedule and yet there are those optimists who predict the original story is about to come into its own. Here's hoping anyway. Photoplays with purposes are enjoying a vogue just now largely due to the world-wide interest aroused by Mrs. Wallace Reid's anti-narcotic picture. "Human Wreckage," ivhich is proving potential as a force for arousing the public to renewed efforts to stamp out the greatest menace of all. The more the photoplay helps some worthy cause ivhilc it entertains the better it will be for insuring the permanence of the great cinema art as a perpetual benefactor of humanity. One by one, great publishers admit the screen ranks with the press as a factor in promoting the public welfare. William Randolph Hearst is the latest to add his concession on this point. Some of the hide-bound censors may yet have to mete out justice to motion pictures. There is a revival of Interest in western photodramas, a revival which may be traced to the success of "The Covered Wagon." At the present time there are more companies making western pictures in Southern California than at any time for two years. Meanwftile the high-society is suffering and the costume play is on the wane. finesse and fidelity to truth. "The Spoilers," always a good bet, is now a better one and as a picture revival of the popular tale, it seems destined to enjoy unprecedented popularity throughout the realm inhabited by photoplay fans. Well, "Main Street" is on the screen map and bids fair to be as popular there as it was on the book market although, frankly, the screen version is scarcely recognizable as having been related to the book Sinclair Lewis wrote. True, the epic of Gopher Prairie as originally written had practically no picture value and it was indispensable to infuse many angles of dramatic worth in order to get even the semblance of a plot. Of course, frankly again, the one reason why "Main Street" ever reached the screen had to do with the exploitation value of the title due to the fact that it was the best seller of its time. Universal policies which would make the fixed rule to relegate high grade original stories written expressly for the screen for the sake of acquiring the prestige of the popularity of a work not written with the idea of any picturization, could not possibly be beneficial to the industry in the long run although it is true quite a pretty penny is to be made off such a venture as that of Warner Brothers. However, much clever work has been done by someone in assembling the few available picture points of the book Mr. Lewis gave to the world and attaching them to incidents of greater visual importance. The cast of characters is almost countless, there being no less than twentyfive principals who get screen credit. Florence Vidor carries off the top honors with Monte Blue a close second. Alan Hale, Noah Beery, Harry Myers and Louise Fazenda also give good accounts of themselves. James Young has given the exhibitors of the country another real box office attraction. His latest is "Wandering Daughters" and the title alone "gets 'em in." It is a story concerning the much-discussed flappers of the moment and inevitably it gets much of its impetus from the jazz craze which is still with us. There is plenty to interest one throughout this production although, of course, those inclined to want a little more of the serious and of the high-brow will not be fully satisfied. However, there is real drama in many of the situations and it is of the variety that strikes home especially since everyone has watched the career of some one flapper at least. Besides a moral is presented in the course of events and with it all there is an abundance of delightful diversion in these six reels. Most of the interest centers around the performances of Marjorie Daw and Marguerite De La Motte although Pat O'Malley, the hero, is excellent too. Here is an excellent feature for the popular priced house. PROOF— REAL PROOF Truth is stranger than fiction! Here is proof. Fiction: In "Wandering Daughters," a recent James Young-First National production, a dramatic highlight is an incident when an artist uncovers a nude painting— the body of which was of one girl and the head of another. Truth: A well-known New York society woman sues a prominent sculptor for $200,000 claiming that he had used the model of her head on the model of the nude body of another woman.