Exhibitor's Trade Review (May-Aug 1925)

Page 60 Exhibitors Trade Review BEGGAR ON HORSEBACK Paramount Photoplay Adapted by Walter Woods from the stage play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly. Director, James Cruse. Length, 7,197 feet. CAST AND SYNOPSIS Nel McRae Edward Everett Horton Cynthia Mason Esther Ralston Frederick Cady Erwin Connelly Mrs. Cady Ethel Wales Gladys Cady Gertrude Short Homer Cady James Mason The Queen Betty Compsom The King Theodore Kosloff Neil McRae, musical composer, is hard pressed financially, and in love with Cynthia, an equally impecunious artist. He has an opportunity to marry the jazz-baby daughter of the Cadys, multi-millionaire upstarts. Thus may he secure the monetary freedom that will enable him to finish his masterpiece. He proposes by phone and is accepted. Then he dreams a terrible nightmare in which the vulgarity of the Cadys is much magnified. He awakens, finds that Gladys was only joking in accepting his proposal, and flies to the arms of Cynthia. A SCINTILLATING, whimsical satire, this is one of the cleverest comedies that ever cast fantastic shadows on the silver screen. Unfortunately, it is probably far over the heads of the masses, so carefully consider the mentality of your patrons before you book it. If yours is a high brow audience, it will appreciate the subtle humor which follows through the footage. If the brows of patrons are not so high, they will miss the keen wit which permeates the action, and will probably brand as silly nonsense the madly comic exaggerations which run riot through the fevered dream of the harassed composer. Everyone has had "bad dreams," and here is one that is accurately picturized with all the odd and ludicrous trappings with which nightmares are harnessed. In place of one butler, there are scores of them. Dozens of dancing masters appear. There are a hundred best men at the wedding. When tips are given, they are bags of gold ; millions of dollars are everywhere in evidence. And throughout the dream, the throbbing din of jazz music stuns the brain of the musician, murdering even the memory of his classic symphony. Cady, the "widget" king, smokes cigars a yard long ; Homer's penchant for bow ties is exaggerated until his neckwear stands forth like a pair of wings ; Gladys shimmies always — even at the altar ; Mrs. Cady's rocker is attached to her person ; and the Dreamer remains clad in the tattered bathrob in which he dozes off. Nonsense? Surely! But high comedy that will find the ticklish spot in the sensibilities of those with discernment. There is beauty as well as burlesque. A pantomime is pictured. It is of a king and queen who seek romantic adventure, and find it in meeting one another incognito. And there is a country-side idyll in which Neil and Cynthia find love and happiness. It is a highly imaginative picture, and a triumph of artistry. It may not make money, but, nevertheless, Jimmy Cruze has produced a photoplay which marks a milestone in the industry. The novelty effects, lighting and photography are exceptionally fine. Esther Ralston is sweetly appealing as the understanding sweetheart of the impractical musician. Gertrude Short is fine as the high-stepping Gladys. Edward Horton's portrayal of McRae gains instant audience sympathy. In short, every player in the production is well cast and does creditable work. If you show this, one be careful to follow the music cue sheet. The music plays an important part, and greatly enhances the effectiveness of the production. Paramount is issuing a dream book and a number of novel accessories. Use them. Exploit this as the most novel comedy screened in months. Mention the stage play, make the most of the title, and stress the ludicrous exaggerations that haunt dreams. ARE PARENTS PEOPLE? Paramount Photoplay. Adapted by Frances Agnew from Alice Duer Miller's Saturday Evening Post Story. Director, Malcolm St. Clair. Length, 6,586 feet. CAST AND SYNOPSIS Lita Hazlitt Betty Bronson Mrs. Hazlitt Florence Vidor Mr. Hazlitt Adolphe Menjou Maurice Mansfield Andre de Beranger Dr. Dacer .... Lawrence Grey Aurelia Wilton Mary Milford Margaret Emily Fitzroy Freebody Wm. Courtright Mr. and Mrs. Hazlitt are victims of "incompatibility" and negotiate a divorce. Their daughter, Lita, is disgusted with their quarreling regarding herself, and runs away from home after being expelled from boarding school for shielding a friend in a correspondence love affair with Maurice Mansfield, a picture player. She accepts the blame, believing that mutual worry over her might reunite her parents. She flees to the home of young Dr. Dacer, and as he does not return home until midnight, she falls asleep and remains undiscovered until morning. She returns home, reunites her worried parents, and wins for herself the affections of the Doctor. A LIGHT story, well done, "Are People ** Parents?" offers an evening's satisfactory amusement for the average audience. The cast is exceptionally strong, and added interest is offered in the person of Betty Bronson who gained sudden fame with her portrayal in "Peter Pan." The action is pleasingly smooth, continuity good, and interest well sustained throughout. The major love note is that of the parents, but there is a pretty suggestion of youthful affection in the affair between Lita and the attractive young physician. The parents are very decidedly "people" —just like all the other people in the world. They are very human, and therefore quite foolish, permitting a hasty word or a mean look to mar the love which is mutually theirs. There are some strikingly humorous scenes, such as when both decide to dine alone at home after making elaborate preparations to dine out. Of course, they meet at dinner to their mutual embarrassment. Another similar episode is where they meet at Lita's school, and an impending reunion is ruined by Hazlitt's clumsiness in breaking a vase. Breaking things is apparently an old habit of his, and one that irritates the wife's none too steady nerves. The sequence depicting the "mugging" of actor Mansfield will also win laughs. Many married folks have passed through episodes such as are depicted in the action, and many a smile will come from the unconscious actions of the husband and wife as they draw closer together when a mutual trouble threatens. Betty Bronson proves that her success in "Peter Pan" was no accident. She does excellently as the hoydenish Lita, who beneath a somewhat frivolous exterior is possessed of more common sense than either of her parents. She is an appealingly youthful creature, and does not labor under the difficulty of trying to shed sufficient years to look the part. Florence Vidor is fine as the mother. She gives an intensely feminine characterization, and makes it perfectly apparent to all save her undiscerning husband that she is quite ready to be re-won. Adolphe Menjou gets away from the type of role with which he has been associated, but does what his part calls for with good taste and finesse. The remainder of the cast is wholly adequate with special mention for Emily Fitzroy who conducts the boarding school. In your exploitation feature Betty Bronson "the Peter Pan girl." Stress the names of Florence Vidor and Adolphe Menjou, and the fact that the story appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. FAINT PERFUME B. P. Schulberg Photoplay. Adapted by John Goodrich from Zona Gale's Novel. Director, Gasnier. Length, 6228 feet. CAST AND SYNOPSIS Richmiel Crumb Seena Owen Barnaby Powers William Powell Leda Perrin Alyce Mills Ma Crumb Mary Alden Grandpa Russell Simpson Tweet Crumb Jacqueline Saunders Oliver Dick Brandon Richmiel's Lover Philo McCollough Leda Perrin secretly loves Barnaby who is unhappily married to her frivolous, selfish cousin Richmiel. A divorce decree gives Richmiel the custody of Oliver, who is a constant source of irritation to her. Barnaby returns from abroad to plead for possession of his boy. He arranges a tryst with Leda in New York, where the Crumb family descends upon them en masse, and to spite them both, Richmiel insists upon retaining the boy. Barnaby follows her to her apartment to again plead with her. He finds her with her lover, and as they are planning to leave together she is glad to rid herself of this incumbrance. Lena, Barnaby and Oliver are united. THE exploitation value of a tie-up with Zona Gale's widely read book, the showmanship possibilities offered by the title, and the names of the players, may help to bring them in to see this one. But once inside they will be presented with indifferent entertainment. The production has little to recommend it to the average house. The continuity is so disjointed that the action is difficult to follow, and in any event the story as transferred to celluloid is not one to sustain interest or, arouse audience enthusiasm. The entire plot rests upon the conflict of Barnaby and his wife for the possession of their son. The mother is the selfish daughter of an utterly selfish family. She wants the boy only to spite her ex-husband. He, however, is sincerely fond of the youngster. The most interesting bits are those depicting the pranks of the mischieveous Oliver who has an uncanny faculty for getting into hair-raising jams, and coming out of them quite unscathed. He topples from a hotel window about half a mile in the air, and is saved by the skin of his teeth. He pilots a runaway team, and is tossed off the wagon into a providentially soft pile of mud. And he falls down an elevator shaft, escaping uninjured and avoiding being crushed by the descending car. These sequences are guaranteed to bring gasps from any audience, for it surely seems that the youngster's life must be stamped out either on the pavement far beneath the hotel window, under the hoofs of the maddened horses or the wheels of the careening wagon, or by swiftly descending elevator driven by an attendant intent upon joking with an occupant of his car. If Richmiel had any nerves whatever, she was scarcely to be blamed for wishing the lovable imp on her willing husband. Alyce Mills and Mary Alden are convincing in their respective roles but William Powell would be better cast in a more sinister part as he does not register especially well as a domesticated father. Seena Owen does fine work as the divorced wife, and little Dicky Brandon is good as the youngster who always manages to give everyone nervous prostration. Jackie Saunders does well in a character bit, and so does Dan Mason whose lovable and humorous countenance is cluttered up with a set of false whiskers. The photography and lighting are satisfactory. Your best exploitation bet is to stress the fact that the picture is an adaptation of Zona Gale's widely read book. Where the players are popular their names will add interest, and the title "Faint Perfume" offers numerous showmanship possibilities.