The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

THE THEATRICAL FIELD 143 complete the cast. You can just about fill in the plot for yourself. (See Film Estimates for February.) 185] THE AVCTIOISEER (Fox) Simon Levi, the lovable old character created on the stage by David Warfield, is no less lovable on the screen as George Sidney presents him. The domestic and financial ups and downs of the Levi family form a clean, lively plot of simple proportions, and the work of the well chosen cast contributes to a highly satisfactory entertainment. Marian Nixon, Doris Lloyd, Gareth Hughes, Ward Crane, and Sam Cohen are included among the players. [861 THE WHITE BLACK SHEEP (First National) In which the profligate son leaves home under a cloud, joins the Foreign Legion, and turns out to be a noble gentleman and a hero. In other words, Richard Barthelmess' latest contribution is just "program stuff"." Patsy Ruth Miller is present. (See Film Estimates for February.) 187] PALS IIS PARADISE (Producers Distributing Corporation) A routine western featured by the lively impersonations of May Robson and Rudolph Schildkraut, as a pair of itinerant peddlers. Marguerite de la Motte and John Bowers play the leads. (See Film Estimates for February.) [88] THE SORROWS OF SATAN (Paramount) An exceptionally good performance by Ricardo Cortez and a fair one by Carol Dempster are about all that keep D. W. Griffith's latest picture from rating as mediocre. Adolphe Menjou as Satan merely walks through an uninteresting part. For all the tempting he does, he might just as well be a wooden Indian. Lya de Putti overacts decidely in the role of the vamp. [89] THE SILENT LOVER (First National) Why the title I have no idea, but I think it should have been "April Fool." The hero is only Milton Sills pretending first that he is a dissolute count, and then that he is a lieutenant in the Foreign Legion.. Moreover, he is far from silent. The plot does the most unexpected things. Just as you have it pigeon-holed as straight drama, it explodes into the most hilarious burlesque. If this was intentional on the part of the director — though I have no such hope, really — it was a good idea, but like most good ideas, it didn't get the recognition it deserved. Mr. Sills seems to be enjoying his usual rugged health, as demonstrated in his little wrestling match with Montagu Love. (See Film Estimates for February.) [90] SO THIS IS PARIS (Warner Brothers) A joyous nothing, done with all of Lubitsch's skill in his very lightest vein. Merely the foolish flirtations of two husbands and two wives, but under Lubitsch's clever direction it furnishes comedy of a most enjoyable sort, not the least of the fun being contained in the titles. Monte Blue and Patsy Ruth Miller are one couple, and Andre de Beranger and Lilyan Tashman the other. (See Film Estimates for November.) Production Notes for March THE delightful comedy, The Poor Nut, in which the Nugents have been appearing on the stage is being produced for the screen by First National, with Jack Mulhall and Gertrude Olmsted. Following this, Mr. Mulhall will begin work on See You in Jail, with Alice Day opposite. Convoy is a war picture featuring Dorothy Mackaill, Lowell Sherman, Lawrence Gray, William Collier, Jr., and Ian Keith, produced for First National by Robert Kane. Announcement is made that Belated Evidence, a story by Elliott White Springs, has been purchased for screen production. Another recent purchase by First National is The Little Cafe, by Tristan Bernard. Help Yourself to Hay, an adaptation of Dixie Wilson's story of the same name, will feature Mary Astor and Lloyd Hughes. George Fitzmaurice, now under contract with First National will direct as his