Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1921 - Mar 1922)

SPECIAL CAST IN THE SONG OF LIFE (FIRST NATIONAL) Another "mother" picture but of a different sort. An appealing, forceful story of life's drab realities, and, although dealing with a feminine problem, is yet a film that will have a deep appeal for men as well as women. A cast cf unusual excellence portrays the various roles and John M. Stahl directed the picture with unerring skill. Seven reels. John M. Stahl's latest contribution to the Associated First National program is unusual in many respects. It was made from a theme suggested by Mr. Stahl and is an entirely different version of the. ,at present, popular mother pictures. He has avoided the exaggerated, wishywashy mother-love angle and drawn with broad strokes of his directorial brush a vivid, graphic picture of the humdrum, routine existence of hundreds of thousands of mothers who long for the more attractive things of life. It is a story of the dull existence of a track laborer's wife and of New York's Eastside life. Of hot, windy deserts, and still hotter and more stuffy Manhattan flats. The cast is excellent throughout, the principal roles being played by Georgia Woodthorpe, as Mary Tilden; Gaston Glass as David Tilden, her son, and Grace Darmond as Aline Tilden, David's wife. Little Richard Headrick appears briefly as a neighbor's child, and Wedgwood Nowell has the role of villain. Claude Payton, Fred Kelsey, Edward J. Peil and Arthur S. Hall complete the cast. The atmosphere of the crowded district of Manhattan is well depicted and the story works up to a fine dramatic climax in the final reel. Mary Tilden found life as the wife of a railroad track foreman merely a treadmill of dirty dishes. Even her little baby brought no peace. One day, unable to stand it any longer, she boarded an eastbound train that had stopped for water, and ran away. The same train killed her husband on a trestle a short distance away. Twenty-five years later, Mary, worn and tired by the fruitless struggle for the "pretty things" always just beyond her grasp, is still washing dishes. Chance brought her neighbor, a young writer, to her door in the nick of time, and she found her niche in living in his home and doing the housework for him and his young wife, Aline, like herself so long ago, wild for the pretty things and loathing the round of housework. In her new freedom, Aline persuaded her husband to let her go back to work in a music shop. An attractive young publisher gave her a lift in his automobile one rainy night. Finding his wife's picture on the publisher's desk, when he went to discuss selling his story, David Tilden's jealousy was aroused and he started out with a pistol when his wife left him for a weekend. Meantime Mary discovers that David is her son, through his reading his story to her — really the story of his life. But she was terrified by the violence of his hatred for the mother who had deserted him and did not dare reveal what she knew. Mary goes to Henderson's apartment and pleads with him to send Aline home. David comes in and fires at Henderson, felling him. Mary assumed the blame in spite of all that David could do. The story brings out the fact that she is his mother and the authorities merely think he is trying to shield her. Then it develops that the publisher is only wounded and will not prosecute, and reunion between husband, wife and mother is established. HOBART BOSWORTH IN WHITE HANDS (WID GUNNING, INC.) This photodrama depends upon the star's performance and personality for its success. He carries the weight of the story and is given able assistance by a capable company of players, whose work will afford a certain amount of pleasure to lovers of good acting, even though the theme of the story does not appeal to them. Directed by Lambert Hillyer. Two scenes from John M. Stahl's production, "The Song of Life" (First National.) Hobart Bosworth in a Scene from "White Hands" ' White Hands" is technically an excellent picture. In detail the work of Producer Max Graf, Director Hillyer and star, Hobart Bosworth, is good. The lack of a stronger story is the feature's principal drawback. Most of the action takes place in a lawless, dirty hostelry on the edge of the Sahara desert. Here several terrific fistic encounters occur between Bosworth, Robert McKim and a lawless gang, and the untimely end of the villain in a shark infested bay adds a sensational thrill to the story. The scenario was written by C. Gardner Sullivan. The production, both from the standpoint of action and scenic effects, is ingenious and artistic. It tells the story of a ruthless sea captain, "Hurricane Hardy," who journeys into the Great Sahara in search of treasure. He comes upon Helen Maitland, helpless and alone with her feverstricken father, miles from civilization. Hardy realizes her plight and determines to have her for his own. He takes her to a seaport hotel, where she meets Ralph Alden, a young man sunken deep in despair. She also befriends a baby, three years of age, whom Roche, the proprietor, is rearing amid the filth and dirt of his hotel. Bent upon victimizing the girl, Hardy is deterred by the touch of the baby's white hands, which awaken in him shame and remorse. Under the regenerated Hardy's protection, the baby finds comfort and Helen discovers her true love in young Alden and they find happiness together. Mr. Bosworth is supported by an able cast, which includes Robert McKim. Elinor Fair, Baby Muriel, Frances Dana and Freeman Wood.