Exhibitors Herald (1927)

8 STUDIO SECTION OF October 8, 1927 THE STUDIO PREVIEW Fred Thomson has stepped from the realm of five reel Westerns into Thomsons First the Special Gr eight reel feature class Initial Showing in “ls first Paramount production, “Jesse James.” He has taken Silver King with him and the beautiful, intelligent white horse shares honors as usual with the star. The story is a recital of the life and tragic death of one of America’s most famous bandits and as played by Thomson excites and holds your sympathetic interest throughout. The early scenes depict Jesse James’ part in the Civil war, where he twice risks his life to keep his flag floating. His escape when almost captured as a spy, forms one of the dramatic scenes in the early reels. After his return to his home in Missouri at the close of the war, he is looked upon as a traitor by the townsmen and hounded by a “citizens’ committee” until he is forced to leave. Then follows many thrilling, tense scenes where Jesse and his band of maurauders enter banks, rob stage coaches and hold up the first railway train. The neatest piece of work in the whole picture is where Jesse, single handed, captures the stage coach and locks up the two guards and the driver in a large box. The scene of the 40 men climbing into the windows of the moving train was another neat piece of direction, as was Jesse’s escape from the court house when the jury had pronounced him guilty. The lighting and composition of the scenes are very effective and there are many unusual long shots. Nora Lane, who plays the feminine lead opposite Thomson, played with too much restraint, while Montague Love was inclined to overact at times. “Jesse James” is a good introduction for Thomson into the super-feature class. It is good entertainment. — R. M. Sam Taylor’s hand is clearly seen in “My Best Girl,” which he directed Pickford Turns for Mary Pickford and which was In1 “Best Girl” previewed last week at Fullerton, Cal., 30 miles from Los Angeles. It’s the same Taylor hand in many of the laughable gags that you recall in many of the Harold Lloyd successes. The story is by Kathleen Norris. Quite “Norris” without those gags ; but it is filled with entertainment and outdoes anything of the Pickford brand since years ago when Charlie Chaplin began making “The Gold Rush.” Mary falls into old habits many times throughout the film, tiptoes up the stairway of a strange man’s house and jumps beneath a dining table when the strange man comes home. That’s expected of Pickford, most likely, and, if so, well enough. She gives, then, a Pickford show plus a Sam Taylor show and minus a lot of “Sparrows.” Charles Rosher is credited for the photography, which is worthy of mention. The film also gives credit to many other aids. I am uncertain of the credit due some of them for their share in the entertainment of the film. For instance, note was made that “Mr. Whoozis” is responsible for the “electrical effects.” Hollywood people may make accurate guesses as to his doings in the picture but how many people in Phil Rand’s theatre in Salmon, Idaho, will have the least idea as to his business? That kind of literature prefacing a picture is not only unnecessary but unkind to such people as Mr. Taylor and Mr. Rosher, whose names are worthy of the utmost prestige on the title plates. They are the two men most responsible for the executive manufacture of a film production. It is usually their grief when for any reason a picture fails. In the case of “My Best Girl” the star takes an executive hand in making the picture and deserves great credit for it, but in other cases it is usually the director and the cameraman who make or junk a picture. The comedy assistant, art director, assistant director and “electrical effects” are surely a part of the director’s staff. If they fail it is his misfortune, if they triumph it is his triumph. — D. H. Johnny Hines comes through with another of his inimitable comeHorn e e ’ ^ dies ca^e<^ “Home Made,” which, in Offers Good Film the estimation of this writer tops his previous efforts, with the possible exception of “Conductor 1492.” In this one Johnny is a small town boy who helps his mother make remarkably delectable jam. But sales are limited as everybody in a country makes jam. Hence he has a yen to go to the big city and make a name and a fortune for himself. How he does it forms the balance of a unique comedy, which is as full of gags as a watermelon is of seeds. The ingenuity with which he works his way to New York aboard a Pullman without paying his fare is one of the amusing bits of the early reels. He disguises himself as a porter, by tying a ladies stocking over his head, cutting eyes and mouth in the hose, and also meets the girl who spurs him on to bigger and better things. In the city he becomes a waiter, to promote his mother’s jam, and while at a banquet given in honor of a trans-Atlantic flyer, he throws his voice into the megaphone and tells the world about the merits of U-Lika-Jam. To save his girl from an unwelcome marriage Johnny raises $10,000 by selling an interest in his jam to a wealthy manufacturer and of course marries the girl himself. The action is swift throughout and the laughs are frequent and spontaneous. The titles are excellent, the work of Paul Perez. Marjorie Daw, as the little aristocrat, with whom Johnny falls in love, gives a splendid performance opposite the comedian. A thoroughly enjoyable picture. — R. M. Norbert Lusk’s words following his viewing of “One Woman to AnBeen^the StoT other” were brief but made one wS Misplaced? point regarding the Paramount picture so clear that we believe exhibitors will obtain a fair comprehension of its type. Lusk wrote from New York that the picture “has brought forth the conjecture that the script was lost during is production which was echoed in varying degrees by all the reviewers as a means of saying that the story scarcely justifies the money and talent spent on the picture.” The acting is praised and sympathy is expressed for the actors in having so little justification for their efforts.— D. H.