The Film Renter and Moving Picture News (Sep-Oct 1922)

October 7, 1922. —T7— 45——3 3 = Secrets of Nature. A further set of six most entertaining interest pictures. FURTHER set of six of the ‘‘Secrets of Nature ’’ serics was trade shown this weck in London by Regent Films. They are, as were their predecessors, full of out-of-the way knowledge presented in a most attractive way. The subtitles differ in quality, but where they are good they greatly enhance the value of the picture, in some cases turning the ordinary or extraordinary facts into something like a romance. No 14, which gives the life of the somewhat rare buzzard, reminds one of the item in the last set which dealt with the life of the sparrow hawk. The same eare had to be taken to be screened from view, and the kine camera revealed the reason for the small family of the buzzard by showing the strongest member of the family killing those less strong than himself. No. 14 deals with under-sea life, the spider crab's fight, and the dining of the survivor on the body of his vanquished opponent. This picture has been deftly woven with the story of a fishing skipper throwing away a tobacco pipe, and this lends a human interest to the picture. Perhaps the best of the lot is the subject, ‘* Nature’s Gliders,’’? which has been slow-motioned into a picture of great beauty. Applause, which throughout had been considerable, was most enthusiastic in this, where the wing action of birds was most clearly seen, used in different ways for starting, propulsion, and landing. The battle of the ants was not so geod as the others owing to the minutencss of the performers and their quick action. If these could have been magnified and slow-motioned this would have been ax successful as the others. The remaining two were ‘ The River,’’ a scenic picture of great beauty, and ‘‘ Peter the Raven,’’ a picture that began with a stunt (the descent of a cliff by the catcher of the bird) and continued with some most amusing comedy in the teasing antics of the bird. If anything this series is slightly below the entertainment standard of the last six shown. These were, however, of such outstanding excellence that the comparison is in no way odious, as each one will hold attention firmly from start to finish. Friart Productions. Well produced and ingeniously presented two-reelers based upon famous plays. NOVEL idea underlies the Friart productions, two of which were screcned for the London trade by Wardour this week. They are two-reelers, and each one is based upon a wall-known picture, an imaginative story being woven round each of them. The two that were shown were ‘t The Bashful Suitor ’’’ and ‘‘ Phe Beggar. Maid,”’ the former having as its ‘‘ text " the pieture by Josef Israels, the second the painting Google THE FILM RENTER & MOVING PICTURE NEWS. 67 BIG Films of the Week “WHEN KNIGHTHOOD WAS IN FLOWER.” History travestied but a good Entertainment. “RICH MEN'S WIVES.” An East Lynne story that will havea tremendousappeal -“ROB ROY” Great Walter scott Story finely picturised. “ SQUIBS. WINS THE CALCUTTA SWEEP.” A Splendid British Comedy with a very popular appeal. 3 Sa Films of the Week Reviewed FOR THE GUIDANCE OF EXHIBITORS. of * King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid,’’ by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. “The Bashful Suitor "’ is thoroughly well handled, and the Dutch atmosphere has been produced with great faithfulness and well sustained. Photography, too, makes the best of the homely Dutch story that is told. After seeing this ‘‘ The Beggar Maid"? was somewhat disappointing, and although fine effects had been striven for there was a sugvestion of artificiality in places from which the earlier picture was entirely free. The process followed is to introduce the painter and his canvas, and in the case of Josef Isvaels this was done by showing the old man painting a landscape which the lovers cross. Thereafter the tale is taken up with complications of jealousy and petty theft, which, in the end, results in the unitine of the lovers and th> exhibition by the old) man of the finished canvas with the lovers in the centre. In this picture is a really clever dog, trained, among other things, to lic limp in his owner's hands after having been struck by the ‘* bashful suitor’s ‘’ rival. Mary Astor, too, makes a very attractive sercen figure in both plays, but the other members of the cast show the characters as obtrusively American, and are un. believable as the kind of person in England at the time Burne-Jones painted his picture. There are two other pictures in the series, one based upon Watts’s — well-known painting, ‘‘ Hope,’’? the other upon Rembrandt's ** The Young Painter.” These, however, were not this week with the two above reviewed. There should be a kinema public to welcome this series if the remaining two pictures are on the level of those shown, as they strike quite a fresh note in short offerings, shown Pathe’s New Gazette. A good variety. HE outstanding feature of Pathé’s Pictorial this week is the really attractive set of ski-ing pictures amid the snows of Switzerland, and the retarded gliding fascinating picture, These have been slow-motioned, through mid-air of the skier is a An amusing picture of life as it is supposed it will be lived in 1099, with machinery to perform the everyday duties of life, is both ingenious and amusing. The Basque country provides an excellent: Pathé-color section. : Pathe Gazette O16 ineludes Queen Alexandra among the hounds in West Norfolk, King Neptune holding court on H.M.S,. Hood as she crosses the equator, and the Prince teeing off at St. Andrew's. Thursday's number of the Gazette (No. 917) shows a naval review of the world's battleships at Rio de Janeiro, taken by the staff cameraman on H.M.S. Hood. the Prince at the British Legion Féte at the Crystal Palace, the Lord Mayor of T.ondon