The Film Renter and Moving Picture News (May-Jun 1923)

48 THE.FILM RENTER & MOVING PICTURE NEWS. June 30, 1923. REVIEW OF NEW PRODUCTIONS—Continued These are but the bare bones of a story which, although :¢ seems somewhat involved, is told with a wonderful lucidity, there being but one point where the beholder fails quite to grasp the story for the moment: a few more feet, however, and that point is quite clear. One touch which marks the artistic producer is that in the scene where Eve finds herself alone in her despaig and misery. She buries her face in her arms on the pedestal*of a semi-recumbent marble figure which has its face turned away from her as if unheeding. Very effective use is also made of figures passing at intervals beyond a half-opaque window. In these and in many other ways little touches are given which enhance the picture's value. The acting of Emmy Lynn is wonderfully effective throughout, in moments of happiness no less than in the more poignant scenes. Severin Mars has the part of the rather detached composer to portray and suggests the pre-occupation of such a character with a typical aloofness. ‘Mlle. Nizan, who takes the part of the daughter Claire, gives a very finished performance, and one seems to enter with her into!her youthful joy at the first experience of love. Her artlessness and joie de vivre are almost infectious: and in the more dramatic parts she acts with an intensity that is in remarkable contrast, even though Emmy Lynn’s acting somewhat overshadows her. Jean Toulout conveys the selfishness and evil of John Ryce without resort to facial tricks, relying merely upon forceful gesture. The human interest of this picture should make it a successful booking for almost every class of hall, but it is undoubtedly among the better-class patron that its quiet streugth and delicate handling will be most appreciated. In such halls it should have a very strong appeal. Matri-money.. A brisk comedy drama that should go well anywhere. RELEASED BY GOLDWYN. Length, 5,600 feet. Release Date, September, 1928. i tee is a piquancy about this comedy that will attract many patrons, for it presents an aspect of life seldom dealt with in a manner that will commend itself to many people. The dependence of woman upon her husband is a social fact that sometimes galls the young wife unless the attitude of each partner is one of chumminess and _ perfect understanding. In this play this is dealt with very cleverly, the human appeal never being lost sight of, while the humour is well sustained. The sub-titles keep the picture on the brisk side, many of them being quite smart, little epigrams that one would delight to remember. Fanny Daniels, a business girl, marries a rich young man, Clinton Ferris. To get her trousseau she borrows money from her employer, Claude Lambert, who is in love with her, leaving him in ignorance as to why she wants it. After marringe she is continually finding that she has to ask for money, and finally when her husband goes away on a business trip he leaves he~ an open cheque. When he is away her former employer writes demanding the return cf the loan. She goes to see him, and sugaests working for him te pay it off. He attempts to kiss her, and she stuns him with a telephone, fills up the cheque for tho amount demanded and departs. The employer promptly pays the cheque in. Her husband returns unexpectedly, having had one of his cheques returned, and demands to know what her employer is to her that she pays him large sums of money. There is a quarrel, and the gir] goes away to look for work. The hushand, after a few days, determines to look her out and ask her to come back and share his monev. He finds that she has gone with her employer to a honse which he has becn commissioned to decorate, and with which she has promised to help. Arrived there he attempts to murder the man, but is restrained, and the affair of the trousseau is explained. The lady who owns the house offers the wife the job on her own, which she accepts, and husband and wife make it up. This picture has been skilfully produced, and the characters are real and thoroughly well acted. The difficulties between husband and wife enlist the sympathy of the beholder, but flashes of humour keep the picture on the lighter side. Settings are good, without being over-elaborate; lighting and photography excellent; a thoroughly attractive picture being the result. Helene Chadwick lends to the character of the wife just, the right touch of independence and interprets the many details of the part with skill and freshness, and with Gaston Glass is responsible for mucl of the picture’s appeal. ‘* Matri-money " is a suitable picture for any hall as it has an almost universal appeal. The Three Ages. Poor parody, with here and there a flash of comedy— A weak first vehicle for Margaret Leahy. RELEASED BY F.B.O. Length, 5,850 feet. Releuse Date, July 6, 1923. HE news that Margaret Leahy had returned to Englanl T and had bronght with her .the, first film in which she appeared received its due prominence in the Press, especially in tbe journal under whose auspices the great British star competition was organised last’ year. The film was screened on Monday last at the Marble Arch, and is to continue, according to present arrangements, for a fortnight. Frankly, it is not the sort of picture in which it was expected that Margaret Leahy would appear. It is a five-reel Buster Keaton comedy without the usual briskness of that comedian’s vehicles, and Margaret Leahy is little nore than:a mere incident—n kind of lay figure around which Keaton cuts his seriouslooking capers. Denied the wish to seo the British actress in drama, a better and lighter type of comedy might have been chosen for her appearance. As it is, there is, to use a nautical phrase, ‘‘ too much top-hamper,’’ and Buster Keaton has to work mighty hard to get his effects. Even then he does not always meet with his usual success. ‘‘The Three Ages ’’ is an attempt to depict humorously the courtship of man and maid in the Stone Age, the Roman Empire pericd, and in modern times, and what purport to be similar experiences in the three ages are shown in chronological order. Then back the picture goes to the Stone Age, and so on, in groups of threo until the end. The Stone Age and the Roman period are parodies, and poor parodies at that; the Stone Age period being after—and a long way after—the Heath Robinson tradition. Throughout Wallace Beery is the lover who wins by forec Margaret Leahy, the object of his attentions; Buster Keaton the poor but worthy lover. There are moments of bright surprises that are really amusing, but between them are long, rather dreary stretches of ineffective comedy that are boring in the extreme, and even the successful fooling fails to compensate for the waiting. Probably the best incident is the parody of Androcles and the lion, with Buster Keaier in Roman attire manicuring the lion’s claws. It is in such incidents as these that the best of the picture is scen. but it takes a multitude of swallows to make a suminer, and to be successful this standard of comedy should be maintained throughout. Both the writer of the sccnario and the director should be made to realise that this sort of comedy will not pull patrons over here, for the standard of its humour is, generally speaking, not above that of a mild charade. It is very unfortunate for Margaret Leahy that a better vehicle was not found for her.