The Film Daily (1922)

Sunday, July 2, 1922 fjpS^ DAILY 11 Foreign Mystery Novelty Combines Horrors With Comedy "NINE SECONDS FROM HEAVEN" Rialto Productions — State Rights DIRECTOR Franklin Seites AUTHOR Franklin Seites SCENARIO BY Harry Chandlee Jessie CAMERAMAN Not credited AS A WHOLE Production built along foreign standards filled with mystery interest and morbid horrors. Lacks the novelty of Caligari but is nevertheless entertaining STORY Slow in starting. Requires many titles to explain the action. Turned into a joke at the end DIRECTION Average. Could have done much better with the material PHOTOGRAPHY Good LIGHTINGS Too dark in many places PLAYERS Foreign cast. Do good acting but very obvious. Types will not appeal to average American EXTERIORS Good INTERIORS Good DETAIL Ample CHARACTER OF STORY Rich young man bored with life rescues girl and in the end discovers that it is all the joke of his friends LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 5,600 feet "Nine Seconds from Heaven" is different from anything that has come across the water. It is built purely upon foreign standards and will appear much too morbid to many an audience. It contains reminiscences of "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" hut is Ijuilt upon a mystery that is clearly an invention and is so mixed with comedy that it is difficult to take the melodramatic situations very seriously. The great points in its favor is that it holds the attention in a remarkable way, is entertaining and different. The points against the picture would be its extreme morbidness, the very unattractive girls and young men in the leading roles and the fact that the hero fails to gain your confidence or sympathy. After many gruesome events, melodramatic situations and l)affling mysteries you discover that it is all a joke being played upon a worthless millionaire in order to give him an interest in life; that the mysterious stranger is a theatrical manager, and the arch villains all members of his company. The audience will also feel that they have been the victims of a clever ruse ; that they have been led to believe all this humbug, illustrated in realistic situations, only to find that they have been jested with and lied to. The great mistake is that the audience is not taken into the confidence of the players, and this only for fear of losing an element of suspense. It is true that in this way the solution is withheld to the very end ; but the ridicule and humor would have been greater if the audience were led into the secret. As it stands the mystery is not over convincing and the ending apt to be a little disappointing. Many titles are needed to explain the story which is well acted out 1)y an able cast. The types of the actors and their crude make-up will hardly appeal to the average American audience, but the production as a whole is highly interesting and absorbs the attention. The photography is good but typical of foreign productions. The lightings in the interiors are very dark and uneven. The stock is poor and when projected presents granulations and flickers. Story : Rich young man is about to kill himself for want of diversion when he is visited l)y a stranger who offers to supply him with a good deal of excitement. They sign a contract and soon the young man discovers that he is the victim of a fraud. He finds that two sisters have also been misled by the stranger with the result that one of the girls has disappeared. .She was last seen at the house of a degenerate artist who paints only the dead. Melodrama follows and the girl is rescued only to disappear again on the eve of her wedding. Once more the young man is about to shoot himself when the stranger again ajjpears and demands the balance of the money due him on the contract. Then you learn that it was all a joke and the two sisters were show girls. Foreign Mystery Production and Something Different Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor You can safely promise them something diflferent in "Nine Seconds from Heaven." It is very diflferent from the average American picture and will satisfy many who will welcome a change. Advertise it as a European mystery production. You might tell them something of the story, enough to get them curious ; but do not give the solution away or tell anything of the ending. Use a trailer of the rescue scenes showing how the girl is saved from the power of the hypnotist. It might also be a good idea to show some of the comedy shots so they know that it is not all horrors. If your audience likes only the conventional type of picture and there is any doubt in your mind, then better see this one first, for you know your people best.