The Film Daily (1922)

THE ■s^m DAILV Tuesday, July 18, 1922 D Newspaper Opinions "A Fool There Was"— Fox Strand N. Y. HERALD—* * * appears determined to make the screen vampire once more a household necessity Estelle Taylor * * * appears to be very fascinating, and certainly on the score ot attractive appearance the new school of vamps seem more plausible than the old type. ♦ * * One questions whether the vamp in her newest incarnation will become such a vital part of the national life. She seems to have cooled with time — she no longer brings that pleasurably guilty glow. • * • TRIHUNE— • ♦ ♦ Miss Taylor seems so palpably miscast that it spoiled the picture for us. * * * Take away the motive, and there is no story. ♦ * * The photography is splendid in this new picture and the lighting is perfect ; also we like the way the camera man takes scenes from a long distance, giving the idea of vast space. • ♦ * The most e.'cacting role in the picture falls to Lewis Stone, as John Schuyler. He gives a fine performance and he seems to us the man for the part. * • • N. Y. WORLD—* • * a remarkably well acted and directed picture. Estelle Taylor, who plays the title role of the picture version of Kipling's "The Vampire," acts the difficult part in the proper vein and she is good looking. MORNING TELEGRAPH— It is an everyday story, but none the less powerful and tragic on that account, and even a rather uneven treatment does not prevent its having many stirring incidents. SUN — * • * unless all signs fail, the siren can't come back any more than the average prize fighter can. -Audiences nowadays are loath to believe that a woman can knock out a man so devastatingly merely by one look of her eyes. William Fox's carbon copy of the photoplay with which he first fixed liis and Theda Bara's place in the screen firmament for all time is interesting principally as a revarnished antique. EVE. TELEGR.AM — Miss Estelle Taylor's portrayal of the merciless woman in (luestion is easily one of the best that she has given, and she approaches facially the ROBERT Z. LEONARD Announces that his next production with m MURRAY will be CORONATION adapted from manuscript novel Iby Edmund Gouldinsr Produced by TIffANY PRODUCTIONS, INCORPORATED M. H. Hoffman, Gen. Mgr, 1540 Broadway, N. Y. vampire of portrait fame. Lewis Stone plays the fool, and the axiom, it takes a wise man to play a fool, is once more exemplified. * ♦ * EVE. JOURNAL— Re-enter the Vamp .'Hid in the original model ! If you are one of those who are thrilled by sirens, you'll find *'.A Fool There Was" much to your liking. ♦ ♦ « One disinterested spectator wondered why, when a siren was in demand, the producer buried Miss Marjorie Daw in a minor role. EVE. WORLD—* * ♦ hard to swallow. Not that Mr. Browne and Emmett J. Klynn. the director, haven't given us a story, but somehow they have failed to show satisfactorily why Lewis Stone as John Schuyler left what was shown as a really happy home, and that at once, for even as good-looking ii siren as the one played by Estelle Taylor. POST — The careful direction of Emmett J. Flynn, the good photography and the fine acting are the outstanding features of "A Fool There Was'' at the Strand. ♦ ♦ * A better selection could have been made for the part of Gilda Fontaine, Estelle Taylor does not make the vampire a woman who could attract men like John Schuyler. MAIL—* * * Estelle Taylor as "Gilda Fontaine" is an incredible vampire and Lewis Stone as "John Schuyler," Wall Street financier, is an almost impossible fool. * * * Miss Taylor made a thoroughly mechanical vampire. Her face is pretty enough and evidently she put her faith in that. From first to last her features were utterly expressionless. ♦ ♦ ♦ Clever sub-titles or a vein of cynical humor might have saved the picture, hut both are lacking. » * * "The Man Unconquerable"— F. P.L. — Rivoli TI.MES — They've used most of the honored melodramatic devices to keep "The Man Unconquerable" going for five or six reels * * * It's a story of pearl fishing in the South Seas. • ♦ » N. Y. HERALD—* * * It gets the hero Ml the thick of plot and counter plot almost from the beginning, and when he isn't fighting men he's fighting flies. * * ♦ So consistently thrilling it is that it rises far above the South Sea locale and a title that hardly fits. * * * It is a straight from the shoulder story, much more plausible for all its violent action than the customary sainted tramps and sinuous vamps of recent years. TRIBLTNE — * * * a nice picture which tells of a nice young man * * • Jack Holt is the star, and it's, strange what "that man can do to a story. He is always interesting and you can follow his vicissitudes through any sort of a plot and enjoy it. * * * The settings are beautiful and the costumes are picturesque, but the picture is not so interesting as the one in which Holt appeared a couple of weeks ago, "While Satan Sleeps." N. Y. WORLD—* * ♦ is worth seeing. It is bound to hold the interest of the Tack Holt admirers, and, we think, gives ' the actor a better opportunity for displaying his acting ability than did its predecessor, "While Satan Sleeps." ♦ * ♦ MORNING TELEGRAPH — There is about the picture a pictureesqueness and lawlessness that is as exciting as a pirate's l^og * * * The picture is very well cast. AMERICAN— ♦ * * Holt is not lacking in interest, although he has no very extensive repertoire of expression. Still, he looks well and is quite unlike the usual screen star — -which is something in his favor. Sylvia Breamer was charming to look at, and the veteran Edwin Stevens gave a capital performance. "The Man Unconquerable," at least seems to invade new regions, and several of its pictures are decidedly worth while. DAILY NEWS—* * * This adventurous tale of rival pearling concerns, of treacherous trusted servants, of murderous plotters, of fights in the dark, knives that flash through the air and imb^d themselves in heart or throat, of pearls and perils in the South Seas, make you teeter on your seat and feel all squishy inside. • *♦ • Jf you jjke excitement, and pin your faith in the movies, set sail for the South Seas. Perhaps that's why everybody is doing it. SUN — •* * * The management showed an unerring psychology, we think, in selecting a photoplay which showed a place hotter than New York. We are certain that everybody in the audience felt cooler when they saw banana trees growing. ♦ ♦ « jack Holt * * ' is one of the best "strong silent men" of the screen » * * in spite of its lack of originality, we recommend "The Man Unconquerable" as a good adventure story. TELEGRAM — * * * teeming with action and interesting details. EVE. JOURNAL—* * * The scene is refreshingly novel, and the plot * * * is very well worked out. Jack Holt, one of the human of screen stars, is cast as the nephew of an old Yankee trader ♦ ♦ *. Action is supplied in half a dozen fish fights, in which Holt makes an excellent impression. * * * EVE. WORLD—* * * One of our ideas of a reasonable picture. • • ♦ The establishment of character, it seems,, ought to be worth the attention of movie directors. When we saw Jack Holt licking a roomful of roughnecks single-handed, provink' just a moment later that he didn't steal the rosecolored pearls and kill old man Durand, and then taking Rita for good if not for* all in his arms, we believed it. POST — It is queer how entertaining Jack Holt can make an ordinary picture like "The Man Unconquerable" at the Rivoli. The moment he appears on the screen one sits up and expects things to happen — and they do. * * * MAIL — When the scene of a motion picture play is laid in the south seas one naturally looks for Romance with a capital "R," and film fans will not be disappointed in this respect. * * * Pearl fishing, fighting, a complete set of villains, a handsome hero and a beautiful Spanish senorita — what more could one ask? They are all in this film with some good photography of tropical scenes, although hardly enough of the last. ♦ * » GLOBE — What was intimated in the first starring vehicle of Jack Holt is conclusively proved to be a fact in his second. The Salesman on commission with experience in moving picture and commercial picture illustrations, for advertising purposes. Good income for the right party. WALCO PICTORIAL COMPANY 552 Park Ave., West New York, N. J. sponsors of this young man have set tl hearts on his being the kingpin of all red-blooded, two-fisted he-men of the fil * * * The story, taken as a whole, was of the sort which aflfords much opportui for real dramatic moments, and that is pi ably why the fight scenes stand out prominently, ♦ * * i FOR LEASE THE NEW JACKSON STUDIO For Lease in Whole or in Pa The last word in modern studio and electrical equipment. Fivet^l stages. Direct current. Re-(| mote control. 15 minutes fror Times Sq. 40 dressing roon and offices. All electrical ap paratus, lamps and props, nei and complete. Large carpente shop. Westchester, Forest and Jackson Aves. — at Subway Station New York Tel. Melrose 4385—1149 W. H. Weissager, President 121 W. 3&th Street Bryant 7290 ROTHACKER PRIi and SERVICE E. O. BLACKBURN SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE Rothacker Film Mfg. Co. Chicago, 111. 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