The Film Daily (1923)

THE ay, August 19, 1923 -3WI DAILY eviews of the Newest Features Johnny Hines in Little Johnny Jones" 'arner Bros. — State Rights Whole .... COMEDY BUSISS MAY GET IT OVER IERE AGE OLD "THROW E RACE" PLOT WON'T; •THING ESPECIALLY BIG THIS ONE. ...His comedy antics are fairly d and usually register although is given too much slap-stick t to do. ...A clever and well trained ; is Hines' most important supt and by far the most interestthing in the picture; Molly lone suffices for meagre heroine uirements while others are ndham Standing, Margaret Idon, Robert Prior. of Story. .. .Conventional race :k meller but shy on the latter nent. It's mostly comedy out: of the straight sequence in ich villain and his crowd try to p hero from winning the Engderby. The story is an adaptal of the George M. Cohan stage I and hasn't proven very suit; screen material. The recog:d Cohan patriotic touches en't been omitted and they have ti fit to give Hart, Schaffner and rx a bit of publicity in a closeof one of their labels. Office Angle. . . .Probably a sating attraction for many exhibi>. You know best whether your :s still fall for the hero-winning■race-and-the-girl stories. If y want it, give it to them and ly they'll be pleased. The cornbusiness is a good asset in this >itation. . . . You have something work on here if you want to get m interested. They're all faiar with George M. Cohan's ne. Let them know that WarBrothers latest is an adaptation his stage play, "Little Johnny les," with Johnny Hines as the r. ?he picture can be readily adver:d by having a jockey on horse:k riding about with proper anmcements of the showing promiitly displayed. An elaborate ness and the jockey in a brightcolored suit would easily attract isiderable attention. fhe old, but popular stunt, of ring the soda shops advertise ihnny Jones Sundaes" might also used to good advantage, four theater entrance decorated various colored buntings and de to represent the entrance to 'ace track might prove inviting, :tion by. . . .Arthur Rosson; kept tv moving along a good pace d generally satisfactory; occanally overdoes the comedy stunts. ior..From the Cohan stage play. ario Raymond Schrock eraman Charles Gilson ography All right. tie. ... In and around a race track d aboard ship. fth 6,800 feet. "Mothers-in-Law" Preferred Pictures Corp. As a Whole.. .AN ELABORATELY PRODUCED PICTURE WITH GREAT PICTORIAL APPEAL; STORY VERY COMMONPLACE AND DRAGGY BUT MOTHER LOVE ANGLE SAVES IT SOMEWHAT Players Edith Yorke carries away the acting honors in mother role that she does particularly well even though her tolerance at times seems almost unnatural; Gaston Glass good as her son and Ruth Clifford makes a gay butterfly wife. Josef Swickard usually overacts the father role; others are Crauford Kent and Vola Vale; also a cute baby. Type of Story Eternal triangle with a lot fussing and trimmings, elaborately staged and splendidly photographed but with a limited appeal for all that; there is seldom any sympathy for the actions of the characters and not much conviction in the things they take so long to do; the development is draggy although trimming will possibly serve to speed it up and the heart interest touches, especially scenes between the mother and her son's baby, are pleasing. Box Office Angles Unfortunately "Mothers-in-Law," in spite of the gorgeous mounting and wealth of display, will probably not have a universal appeal due to the conventional, unconvincing story the sole good feature of which is the occasional mother love angle. Exploitation In this vou have a good title to advertise. If you think it suitable for your particular clientele, getting them in should not be difficult. Let them know about flic lavish production, using plenty of stills in the lobby showing the various parties staged, especially the elaborate Burmese affair._ You can promise plentv of pictorial appeal and where they like extravagant productions, vou may feel sure they'll be satisfied. Since the theme aims, in a way. to correct the impression that a mother-in-law is chiefly a person of interference, you might start a controversy on the subject. Local women's clubs might be sufficiently interested to help you exploit the film and a variety of street stunts are suggested in detail in Preferred's press book. Direction by..Gasnier; alwav^ tends toward the extravagant with production figures apparently running pretty well up; has handled story rather well but should have speeded up development: it's occasionally very slow moving. Authors Frank Dazey and Agnes Christine Johnston Scenario Olga Printzlau Cameraman Karl Struss Photography Excellent Locale.. A farm and a gorgeous city Length 6,725 feet George Arliss in "The Green Goddess" Producer: Distinctive Pictures Corp. Distributor: Goldwyn As a Whole MIGHTY FINE ENTERTAINMENT. YOU'LL HAVE TO GET BACK OF IT, BUT IT WILL HOLD THEM ONCE YOU GET THEM IN. FINE MELODRAMA; LOTS OF LAUGHS, EXCELLENT CAST; SPLENDID PRODUCTION. ANOTHER BIG ONE. Star Does best work of his screen career. Gives a 100 per cent performance. Cast Excellent. Harry Morey splendid. Alice Joyce very good. David Powell doesn't look the part. Ivan Simpson almost steals the picture and if producers are wise they'll take a look at the work of a newcomer, Jetta Goudal, who is an eyeful. Others unimportant in story development. Type of Story.. Pure melodrama but has enough ironic expressions from Arliss to bring many laughs. Tells of how imprisoned English army folks are rescued from the hands of a devilish Raja in the Himalayas with the British army 'planes coming to the rescue. Box Office Angle Much in it to please; story particularly. Fans always love good meller and the background is unusual enough to satisfy. Many good names to play up. Exploitation You'll have to get back of this one. Arliss, while a great actor has never proven a great box office attraction, but center everything on the unusual melodramatic story. Talk of the rescue. Use a trailer showing the aeroplane stuff, some of it is fine. Also of the torture chamber. If the right kind of a trailer is made up it should insure getting them back when your play dates come due. Talk of the cast. Alice Joyce is an old favorite. So is Harry Morey. Say Morey does the best of his recent work. Tell them the play ran almost for two years in New York and the picture is better than the play. Use your mailing list to its fullest advantage. You'll have to work to get them in, but once they see it they'll like it and it will prove a boost for your coming attractions as well. It's really a fine picture. Direction by Sidney Olcott; has done excellent work. Rescue sequence too brief however. If built up better by aeroplane stuff would doubtless prove tremendously better. Green Goddess in torture chamber might easily have been tinted. Author William Archer Scenario Forrest Halsey Cameraman Harry A. Fishbeck Photography Excellent Locale Mythical kingdom in Himalaya mountains Length 9,600 feet; but will go out in about eight reels. Norma Talmadge in "Ashes of Vengeance" Presented by Joseph M. Schenck Distributors: First National As a Whole A GORGEOUS x-RODUCTION THAT BOASTS OF UNUSUALLY LUXURIOUS SETTINGS, QUAINTLY BEAUTIFUL COSTUMES AND NORMA TALMADGE AT TIMES VERY BEAUTIFUL IN THE ROLE OF YOELAND. Star.... Has something very out of the ordinary for her and is refreshing and charming in the costumes of old France; makes an appealing heroine. Cast. .. .Conway Tearle successful in his portrayal of the lover, Rupert; Tearle's acting very fine although he is occasionally too strenuous in his facial expressions; others in an uniformly good cast are Wallace Beery, Josephine Crowell, Betty Francisco, Claire McDowell. Courtenay Foote. Type of Story Billed as "a romance of old France" the picture is not without dramatic moments whose occasional climaxes provide thrills of a more or less hair-raising variety; the romance is uppermost, however, and always charmingly portrayed against a background of unusual beauty. Theme deals with old feud in which a de Vrieac is forced to become a servant of his enemy, a de la Roche, but the feud is lost in de Vrieac's love for la Roche's sister. Box Office Angle.... In spite of the remarkable beauty and lavish production "Ashes of Vengeance" may not fulfill box office expectations, that is to the extent that it should in lieu of the money expended upon it. It depends largely upon whether or not your folks take to costume dramas. But if you can get them interested, "Ashes of Vengeance" should send them out convinced that it was worth their while coming in. Exploitation By all means do your utmost to interest them in this latest Norma Talmadge production. It is decidedly the most important thing which the star has attempted so far and her effort is certainly worthy of consideration. Use her name prominently and let her admirers know that they will see her in a picture very different from anything she has appeared in previously. Direction by Frank Lloyd; hasn t spared anything to make this a beautiful spectacle; it is pictorially perfect; the story unfolds evenly and with a well sustained interest which can be improved but cutting that will eliminate some rather slow moving stretches. Author H. B. Someryille Scenario Frank Llovd Cameraman Tony Gaudio Photography The very besl Locale France in the sixteenth century, „„„ „ Length ' 10,000 feet