The Film Daily (1923)

THE -aStH DAILY Thursday, Decembebr 27, 1923 New spaper Opinions "Boy of Mine"— 1st Nat'l Strand nt'ully de ntrigue tnd odei steals the tli.it even Charlie ■ uuulil not have had much :h Urn in the i l'All \ NEWS Het »d« i" «.he . Christmas Eve ■ «.\<i the rec • • • Ben Alexander is one ■ 1 little N? I. • EVENING JOVRNA1 Boj of Mine" is i arkington's im." In the latter picture there In the Bill if iim ' -iry figure, Ben -\cellent. • • • EVENING WORLD Here, Indeed, is a picture that i* I pictv I ' ' ' If you think proof moviegoer and ducts have pone Prohibition, go see and find out different, HERALD ' " ' Not quite as good as luse it has been over burdened with adult plot and because it lacks tome of the genuine understanding which charted that earlier picture and made it one of the fine things of the year. • • * There are plcnt> of nod things in "Boy of Mine" — tedly, U' make it worth while. MAII The film is excellent entertainment and well acted; a movie with which every one will be satisfied. MORNING TELEGRAPH The film starts out with a fine vitality and continues the good until well into the middle part, when it become^ just a bit mawkishly sentimental. The entire cast is perfect. Everybody seems to "belong." POST— A most entertaining film " * * tnd ii" elaborate settings, • " ' is very real, and this means a great deal in this era of artificiality in motion pictur. " ' * SUN • • • \ nt as highly charged with saccharine sentiment and tear producing ruses as any picture could be, but 'tis a corking good one -especially for parents to see. TELEGRAM I K McDonald has produced another of Tarkington's juvenile classics worthy of rank beside his "Penrod and Sam." TIMES This production slows down toward the end. but the acting of all the players excellent that one comes away feeling that it is unusually good entertainment. Henry B. Walthall as the chilly, undemonstrative father is wonderfully sincere in his impersosonation. Tl M ARE DAILY It proves a splendid picture, mainly due to both the excellence of the direction and through the work of what closely amounts to a foolproof i TRIBUNE Ben Alexander • * * the best of all the boy actors * * ■ Henry Walthall the best picture of a severe, non-under ig father we ever saw on the screen. • ' ' Irene Rich is charming as the mother • * * and Rockcliffe Fellowes is very nice. • • • itliing more human and beautiful has been made into a screen drama for months than this simple, everyday story. "Big Brother"— F. P.-L. kivoli D Dwan, the director, has given a f an intelligent trins of the H • • • I can think uld have played the big n Tom Moore. EVENING JOURNAL Tom Moore ■ * * lirected by Alan I)wai ! picture. ' ', WORLD And a right good film Brother" uch as we did. II Yet every time a film, whose only pun appears, it is dull and uninteresting. "Big icture. It has -: wever, and nett. Brother" ■ linment once it gets star . and Rex Beach's 'he film is one of the finest of the n ■ have been made from this nov TIMES Allan Dwan ■ * " hM dm pictun with an appealing story and »ts oi modest proportions that fit the particular uke artistic and well-chosen frames. • • ' The players art especially sincere. It is ., splendid picture told with unusual sin i i MIS SQUARE DAILY Th. rorlds" ever sen flawlessly cast and unusually subtitled. TRIBUNE i wonderful child ac tor in "Big Brother Mickey Bennett no one can realize iusl how fascinating ii is tint il lie sees I "in Moore play the big brother. Do not miss it. He and Mickey t are a perfect pair. WOK I.I) Of its type of sentimental and made-to-order melodrama, "Big Brother" is a picture play. * ' * It is quite commonplace in the sequence of its events, and nothing has been done with the method of it treatment which has not been done of others similar to it before. "The Steadfast Heart" — Gold.-Cosm. Capitol AMERICAN' The story is unusual and we recommend anyone who enjoys seeing a pair of fine juvenile players to take a look at Miriam Battista and Joseph Depew. DAILY NEWS— I can't hand "The Steadfast I i much. It's one of those hopeless tales in which the hero is persecuted throughout every single foot of film. EVENING JOURNAL— The first part of "The Steadfast Heart" is much superior to the last. The situations are fresh and arresting. The grownup half becomes a bit hack neyed. EYEXIXG WORLD—* * * If you relish a film story that shows a lad, winning out, of course, over mountainous odds, then you will leave the Capitol perfectly satisfied. POST — * * good screen material and is very well acted.* * * MAIL — It has its moments of entertainment and is interesting because of what it is trying to do. MORNING TELEGRAPH— The story * * * does not amount to much. But the picture gives real enjoyment. * * The play falls off a little after the children grow up. It lapses into the ordinary to a certain degree. Care and attention to detail in the sets are marked, and the smoothness and finish of the picture stand out. SUN — * * * Seems to be rather an obvious attempt to mop up along the same lines as those which "Driven" found so profitable. TELEGRAM The theme is that of a youth triumphant, and bis tale has the verisimilitude throbbing human document, riMES • • Possesses some excellent pe riods, and the onlj pity is that the director and the players were not able to keep up the good work. In the last reels interest ill this pro n abates. * * * TIMES SQUARE DAILY— It is a rather pit -Hire, decidedly spotty. It does not to be an offering that will get any unusual box-office business. • * * The story is depressing at the beginning, but as it goes along it lightens to a certain extent. The action, however, is decidedly slow. TRIBUNE Miriam Battista and Joseph Depew were delightful in "The Steadfast Heart," 1'iit we cannot say as much for Marguerite Courtot and Joseph Striker. * * Those two qualities (pep and personality) are the verj things the picture lacks. WORLD — This picture seems a sincere atti mpt to do a quiet story of country life. * * * The atmosphere is excellent and a number of the character parts unusually amusing. Unhappily, the leading actors are for the most part disturbingly inadequate. The simplicity of the story sags into boredom through its insincerity of handling. "Don't Call It Love"— F. P.-L. Rialto AMERICAN — The story itself __ is so light Mr. DeMille had misgivings after ft was made. ** * The DeMille treatment is interesting. Charlie Chaplin tried it in "A Woman of Paris'' with success, and "Don't Call It Love" does not suffer from the experiment. EVENING JOURNAL— Mr. DeMille's di rection is better than anything else, save Jack Holt's performance as Richard Parrish. * * * As for Mr. DeMille's direction, there is this to be said: he assumes that the audience has average intelligence. MAIL— William DeMille * * * directed the film with consummate skill and seems to have extracted from the story that which screens best. We hasten to mention the name of the director because his pictures insure the film patron a simplicity and beauty in portrayal not found often in the work of other directors. MORNING TELEGRAPH—* * * Here we have the vagaries of an artist, capricious, all absorbing, temperamental, who holds our interest and never offends our intelligence. The production is excellent and the players have been chosen by the skilled hand of Mr. DeMille. POST — * * a fairly good motion picture made better with the William De Mille touches. SUN — All are excellent — La Rocque particularly so. * * * Dreary, on the whole, and despite the acting. TELEGRAM -The story in the Saturday Evening Post and the play both created iniMisc discussion, and it is believed that the film version is even more powerful. TIMES — The story is splendidly told, and at the last fadeout one feels the same as one does after finishing a good book — sorry it has come to an end. * * * William DeMille * • * has succeeded in telling a real story, and not a very involved one, in a simple and entrancing manner. TIMES SQUARE DAILY—* * * Nita Nalili runs away with the picture. There's more sex in it than there are yellow taxis on Times Square, and although it's red-hot picture stuff, it's handled with a certain finesse that keeps it well within the limitations of censorship. * * * Is excellent entertainment throughout its length. TRIBUNE — It seems to us that in filming "Rita Coventry" they have left out the best part. * * * The picture is extremely amusing and extremely well done, and if we hadn't seen the play we should not have known that it could be better than it is. "A Lady of Quality"— Universal Cameo AMERICAN — Again we want to hand Universal a few flowers. The output from their studios in the past year has improved 100 per cent. Time was when praise for Universal features was scarce. Today there is far more praise than blame handed in their direction. EVENING WORLD— There is absolutely no question. * * * The film * * * is scenically and photographically one of the finest seen in these parts this season. MORNING TELEGRAPH—* * * A picture of quality. It is also a picture of quantity, being in eight reels, and it is a rarity to find quality and quantity in the same film. * * The sets are tastefully done and the direction is fine. SUN—* * * A film of quality. * * * The word beauty is applicable to every unit of the production; Virginia Valli, the star; the story, the costumes and the sets. TIMES SQUARE DAILY— For about half an hour "A Lady of Quality" * * * promised to be one of the most colorful and gripping of the present deluge of "costume" pictures. But in the second 30 minutes the interest petered down, and the final half hour was draggy and uneventful. * * * TRIBUNE— The first half of it is delightful. We will even stretch a point and say that the first three-quarters of it is delightful, but it seems to drag at the end. WORLD — For about two reels "A Lady of Quality" rests firmly in one of those few niches reserved for important motion pictures. Without warning or reason it topples out abruptly. * * * The entire cast has been chosen with rare discrimination. ^jjrrialijj ffilm CaiBpanu DISTRIBUTORS or HIGH CLASS MOTION PICTURES Dal las. Texas i>eceinber 13, ly23. T>ura Film Protector Company, 220 West 4?nd"Street, Wen. Ifork, J*. I. Gentlemen: We wish to advice you that we ere well pleated vith the duratlzlng we have cd done to date. We have kept a very close oheok on this and find that it le the bilged help ».e have ever had In seeping our flints in flret class condition. Eor your information we use an inspection In and out card on each print, Ihls card is given the inspector each time she Inspects the print find the film is graded aeoording to oonditlon from 01 vhlch represents new film, to rl which is Junlc film, arid every time the Inspector finishes with a print she ma*es a record on this earns card as to the condition of each reel. For the paEt year or fo we have had a lot of trouble with prints of two reel comcuiee com* to the tad quickly bo *e decided as a last recort to try duratlzlng tfaeto. He started this ab you Know, on the let of September and some of the firtt tv o reeitrL t/:at ve had duritlzed have nud as /sany as forty rune Ond are still in if 1 and #2 condition Boeordjjug to the inspection card. Where heretofore two reel coijedlea that had had forty idne were usually down to about #4 or #o condition. We really believe that duratizlng film gives the exhilitor o cleaner print and prolongs the life of the film. We are to fell pleased with it that we are giving all of tne laboratories Lnatruotlone to havo all of our filo durutlzed not only the two reol comedies. Wishing you continued suocees, we are, Very truly yours, spfic^ary^Fiw company Sales Manager.