The Film Daily (1926)

THE ebruary 14, 1926 ■c^ai DAILY ^paper Opinions Behind the Front" Paramount Rivoli -* * * Making no pretense ore than a rapid succession of mUitrue gags dressed up in khaki, he gags are a bit too tried and the succession is always rapid, at you haven't time for reminisquick laugh, and another joke RIAN ig esihe til id L'i MIRROR— • of K' lig * * Has rare mojarkling fun. It has also Wallie jeously unkempt and as playful Jane dog. Then, too, Raymond iren to leers, sneers, and stage tpdies most entertainingly with they go forth to fight the enemy. wfa ■LTlNEWS — * * * We are shown o: comedy, a little fighting and a o pretty French girls. And there ho! too. We see the rain and the balall soldiers remember as typical inc ...iNtG JOURNAL—* * * There's an tempt to burlesque "The Big But there is comedy — some of it everyone works hard. * * * >:N|JG world — * * * It is good ;k ^ a pair of well recognized slap 10 rise to a new high level of >m^ f. VP|LC — * * * The war atmosphere iig, the direction very good, and written by Ralph Spence, are ex jdeed, they go a long way toward . { t picture one of the most delightful . ies Iroadway has seen in a long while. Filling the Theater Hamilton, Ont. — George Swanwick, of the Lyric, has established a "Children's Hour" at the theater, between 4 and 5 P. M. daily, when they are admitted for hve cents. RING TELEGliAPH— * » * It is Bi Parade" with a reverse English, hU the M.-G.-M. feature is a tense c the war, relieved with flashes of '\t jmedy, "Behind the Front" is all It )medy, shot with flashes of pathos a ays end up with an unexpected wl: h sends the audience off into howls M* • • * * * It Starts out rather well, s badly, and pretty soon we have er one of those comedy things, ar background to remind one of pictures. * * ♦ * * Beery and Hatton smirked faces and fell down and bumped . another and performed with good hey are both natural and capable dnedians, and in consequence some * t les were really funny. * * • 'LI RAM — * * * Is sprinkled with a >U! quantity of old gags and a few .nl generated, it would seem, from otion that any old laugh is better ' * * * Lii — * * * There are long intervals en ;ally good humorous points in "Be tl Front," the current offering at iv , which strikes one as a burlesque he lig Parade." * * * IKD — * * * Needless to say, "The 'aaie" itself is seventy-five times fun'e humor of "Behind the Front" . < t from situations common to the r rm of the cinema. It is a "gag" T facial expressions of Wallace Beery doughboy, faces the enemy in the . France are priceless. • * * The film is a gay comedy of Continental life, with Menjou absolutely perfect as the uland boulevardier. * ♦ * EVENING WORLD—* * * With St. Clair and Menjou it is a crisp and brittle comedy of manners, moving along with a leer here and a wink there, never dull and never quite risque in spite of bathroom and bed chamber sequences. * * * GRAPHIC—* * * At least a godly share of the success of this picture — and we've seen no better comedy on Broadway this year — can be credited to Malcolm St. Clair, who directed it with a discnminatnig eye and a sophisticated touch. • * * HERALD-TRIBUNE — * * * Mr. Menjou is just the same as he was in "A Woman of Paris," and that's good enough for me. In "The Grand Duchess and the Waiter" Malcolm St. Clair, the director, has still turtlier endeared himself to us. * * * MORNING TELEGKj\PH— * * * Moving along at an extremely liesurely gait and serving as an average vehicle lor Adolphe Meiijou's personality, tne really "big" moment in the picture occurring when the clumsy waiter pours a pitchertul of cream on the decollette shoulder of the duchess and her black velvet frock is quite ruined. "The Grand Duchess and the Waiter" is, as you may have guessed, light. * * * jj(jSX — * * * Mr. Menjou is his old delightfully suave self, which is, surely, quite enough to make any one picture most pleasant, but there is also Florence Vidor. Never, we think, has Miss Vidor shone as she shines here. » * * SUN — * * * Is what critics call — for want of something more appropriate — "sparkling high comedy." * * * Is built up of little episodes joined together. They are touched with faint satire, for the most part, and cleverly picturized by Mr. St. Clair. * * * TELEGRAM—* * * It skims lightly along the keen edge of comedy, without once faltering into burlesque. It calls not for the raucous laughter of slapstick but for happy chuckles of sustained enjoyment. And, what is more, it gets them right along. ♦ ♦ * TIMES — * * * Mr. Menjou surpsasses himself in many of the scenes. By a mere raising of his eyebrows he is able to stir up peals of laughter. He is never really abashed, except possibly when he is caught with a maid's head reposing on his unwilling shoulder. * ♦ * WORLD — * * * The unusual spectacle of giving to the amusement-going public Something which in the pictmes is considerably better than it proved to be behind footlights. But to stick to the art, it niya be said that M. Savior's play as a motion picture is far cleverer than the so-called society comedies which come through from week to week on the screens. * * * and Duchess and the Waiter" Paramount Strand illy 1 ICAN— * * * St. Clair has Adolphe ■< I direct again. Menjou, of course, iished an actor as St. Clair is a "■' Together they have played vvith of a grand duchess and a waiter _ u entirely different spheres until it ■ Ijleems important. * • • , I r MIRROR—* • • Mr. Menjou is ■ . ightful and though his infectious :t zation differs not at all from the ■u ones, still, he is Menjou, and we ^<e im much. As the millionaire turf■«) masquerades a» the clumsy, but waiter, to be near the Grand Duchn he adores, he is charming. * * * ■' NEWS — * * * Charming farce, cast, ably directed and well photoexcept for a small section of film me unlovely dark spots appeared on Vidor's lovely countenance. Even forgivable, for the rest of the film lisfying. * * * ; iNG JOURNAL—* * * Malcolm a one of the megaphoned white hopes e [idustry, directed the Alfred Savior ai the result is divertingly delightful. "Moana" Paramount Rialto AMERICAN—* * * As a story, "Moana" is not absorbing. As a picture upon which to feast your eyes it is amazingly lovely. Flaherty has brought all the enchantment of island settings and island life. * * * Those who enjoyed "Nanook of the North" should certainly see "Moana." * ♦ * DAILY NEWS—* * * Has no plot and it is not based on fiction. The picture records the customs and natural graces of the Samoans, perhaps the noblest of the Polynesian races, a fast disappearing people. * * ♦ EVENING JOURNAL—* * * The photography is excellent, and natives participate with no trace of self-consciousness. There is no suspense, no menace, no manufactured plot involving a last-minute rescue by the United States Navy. Simply a pictorial statement of facts. * • • EVENING WORLD—* * * In this film, Flaherty, the dramatist of "Nanook," turns painter and artist. "Moana" is distinguished primarily by its pictorial beauty. It has continuously what the art student strives for in "composition" of a canvas. ♦ * • "Moana" is a rare combination of poetry, biography and drama. It should not be missed by any motion picture patron. * • * HERALD-TRIBUNE—* » * The picture is just the short and simple annals of the poor South Sea islanders. There is a reel or two of the tattooing of Moana when he reaches man's estate, and for his sake we hope that it didn't take any longer than it appeared in the film. • • ♦ MORNING TELEGRAPH—* * * It is more than a scenic film for it has the quality of intimacy which comes only from a full and sympathetic knowledge of human life and the ability to present it by means of pictures. ♦ * • "Moana" as it stands is a perfect thing to be enjoyed by the thoughtful, to leave unmoved those who take their pictures casually. * * * POST — * * * The photography is beyond reproach and many of the scenes are beautiful to behold, while the matters of trapping, spearing, gathering and preparing the daily bread are interesting and instructive. • * * "Moana" might well be termed a glorified travel picture, better made, perhaps more beautiful than most travel pictures, and about three times as long. ♦ • • SUN — ■* * * The golden beauty of primitive beings, of a South Sea Island that is an earthly paradise, is caught and imprisoned in Robert J. Flaherty's "Moana" which is being shown at the Rialto this week. The film is unquestionably a great one, a poetic record of Polynesian tribal life. * * ♦ TIMES—* * * In ';Moana" Mr. Flaherty has captured the spirit of the Polynesians and reflected their blissful content in their own surroundings. Here we have a poem which is filled with charm, without any makeshift villain to interfere with the effort — which was produced in the small village of Safune on the Island of Savau — and the consequence is that it is a joyful and at the same time a thoroughly artistic contribution to motion pictures. * * * WORLD — * * * There is a completeness about the episode which becomes amazing when it is realized there exists no dramatic story other than whatever drama and romance may lie in the straightway presentation of the rise to maturity of youth in a far away, strange and unenlightened land. GRAPHIC—* * * As comedies go, "What Happened to Jones" is better than the average. If it so chances that you are also a Reginald Denny fan, you'll like the extremely good-looking screen star in the role of Jones, as well as in anything of the kind you've seen him do. * * * HERALD-TRIBUNE— * * * Mr. Denny does not depend on situations. He has not only a delightiul sense of humor, but he has the ability to put it across. Besides that, he is handsome and agile. * • * POST — * * * It IS all very mad and not very uplifting, no doubt, but it is funny, and it moves along without waiting for much of anything, including plausibility. * * * SUN — * * * There is not much to say about it. Its humor is old — the "Charley's Aunt," petticoated variety — but it seems to wear well enough. Certainly the audience at the Colony laughed as though it was a newly minted brand of fun. * ♦ * TELEGRAM—* * * It is funny, openly and unashamedly laugh provoking surface comedy that brings laughs. It seeks not to delve into subtle depths nor to invoke pathos in its protagonist ; it is replete with gags and they make the audeince laugh often and loudly. * • * TIMES — * * * The idea of a young man on the evening before his wedding being in a poker game that is raided, followed by his escape to a Turkish bath on ladies' night, in itself offers possibilities for fun, and it is true, that Reginald Denny goes through the whole gamut of "W'hat Happened to Jones" with good nature and fortitude. • * * WORLD — * * * Hardly a man is now alive who has not observed on stage and screen ladies' night in the Turkish bath used for sterling comedy material. Low and old fashioned as it is, Mr. Denny, assisted by Otis Harlan, a round little fat man with queer paddling feet, made it all funny again. * * * Si I ti lift!. "The Midnight Limited" Rayart— S. R. Broadway AMERICAN—* * ■* The expected train wreck proved effective, with the blowing up of a high bridge to add excitement. The Broadway theater audience, which relishes melodrama, seemed quite satisfied. * * * DAILY MIRROR—* * * The flicker is so sodden with "drammer" and players heaving all over the place that the trains are compelled to take second place until the very end. Otherwise, the picture might have been more entertaining. * * * , . . ^ , MlORNING TELEGRAPH—* * * It's an exciting tale, full of good touches, and not overdone as to heart throbs. The suspense is well sustained and works up to a good climax, and there's always a thrill in fast trains rushing through the night to probable destruction. It's old stuff, but it holds up well, and in this case it proves very entertaining. • * * ,,.,., . . ,„ .„ POST * * * "The Midnight Limited will never win a prize for originality, but it runs along nicely. The cast, including Gaston Glass, Wanda Hawley and Richard Holt, helps. Skirbolls Change to Split Policy New Philadelphia, O.— The Opera House will have a combination policy starting Feb. 8 and for the first three days of the week only. The straight picture policy will prevail the last half. The house is owned by W. N. and H. R. Skirboll, of Ohio Educational and Gold SeaT exchanges. McWilliams With Fischer Chain Madison, Wise. — Frank J. McWilliams, veteran theater manager, has been named manager of the remodeled Parkway, reopened last week by the Fischer-Paramount chain. The theater has been virtually rebuilt. "What Happened to Jones" Universal Colony AMERICAN—* * * There's a snap to this picture that Denny's recent films have lacked. The situations were the kind that gagmen adore, and the action has been speeded up to keep something doing every minute. There is very little that doesn't happen to Jones in the newest and one of the funniest Denny farces. * * * DAILY MIRROR—* * * Mr. Denny is our most adroit screen farceur. He injects such sincerity and emotion into the most preposterous and outlandish situations that one simply sits back and shouts with ain.usement. * * * EVENING JOURNAL—* * * Zasu Pitts as the maid is gorgeously funny. Denny does good work, and both Miss Nixon and Margaret Quimby are pretty. * ♦ • EVENING WORLD—* * * It is ai rollicking bit of foolery. Denny has something about him that makes him enjoyable where many another comedian would be boresome. He canters along to a boisterous accompaniment. * • * Woman Mayor Flays "Blues" Minneapolis — Warning against "blue laws" was sounded in a recent radio address by Elizabeth K. Ries, of Shakopee, Minnesota's only woman mayor. Pathe, Ltd., Buys Two Shorts Red Seal has sold "The Silvery Art," a one reel sKiing reel, and "Flirting with Death," a two-reel skiing film, to Pathe, Ltd., through R. Reubenson, for Great Britain. Adds to Wisconsin Chain Milwaukee — The Northern Wisconsin Amusement Co., which operates a chain in the state, has taken over the Grand at Mondovie. R. T. Laatsch is manager. Ohio Rights Bought Cleveland — The Ivanhoe Film Exchange has purchased "Abie's Imported Bride" from Philip Greenberg, of Philadelphia, for Ohio. Montreal Exhibitors Hold Party Montreal — The Montreal Theater Managers Ass'n held a bal masque at the Venetian Gardens last night.