The Film Daily (1926)

Si day, November 7, 1926 THE ■^t^ DAILY 11 Fred Humes in "The Yellow Back" Universal sstern — which means lCtion, romance, and 'hrills. the usual req riSITES THAT SPELL ENTERTAINMENT OF THIS ARTICULAR TYPE. FINE JACE AT THE FINISH. r. .. .Horse-shy hero who finishes p a ridin' streak. Fred Humes ides well and fulfills all the necesary requirements of a cowboy heo very capably. St.... Lotus Thompson the pretty eroine whose pa. Buck Conners, omes dangerously near losing his anch. Claude Payton not very acive as the villain. pe of Story. .. .Western. The title loesn't refer to United States curency. It is just another way of aying that hero Andy Hubbard vas afraid of horses, although he lung around ranches. Once again ove is the means of erasing hero's :owardice and he comes out the vinner in the big race. The story s the conventional type of west;rn with the romance rounding out he plot to the clinch finish. There s the expected deviltry of villain ind a more or less obviousness that ;he average director of westerns nakes no attempt to conceal. This :ime hero meets up with the girl ay pulling her out of the pond where her horse threw her. He jets a job on her father's ranch and manages to steer fairlj' clear of horses until Anne enters her father's best runner, Lady, in the big race as a last hope of securing the hioney to pay off the old mortgage. The ranch goes to villain if Lady loses. Villain had already been turned down on the well known proposal of marriage to Anne as a means of saving the ranch. Anne picks hero to ride Lady. Andy and the Chinese cook, also horse shy, hide Lady but at the last minute hero, with a bravery born of love, dons the colors and rides Lady to a spectacular victory. Fine shots in the cross country race and some igood thrills. ox Office Angle. .. .Something just a trifle not so routine in the cross countrv race that finishes this. They'll like it. xploitation You have another WW cowboy star to introduce, altliough Fred Humes is not new to pictures. They'll like his work in this and a trailer of the race might easily get them sufficiently enthused to want to see the rest of the picture. Talk about the hero who \\ns horse shy but finally won the Iiig race. irection Del Andrews; satisfactory. uthor Del Andrews ;enario Del Andrews ameraman Al C. Jones hotography Good focale The West ength 4,766 feet Reed Howes in "The High Flyer" Ray art — State Rights AIRPLANE THRILL CLIMAX SUPPLIES FINE SUSPENSE AND WILL READILY INTEREST THE CROWD THAT WANTS PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT FOR THE PRICE OF ADMISSION. Cast.... Reed Howes, the daredevil hero who stops at nothing to retrieve the valuable papers. Ethel Shannon the usual heroine who has little to do. Cissy Fitzgerald is responsible for some of the laughs and Roy Haller shares the responsibility. Paul Panzer and Earl Metcalfe have the villainy up their sleeves and Ernest Hilliard is an innocent victim of their tricks. Type of Story. . . .Crook story, adapted from T. Frank Clark's "The Bird Man." Harry J. Brown has saved the wallop for the climax and the rest of the crook business, captures, escapes, masquerades, double crossing and all the rest, is put in the shade by the thrills of the airplane hold-up which serves as a thoroughly thrilling conclusion for an otherwise rather disjointed tale. Just when hero Reed Howes has staged a daring rescue and saved his friend, Brecy, from the clutches of the villain and is about to deliver the valuable plans to the proper authority, along comes villain again, snatches the papers and makes his geldway in an auto, connects with an airplane all ready for the hop-off and speeds away into the sky. But hero Reed Howes, the undaunted, hops into a second car and, in due course, into a second airolane and the fight is on. The following scenes are replete with thrills showing hero changing airplanes in mid-air, taking the coveted papers away from villain, changins: back to his own plane again and finally landing all safe and sound with the papers once more in his possession. It is a great display of implausibility, but the fan crowd won't care a hoot about that. It supplies thrills and that's what some of them are willing to pay for. Box Office Angle. .Action and thrills aplenty — if you know that is what your folks require. Exploitation Reed Howes, the handsome collar model, is something more than just handsome these days. He's performing daredevil stunts in his Rayart pictures that should be gaining him a followine. Tell them about the airplane hold up in "The High Flyer." Perhaps some local stunt flyer might help vou to advertise the picture bv flving over your city, dropping throwaways announcing the picture. Direction Harry J. Brown; average. Author J. Frank Clark Scenario Not credited Cameraman Not credited Photography Fair Locale Large city Length 5,610 feet "The Midnight Message" Goodwill Pictures — State Rights SUITABLE FOR A NON-CRITICAL AUDIENCE ONLY. POORLY CONSTRUCTED STORY BUT JOHNNY FOX, JR., AND FAIR COMEDY WILL AMUSE SOME FOLKS. Cast. . Mary Carr has a short inning as the little old mother plugging away at a sewing machine. Mary is ever in poverty but her appearance in so many pictures must certainly keep the wolf from her door, in reality. Johnny Fox, Jr., a smart kid who plays a typical wisecracking messenger boy. Others, not important in the story, are Stuart Holmes, Creighton Hale, Wanda Hawley, Mathilde Brundage and Otis Harlan who gets over an occasional laugh. Type of Story. . . .Crook story. "The Midnight Message" is a rather carelessly put together picture that bears evidence of having been done hastily and without much overhead. Paul Hurst is capable of better direction than he shows here. The story development has flagrant loopholes and it is choppy. To start with you have young hero interrupting a burglary. He frees the girl who has been bound and gagged and then enters the room where the thieves are at work. They get Johnny but no attempt is made to explain what happened to the girl and why she didn't give the alarm. This is just one of the slips that occur. The adventures of the young Western Union hero may suffice to interest some audiences but they'll have to be very liberal to enjoy it. The Western Union gets an elegant break what with the constant use of the messenger boy hero, the appearance of a telegraph shop and numerous close ups of telegrams. Of course, young Johnny is the means of eventually apprehending the robbers and after he proves that they planted the stolen goods on him to shift suspicion from themselves hero is all set for the reward offered by the owner of the jewels. Johnny pockets the thousand and sets out to buy his ma a new sewing machine. Box Office Angle. . . .Mediocre entertainment. Best suited for double feature bill or for use in conjunction with strong supporting short subject program. Exploitation .... An assured thing that local Western Union shops will lend their cooperation. Any number of stunts can be worked with messenger boys. With such a ready and effective tie up available it is unfortunate that the picture isn't a stronger entertainment Direction Paul Hurst; careless. Author H. H. Van Loan Scenario H. H. Van Loan Cameraman Not credited Photography Fair Locale Los Angeles Length 5,000 feet. "Dangerous Virtue" Ay won Pictures — State Rights SMALL APPEAL IN STORY THAT IS NOT ESPECIALLY WHOLESOME AND QUITE POORLY PUT TOGETHER. FAIR PRODUCTION AND NO CONVINCING PERFORMANCES. Cast Jane Novak appears in an unattractive role, that of a girl whose sacrifice is misconstrued by her lover, played with little force by Warwick Ward. Miles Mander awkward in his manner of playing. Julanne Johnston and Grace Jennings a pair of misguided young women. Most of the players give stilted performances with considerable meaningless gesturing. Type of Story. .. .Drama. "Dangerous Virtue" is one of those borderline themes that risk just a certain amount of shady situations and then wind up with a thoroughly virtuous finish. It is not good entertainment any way you take it. The story has been put together in a haphazard fashion with the various sequences happening along in a disjointed manner that fails to keep the interest centered in any one character or situation. It is utterly lacking in conviction and the elaborate and unpleasant revenge scheme of the man who believes a woman tricked him is not the sort of thing that most people will relish. There are two women who admit a "past" and another who is ready to give herself to the man she loves when he suggests an arrangement omitting the marriage ceremony. The whole affair hinges on this idea and it is worked out in a variety of patterns for the spectators' pleasure, if pleasure it is supposed to afford. Beatrice breaks her engagement to Capt. Le Briquet and he marries Sonia. Fearing to spoil their happiness Beatrice withholds Sonia's confession of her past from the Captain. When he learns of this he believes Beatrice did it to wreck his life. Sonia commits suicide and the Captain goes about a plan of making Beatrice love him, to the point where she will give herself to him without marriage. He then expects to cast her off. But he discovers in due course that Beatrice had acted in a spirit of sacrifice and there is the marriage to provide a proper ending. Box Office Angle .... Poor entertainment. Theme and mediocre production preclude this doing a satisfactory business. Exploitation Little that the picture offers in the way of exploitation possibilities. The story is such that you cannot talk about it and where you cater to family trade j-ou cannot possibly use it. The title will bring in certain crowds, those who prefer a touch of sensation in their film fare. Direction Graham Cutts; poor Author Sir Gerald Du Maurier Scenario Rudolph Vesier — May Edginton. Cameraman Not credited Photography Fair Locale England Length 5,032 feet