The Film Daily (1920)

Sunday, January 4, 1920 ali^ DAILY 15 Old-Time Meller Doesn't Hold and Lacks the Better Production Points Dolores Cassinelli in "THE WEB OF DECEIT" Edwin Carewe Prod. — Pathe DIRECTOR Edwin Carewe AUTHOR Finis Fox SCENARIO BY Coolidge W. Streeter CAMERAMAN Not credited AS A WHOLE Melodrama of the old school lacks a sustaining interest because the audience know^s just what the next move will be. STORY Affords the star a chance to portray two different types but outside of that doesn't mean much. DIRECTION Straight stuff; allowed some bad slip-ups on the part of the players. PHOTOGRAPHY Not exceptionally fine LIGHTINGS Bad at times PHOTOGRAPHY Could have been much better STAR Got her characters badly mixed up at one time. SUPPORT Hugh Cameron has the strongest part and Mitchell Harris was a rather unimpressive hero. EXTERIORS Some pretty shots of a country estate. INTERIORS A few had a "setty" appearance DETAIL Titles crowded in where they weren't necessary should be removed. CHARACTER OF STORY. .. .Old-fashioned meller dealing with lost daughter of wealthy man impersonated by girl crook. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION. ..... .About 6,000 feet "The Web of Deceit" is a good title all right, and they go right to it along those lines but there isn't a single thing new about Finis Fox's story. There isn't a new twist to lift it out of the rut and things just happen along so natural-like, that you are never in doubt as to what is going to happen next. An interest that is sustained throughout is essential for picture entertainment — that something creating a desire to see it through. However, in "The Web of Deceit," after the first few hundred feet, you're sure of the ending. Throughout there is a continued presentation of old-time situations— the dying confession in which the girl crook finds her opportunity to secure her heart's desire and the complications leading to the disclosure of her true identity and her final convenient death. Dolores Cassinelli plays the part of Wanda Hul:)bard and also that of her sister, Lucille, who in reality is the daughter of the wealthy Major Clark. As Wanda, Miss Cassinelli is leading a life very much dififerent from that pictured to her folks in the country. On a week-end visit home her mother dies, making a confession in which she discloses that Lucille is really the daughter of Major Clark. Wanda, however, switches the identity and presents herself to the Major as his long-lost daughter. Various incidents give Wanda much worry about her discovery and when Lucille arrives in New York she applies for instruction at Roger Barney's art school where she meets Wanda. Roger is sort of an adopted son of Major Clark and the object of Wanda's next move. Before Lucille has a chance to talk to him Wanda persuades her to leave because she fears their resemblance will bring about the discovery she is trying to avoid. Hugh Cameron, known as a pretty slick crook, returns from Arizona where he had gone for his health after a narrow escape from the police. He confronts his former pal, Wanda, in her room and in the struggle that follows she is killed and the wounded Cameron tells the story which the audience, knows all the time. Lucille is proclaimed the real daughter and they end up by having Roger and shero clutch. Use Your Own Judgment on This One and Be Discreet Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor As long as stories continue to be written and pictures to be produced, so do they continue to come forth with the old dyed-in-the-wool melodraama with all the old situations rehashed and done over, and most of the time there isn't the slightest semblance of a new twist. "The Web of Deceit" is just one of those things. And with it all there is a percentage of the so-called "movie fans" who like this sort of stuff'. If you can number enough of them among your "reg'ulars" you can probably get away with this one but if you are catering to a better class clientele who look for something new, something worth while in picture production— well, just use your own judgment. Miss Cassinelli's name may have some drawing power in which case use her name in connection with the story and play up the fact that in "The Web of Deceit" she plays two distinct characters.