The Film Daily (1921)

Sunday, January 23, 1920 iM^ DAILY 1.5 Not Enough Action In This For Crook Story. Thomas Meighan in , "THE FRONTIER OF THE STARS" Paramount DIRECTOR Charles Maigne AUTHOR Albert Payson Terhune SCENARIO BY Charles Maigne CAMERAMAN Faxon M. Dean AS A WHOLE Rather slow of action for crook picture; first reels contain very little action; last reel good STORY Adapted from Albert Payson Terhune story which ran as a serial in All Star Weekly DIRECTION Has worked up effective climax but should have gotten some life in early reels PHOTOGRAPHY Fair LIGHTINGS Many very dark CAMERA WORK Average STAR Hasn't much to do until last reel; not a particularly attractive crook role SUPPORT Faire Binney leading lady; crook types all right EXTERIORS Fair INTERIORS All right DETAIL Adequate CHARACTER OF STORY Crook is reformed by influence of little cripple girl LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 5,693 feet Thomas Meighan who is probably best known for his portrayal of the crook in George Loane Tucker's "The Miracle Man," has another crook role in "The Frontier of the Stars," but it's a weak one. The picture is nearly six reels but it isn't until practically the very last reel that the star is called upon to do any acting of any account. There's just one scrap in the opening scenes in which the star is caught with a gun in his hand after a fight but escapes from the police. The roof scene doesn't look like the real thing but the backgrounds are usually kept so dark that it won't matter. The director lias worked the climax up well, providing a spectacular bit in a lire which traps the crook and the girl in the house and their escape later. Hilda Shea, the cripple girl, had never been anywhere but up on the roof, except at night when she was taken down stairs to sleep. She lived with her brother Phil Hoyt, and his wife Mary. Hoyt was a detective and was doing his best to round np Buck Leslie (Meighan), and his gang of crooks. He almost had the "goods" on Buck when he escaped and hid on the roof of the tenement where he met Hilda. The girl helped Buck to hide and thereafter they were pals and through the good influence and the innocence ot the little girl, who had never been anywhere. Buck began* to reform. He even secured honest employment in the .mill. Buck's reformation disgusted his pals and so they framed a trick on him. Telling him it was an invention formula they got Buck to mix up some explosive acids, thinking he would be killed doing it. But he wasn't. And the acids were for the purpose of blowing open safes noiselessly, While showing his "invention" to Hilda, Hoyt appeared on the scene and a test proved that Buck was planning another "job" although he swore he had been framed. A fight followed and Buck escaped and in the excitement Hilda walked for the first time. Later the building caught lire and Buck risked his life to save Hilda. Explanations followed and the two were happy. a GEVAERT RAW FILM STOCK ^55 Positive — Negative United States Distributor THE GEVAERT COMPANY OF AMERICA, Inc. HOOVEN BUILDING 117 West 46,h St., N.Y. City Colored Positive (U. S. Pat.) Manufactured by L. GEVAERT & CO. ANTWERP, BELGIUM