The Film Daily (1918)

Saturday, August 3, 1918 tMA DAILY Meller Discounts It Some, But Comedy Element Puts It Over Francis X. Bushman and Beverly Bayne in "A PAIR OF CUPIDS" Metro DIRECTOR Charles J. Brabin AUTHOR Luther A. Reed SCENARIO BY R. J. Bergquist CAMERAMAN Luther A. Reed AS A WHOLE Entertaining comedy=drama slows up at finish but baby stuff in first few reels is a riot. STORY Hero's uncle brings Hero and Shero to= gether by leaving borrowed baby at the door of each, with resultant complications. DIRECTION Gave good twists and injected funny business with babies although slowed down a bit in last reel. PHOTOGRAPHY Classy throughout LIGHTINGS Many artistic bits CAMERA WORK Generally very good STARS Triumphed in this SUPPORT Very good; old couple great EXTERIORS Many beautiful shots INTERIORS Artistic DETAIL Many good touches CHARACTER OF STORY For any audience; mar= ried folks in particular. Some rough stuff in saloon, but should not offend. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 4,794 feet I UNDERSTAND that this is the last Bushman-Bayne picture for Metro under their present contract, and if such is the case, they certainly "left 'em smiling when they said good-bye." Not that this was such a tremendous story or an unusual idea but it provided business that brought laughs and if I'm not mistaken most folks will rave about it to their friends. We had Bushman and Bayne in this as a pair who were too much engrossed in social obligations and sech to consider marriage, so Bushman's uncle thinks up a scheme to bring the two together on a connubial basis. Uncle negotiates with the scrub-woman in his office building for the lean of her twin babies, giving a bond for twenty "thou" to guarantee their safe return in a month. One of the babies is left on Hero's doorstep and the other on Shero's and then the fun commences. Each finds a note, supposedly from the mother of the child and giving implicit instructions on the care of the baby. Of course, neither knows that the other has been similarly blessed and they try to keep their new charges secret. We have some business with Hero washing baby that should create a riot anywhere and, of course, the way he holds the child will register with the women. The action gets very Keystoney where Hero pushes the butler into the bath tub. but it's funny and doesn't appear forced. It happens that both Hero and Shero take their babies out for an airing the same morning, they meet and explanations follow, resulting in the two getting a new view on matrimony through the influence of the babies. Then they bring on the meller. The father of the kiddies explains to a couple of bad eggs about the twenty "thou" that is his if the babies are not returned and we have them planning to kidnap the twins and collect from uncle. The maid being in the park with Shero's baby makes this easy for one of the crooks while the other overpowers Hero's butler and makes off with Hero's baby. In the meantime, Hero and Shero have gone to uncle's house to announce their engagement. Simultaneously, the babies' parents arrive for their twins and the maid and butler come in and spill the sad news. Hero smells a rat and follows the father to the hangout where the crooks are waiting with the twins and he sacks the gang single-handed. Shero, uncle and the mother of the twins arrive on the scene and after some funny business with Bridget preparing to wallup her husband, we finish with the clutch. The meller in the latter part of the offering rather discounted the innocent fun in the beginning, but I don't think this will be criticised. Any Gang Will Enjoy This. Make Some Noise About It The Box Office Analvsis for the Exhibitor This will not only make a great hit with BushmanBayne followers, but should gain this pair many new admirers. I don't remember of ever seeing them in a production in which they registered to better advantage than in this and Director Brabin has given us many touches that combine with the stars to put this over as delightful entertainment. If you think your gang is interested in the private life of screen folks, you might say something about the fact that these two have just recently married. You might use catehlines like these to create interest in the offering: "Did you ever see a man try to take care of a baby? See 'A Pair of Cupids'." "Have you a bachelor friend that you would like to see married? See Bushman and Bayne in 'A Pair of Cupids' and you will learn how to bring it about." "If you were the mother of a pair of twins would you loan them out for a month to make a young couple happy? See 'A Pair of Cupids'." Anyone who doesn't get a bunch of laughs out of this offering is too far gone to worry about so I would play up the fact that this screamingly funny comedy centered about a pair of borrowed babies. That ought to sound interesting.