The Film Daily (1918)

Sunday, October 6, 1918 TsiijA OAILV 25 Star Registers Distinct Triumph in Sure-Fire Comedy. Will Go Big Dorothy Gish in "BATTLING JANE" New Art Film Co. — Paramount ?J RECTOR Elmer Clifton £U1 HOR Arnold Bernot r5S^R/!2 aBJ ArnoId Bernot ^ES • Not credited as A w nULt Exceptionally entertaining comedy drama has laughs galore, great titles and oodles of sure=fire touches. STORY Elementary plot made delightful by star and treatment. DIRECTION Registered many sure=fire touches and made this interesting every minute by won= derful handling of star and cast and a keen appre= ciation of smal!=town atmosphere. PHOTOGRAPHY. Adequate but not distinctive; frequently muddy and off=focus. LIGHTINGS. Varied decidedly; some good touches but generally too contrasty. CAMERA WORK Routine STAR A positive delight in comedy role that regis= tered with a bang. Mannerisms and actions are a riot. SUPPORT Boob lover was a scream; great types throughout. EXTERIORS Provided excellent smalltown atmosphere. INTERIORS Fitted atmosphere with many good detail touches registered. DETAIL Many effective bits CHARACTER OF STORY Will win any audience LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 4,800 feet DOROTHY ! Where have you been ! We've seen Miss Gish in some splendid productions in the past and her work in "Hearts of the World" Avas delightful but if this little lady don't knock 'em dead with this production, there is surely something the matter with 'em. I claim there is more delightful, sure-fire comedy in this delightfully humorous offering than we've had handed to us for a long, long time, and it's of such a distinctive, effervescent nature that you just keep on chuckling way down inside, when you're not laughing outright, all the time you are watching this. The story is elementary, but Director Elm«r Clifton has kept it moving with oodles of sun touches and a dash of meller which is also | the comedy vein, with the result that you just and eat this up. Director Clifton deserves credit for having dev< Loped a characterization that is delightfully different than anything we have seen Miss Gish do in the past and he has provided atmosphere and some great village tj put this over with a bang. They start this off with a running close-up of Miss Gish coming down a country road on a "bike" we have her dismounting to do battle with a gang of kids and grown-ups to get over the nick-name "Battling Jane" — and believe me. the name is impressed upon your mind when she gets into action. The story concerns a worthless doctor who has left his wife and baby and Dorothy adopts the child when the mother dies. Dorothy gets a job slinging hash in a boarding and picks up with a rural lover, permitting of some of the best bashful romantic stuff I have ever se< n. Dorothy's adopted baby wins the prize at a baby show and when the Doctor hears about it he frames with willun to get the money. This brings on the meller. with Dorothy holding the two crooks prisoners in a closet until the detective comes in. Dorothy invests the prize money in W. S. S. and The Red Cross and they finish with a parade of soldiers headed by Dorothy and her sweetheart, who is in a uniform of the U. S. army. The scenes where Dorothy is milking the cow are a riot and the business of the kerosene in the candy given her by Hero will certainly get a yell. I saw this at the Rivoli and the names of the cast were omitted on the film, which is the custom with that house, but I want to give the fellow that played the boob lover credit for one of the best characterizations of a bashful rural youth that I have ever seen. His name was omitted on the Rivoli program, which credited others in the cast as George Nicholls as "Doc," May Hall as the baby's mother, Katherine MacDonald as the betrayed sweetheart of willun. Bertram Grassby, as the willun crook and Ernest Marion as the baby, who was a healthy-looking little youngster that would win a prize in any baby show. All did good work but the attention centered on the star and the boob guy all the way. *&*&!& Dii-ttctoro HOBART HENLEY M.P.D.A. Directing MAE MARSH 4orGcldw>ii Current and ioi,ttico«iin?^releayes': "^s£ Face in the Dark" "AirVbrnai^-^eO^ Pearf ""^e Glorious Adventure"