The Film Daily (1918)

Saturday, November 9, 1918 nJuftt DAIE.Y Crude Slapstick Kid Hokum Helped a Lot by Trick Doll Stuff Jane and Katherine Lee in "TELL IT TO THE MARINES" Fox DIRECTOR Arvid E. Gillstrom AUTHOR Arvid E. Gillstrom SCENARIO BY Adrian Johnson CAMERAMAN A. Leach AS A WHOLE Slapstick hokum kid comedy cut in with foreign war meller kidded in titles and exceptionally clever mannikin trick stuff. STORY Really none DIRECTION Crude in comedy attempts but man= nikin novelty very interesting. PHOTOGRAPHY Ordinary LIGHTINGS Ordinary CAMERA WORK Ordinary except mannikin stuff STARS Very cute kids but miss fire when forced by direction. SUPPORT The dolls were great EXTERIORS Acceptable INTERIORS Will pass DETAIL Generally rather crude CHARACTER OF STORY Rough in spots but will hardly offend. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 4,600 feet THE only chance this has of getting over with discriminating fans is on the strength of the novelty trick stuff which shows a^lot of dolls fighting miniature battles. This stuff is quite interesting and will undoubtedly register with any audience and particularly with children. The straight slapstick comedy action in which the kid stars figure, was decidedly crude in treatment, and generally unfunny because it was forced. After pulling all the hokum they can think of, the director introduced some scenes from a foreign war picture which was evidently some ordinary production made abroad, showing a boy rescuing his mother from a burning house while soldiers fought on the snow-clad hills. These scenes were introduced by means of bringing the Lee kids to a film theatre and running the war scenes on the screen with a lot of titles which kidded the picture, in 1111 attempt to make it funny. The funniest thing about these titles was the main title in which the name Phil Bunken was registered about a dozen times, and this had a particular laugh in it in view of the fact that Mr. Fox is one of our notorious offenders in the matter of plastering his name all over the titles and advertising matter in connection with all of his pictures. Some of the kid comedy might have been funny if it hadn't been so crude, but it certainly seemed to me that most of it will miss fire because it fell short of the Mack Sennett Keystone technique and was entirely too coarse to register as straight comedy. The animated doll scenes ran for at least a full reel and without question provided the nearest approach to entertainment offered by this. It may be all right to make fun of the battle and war scenes, but somehow it jarred a bit with me to see the burlesq\;e titles tied up with scenes which were evidently made with serious intent, although it happens that they did not have sufficient intelligent direction to make them truly effective or realistic. The final incident, in which a very fat servant splashed around in a bath-tub full of water in order to provide a sufficient seepage, through the ceiling to wet the kiddies in bed a little, was painfully overdrawn. I can't feel that anyone will accept this without an internal groan, because there was absolutely no logic to the manner in which the would-be fat comedienne floundered around in the water. The Lee children are great kids but a few more bad films may injure their reputation very materially. They need direction and it is certainly to be regretted that they are not receiving it. Be Careful How You Advertise This. Should Go Great on Saturday The Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor The title of this has a catchy swing because it is a well-known saying, and the Lee kids have an undeniable drawing power. Possibly you will be justified in showing this since you can probably do some business with it, but I would certainly be careful not to make any rash promises as to the merits of the offering. If I were going to try to get away with this, I would concentrate attention on the animated doll stuff because these scenes are really clever and quite interesting. If you will explain to your fans that it takes many weeks to make these dolls act, I believe that you will add quite a bit to the interest your fans will show in the production. It will probably be an excellent idea to show photographs of Jane and Katherine Lee and photographs of the two leaders of the doll armies with the statement that these dolls trik and trak are co-stars with the famous Lee kids. This should be a particularly desirable film to show on Saturday because as a rule, your Saturday night crowd stands for things that more discriminating audiences will kick about, and certainly the Saturday afternoon kid matinee would enjoy the wild antics of these youthful stars as well as the very remarkable acting of the wooden dolls. It is possible that the Fox policy with the Lee kids has been to place them in very rough slapstick comedy because the truly artistic kid pictures made by the Franklin boys failed to bring in the expected return on the investment. Unless you have played other rough comedies with the Lee kids, you should make it quite clear to your fans that these Fox kid pictures are not like the fairy tale kid pictures which have been shown in the past, but are strictly modern comedies.