The Film Daily (1918)

■Mi DAILY Sunday, November 10, 1918 Very Artistic Kid Fairy Tale Much Too Long Becomes Tiresome Francis Carpenter and Virginia Lee Corbin in "FAN FAN" Fox Kid Special DIRECTOR S. A. Franklin SCENARIO BY Bernard McConville CAMERAMEN Frank B. Good and George Richter AS A WHOLE Beautifully done, but becomes tire= some. Is much too long. STORY Fairy tale melodrama kidded in titles DIRECTION Registered beautiful atmosphere and many artistic scenes with delightful handling of children, but interest is not maintained. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally delightful LIGHTINGS Many very artistic, generally pleasing CAMERA WORK Excellent STARS Very clever children SUPPORT Good EXTERIORS Exceptionally well chosen to regis= ter Japanese atmosphere. INTERIORS Maintained atmosphere very well in= deed. DETAIL Many excellent touches CHARACTER OF STORY May interest chffdren, but will tire grown=ups. Runs into too much footage. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 4,700 ft. CONSIDERED from the viewpoint of technique and artistic direction, this is a masterly bit of work. Unfortunately, the kid melodrama idea becomes tiresome after a certain amount of footage, with the result that the last half drags very decidedly. The production values throughout were quite distinctive and very pleasing, but five reels of kid melodrama which is having fun poked at it by the title writer, is much too much. This offering lacks the essential values of the earlier kid lilms, such as "Jack and the Beanstalk,"' which were based on exceptionally well-known stories, and I am very much afraid that the average audience will be decidedly bored despite the very artistic treatment given the subject by the directors. Francis Carpenter and Virginia Lee Corbin, supported by the same children who did such excellent work with those clever young stars in the previous Fox kid spectacles, registered their emotions in a manner that will make all the ladies declare that they are "just too cute for words," but unfortunately after they have been labelled cute a few scores of times, and the action continues to unwind without getting anywhere in particular. I am afraid that it will begin to seem somewhat tiresome. It is quite evident that considerable money was spent on this production because there were several big exterior scenes and many quite distinctive sets in which the Japanese atmosphere was very well maintained by careful attention to detail. There were a number of Jap players, including grown-ups, and cute little yellow skin kiddies. The plot never got anywhere in particular except that it had to do with a young hero who wanted to marry a little shero, with a willun who had been promised her hand in marriage. There were many, many rescues and escapes with most of the chase scenes running entirely too long. Finally, the willun was about to have the hero executed, when hero's father arrived on the scene and ordered the willun executed instead. An old maid who had been pursuing the hero throughout the course of the plot, pleaded that the willun be spared. since she saw no use in wasting a perfectly good bachelor, and so he was sent to a punishment which was almost as bad as death by being compelled to marry the very homely little old maid. Will Appeal To Certain Clientele. Be Careful HowiYou Bill It The Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor If this were in two or three reels I believe it would be an excellent feature-production and decidedly more likely to entertain than in its present form. Certainly, you can count on this as appealing to children* but I am very much afraid that the average grownup will get sore on the show and walk out long before the kids have finished their melodrama. The fact that the titles make fun of the action doesn't help particularly in holding the interest for grown-ups, because it ceases to be the visualization of a fairy tale and becomes an attempted comedy with children as the players. You are certainly safe in advertising from one angle because you can promise that this is a truly artistic production of a Japanese fantasy with very young stars in the leading parts. My advice would be to go very easy on this, however, and make it quite clear to your fans what you are handing them. If you have played "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Aladdin and His Lamp," and other of the Fox kid spectacles, I would mention particularly that this has been made by the same director, with the same children, because then you will be able to get into the house all of those who like that sort of Him, while the gang which does not care for that kid stuff will stay away and appreciate having been tipped off. If you feel that you can't get enough in to justify your playing this, in using such tactics, I would advise you to let it alone. It is better business to do less business sometimes than it is to get them in under false pretenses or rather through failure on your part to clearly explain what you are going to offer. The best for you to remember always is that satisfied customers are your best advertisers.