The Film Daily (1918)

Sunday, November 17, 1918 iMfy AIL.Y Pleasing Personalities In Delightfully Human Romantic Comedy Drama Tom Moore in "THIRTY A WEEK" Goldwyn DIRECTOR Harry Beaumont AUTHOR Thompson Buchanan SCENARIO BY J. Clarkson Miller CAMERAMAN George Webber ART DIRECTOR Hugo Ballin AS A WHOLE Pleasing personalities in human little romance registers as delightful entertain* ment but photography marred offering con= siderably. STORY The old idea of the chauffeur marrying the "chauffed" but it certainly has been made delightful by handling and some great titles. DIRECTION Kept this human and developed characterizations and incidents effectively with many good little touches registered. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally had a grainy and off= focus effect that marred offering decidedly. May have been rush print. LIGHTINGS Generally too contrasty and grainy photography discounted few effects registered. CAMERA WORK Satisfactory STAR The goils will think him "jest grand"; he sure is likable and interesting to watch. SUPPORT Miss Bankhead very pleasing and others balanced nicely. EXTERIORS Well selected but photography discounted them. INTERIORS Effectiveness lost in hazy photography and contrasty lightings. DETAIL Hands weren't made up in close-up in auto; individual touches and titles great. CHARACTER OF STORY Wholesome and pleasing romance. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION. . About 4,800 feet IF Tom Moore hasn't started making money for you yet "on his own," you'd better start working on him because he's surely going to land among the big ones if they give him half a chance. Developing a new star means co-operation all around and that includes the exhibitor so you may as well start your little noise now. This was the old stuff of the "Thirty a Week" chauffeur marrying the millionaire's darter whom he was paid to "cliauff" and it certainly gets over as delightfully human entertainment the way it has been handled. Shero is being rushed by a semi-willun whom she can't see and she does like chauffeur Tom so she plans to win him over for her own and they give us some delightful business where she gets Tom to drive her out in the country in the car where she swipes a part of the machinery, making it necessary for them to remain in the car all night, so she can be "compromised" and demand that Tom marry her. This was her ruse to overcome her parent's objections to her marrying a chauffeur. Tom and Shero live happily on his "thirty a week" until he loses his job through the machinations of Shero's irate father and willun. A. friend offers Tom a chance to run his car in a race, which he accepts, winning three hundred dollars. In the meantime a sick pal of Tom's has been ordered to Arizona by his doctor in order to save his life and when the pal's wife sees Tom after the race, he gives her the money. The transaction is witnessed by willun, who immediately goes to Shero and cooks up a different story with the result that she returns to her parents and starts divorce proceedings. Shero's lawyer learns the truth about Tom's disposition of the money, Shero's father sends for him and the couple are happily reunited. Director Harry Beaumont smashed all precedent by having Tom come in second instead of winning the auto race by a margin, for which I thank him. There was one bit in this where Alec B. Francis, as Shero's father, told willun to "Go to hell." This was registered without a title but any audience will get it and it will sure get a yell. The titles in this were immense and will certainly gather a bunch of hearty laughs and we had many delightful romantic bits which registered because they were natural and human. It is certainly to be regretted that the photography all through this was decidedly faulty. It was never clearly defined, having a grainy, muddy appearance that discounted the offering very noticeably. This may have been a bad print, rushed out in time for the Rialto showing, but it certainly looked terrible in spots and did not match up with the usual Goldwyn high standard at any time. We have a decidedly pleasing shero in this who appears on the program as Tallulah Bankhead, which name is rather "intrikut" and hard to remember and I hope she considers the advisability of condensing it before we get used to her because she has certainly won a permanent place in the films through her work in this. Alec.B. Francis did his usual fine work as the stern father who worked up a smile for the finish ; Grace Henderson was excellent as Tom's mother; Warburton Gamble was a good cast-off suitor while Ruth Elder and Brenda Ferber completed the cast. GeofnaldSarkeiy No-w completing foe Golctwyb Fourth. Special Pr odttction. Mis'? Gei?fci<ttfte F&rr<ar.