The Film Daily (1918)

Sunday, November 17, 1918 lfe£ DAILY Lacks Dramatic Punch But Drives Home A Thought To Americans Henry Irving Dodge's 'THE YELLOW DOG" Universal Special DIRECTOR Colin Campbell AUTHOR Henry Irving Dodge SCENARIO BY Elliot J. Clawson CAMERAMAN Harry Neumann AS A WHOLE. . .Effective propaganda because of theme although fails to hit any dramatic high spots and action moves very slowly until finish. STORY. . . .Hits true patriotic angle and its circulation in Saturday Evening Post should put it over. DIRECTION. . .Made most of story that lacked dramatic situations for swift=moving film production and injected many good kid touches that lifted of= fering. PHOTOGRAPHY. . Just straight stuff. Not distinctive. LIGHTINGS Generally too uniform and frequently harsh on faces. CAMERA WORK Generally very good CAST All very satisfactory with Hoyt and Short carrying away first honors. EXTERIORS. . .Fitted atmosphere; ship=yard stuff very fine. INTERIORS Acceptable DETAIL Satisfactory CHARACTER OF STORY . . . Every American should see it; should go great with young boys. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 6,000 feet THIS didn't adapt itself to picture purposes as well as Mr. Dodge's famous "Skinner" series but it drives home a thought and that thought, as a patriotic message, should go to every American. The story is laid in the town of Danforth, which is YOUR town or any other town that isn't one hundred percent American, and shows how the efforts of one real American in that town organized a band of boys who called themselves the Boy Detectives of America, to run down German propaganda, the subtle, Yellow Dog kind, and make the town one hundred percent American. They opened this up with several lengthy titles to put over the thought of the story and this was followed by one of the most effective shots in the offering, shoeing a sneaking mongrel dog roaming around some ash cans wilh his tail between his Legs. Arthur Hoyt is the real American whose lighting spirit is aroused when he hears pro-German gossip which is finding eager listeners with disastrous effect upon the morale and patriotic spirit of the town folk and he conceives the idea of organizing a band of boys whose business it is to run down every unpatriotic utterance that comes to their ears, their method of procedure being to ask "How Do You Know," whenever they hear a remark that the speaker can't back up. Antrim Short was very good as the leader of the band of boys and they had a little romance between him and Clara Horton, although this was only incidental and had very little to do with the story. Of course there was a spy plot in this, Frank Clark being the leader of a gang of spies who were working for the Kaiser by spreading propaganda harmful to the United States and finally putting over a scheme to set tire to the ship-yards. This plot was frustrated by Short, who very conveniently overheard the spies' plans by getting into the basement of Clark's house and having the door locked behind him, forcing him to go out through the front door. Then for suspense, they had Short oversleep so he would wake up just in time to warn his father at the shipyards the minute the spy was setting fire to the machinery. There is a battle on between the spy and Short's father when Hoyt and Short arrive, the spy is shot while attempting to escape and Clark is discovered trying to make his get-away and sent to prison. We had some very effective titles in this, which really dominated the action in the early part of the offering, and although this missed as tense drama, it drives home a thought which ought to start folks thinking. Producers seem to think that it is necessary to have a man wear a Kaiser moustache in order to make him convincing as a German spy — they pinned one of these on the grocery clerk spy in this. The ship launchings at the finish were very effective and served to put a little pep in the offering which rinsed with the regulation flag ending. Others in the cast were: Will Macben, Frank Hayes, Frederic Starr, Ruby Lafayette, Ralph Graves, Lily Clark and Fred Kelsey. Has Possibilities But Must Be Plugged Hard To Bring Results The Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor This offers an opportunity for unusual advertising and real circus publicity and should be a big box office bet if you go after it with a vengeance, leaving nothing undone to let everybody in town know about the attraction and when you are playing it. But, because of the nature of the offering, it's one of those things that is very apt to die on your hands unless you do get out and plug it hard along unusual lines. If it is possible for you to get a print of this for a special showing for the young boys in your town about a week ahead of your regular play date, this would enable you to organize your local Yellow Dog Club ayd have the younger element plugging for you so that when you play the attraction everyone's curiosity will be aroused — with the resultant big business. You might have some cards printed with "HOW DO YOU KNOW" on one side and "See the 'Yellow Dog' at the Blank theatre." together with the. date, on the other. Have your boys supplied with these at least a week ahead of the showing and get them to hand one to everybody they see. The Universal press books will give you other information on the organization of the club. It is not absolutely necessary that you have a special showing for your local kids in organizing the club but it would help a lot in arousing their enthusiasm. The Dodge story carries a thought that should be driven home and the production will get over if you plug it hard, but you MUST make up your mind to do this if you want to make it a financial success.