The Film Daily (1918)

Saturday, November 30, 1918 DAILY Great Tenor Surprises by Success in WellAdapted Story Enrico Caruso in "MY COUSIN" Artcraft DIRECTOR Edward Jose AUTHOR Margaret Turnbull SCENARIO BY Margaret Turnbull CAMERAMAN Hal Young AS A WHOLE Surprisingly good first screen ef= fort of opera celebrity. Will please generally. STORY Peculiarly well fitted to register tenor in appealing roles. DIRECTION Managed to earn many laughs and held interest remarkably well. Best thing he has done. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally very good although occasionally too contrasty. LIGHTINGS Some excellent, some only fair CAMERA WORK Varied from fine to fair STAR Surprisingly smooth in performance of dual role. SUPPORT Miss White very beautiful; generally excellent types. EXTERIORS Held atmosphere nicely INTERIORS Generally very good. Theatre scenes well handled. DETAIL A number of excellent touches CHARACTER OF STORY .... Registered incidents cre= ating popular favor for great tenor. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 4,500 feet CARUSO gets away with it beautifully. You will be surprised. He handles a dual role in this, his first screen offering, in a most satisfactory manner, someone having had sufficient foresight to provide a story which presented him in one part as a great tenor, and another part as a poor sculptor, cousin of the great singer. Most everyone will want to see Caruso on the screen, but likewise most everyone will feel that he will not be good. For that reason, his most satisfying success will be all the more pleasing because you really can enjoy this performance and the treatment of the situations actually earns a number of hearty laughs, with a lot more of tickling chuckles. The atmosphere throughout was very good because a nice contrast was registered between the life of the poor sculptor and that of the wealthy influential tenor. The Italian restaurant scenes were helped by good types who played well within character, and the theatre scenes were really realistic many of the shots being taken in a crowded theatre. The story was so constructed as to register the generosity and love of children of the great tenor who was called Carulli, and at the same time got over his desire to be of assistance to his countrymen. The love story was carried between the poor sculptor and Miss Caroline. "White, as the daughter of a restaurant keeper, and the plot for the most part depended upon the fact that she had agreed to marry the sculptor partly because she thought he was the cousin of the great tenor. When the sculptor met the great tenor by accident in a restaurant, and the tenor did not recognize the man who had claimed to be his cousin, the girl naturally turned cold, but later on she agreed to forgive and forget. Meanwhile the sculptor had tried to meet the tenor in his home, but, through an unfortunate circumstance, was ushered in by the private secretary with the introduction that he was a singer. This meeting, in which the tenor ordered the sculptor to sing in order to find out whether or not he was worthy of help in developing his art, was very well handled. Afterwards when the tenor learned that his cousin was a sculptor and not a singer, he journeyed to the Italian district and made the lovers happy. Miss Caroline White screens wonderfully well in most of her scenes and closeups, and suggests tremendous possibilities for screen work. Occasionally the lighting was bad so that she did not photograph well, but generally her beauty was very distinctive. The cast was quite well chosen as to type, and the interest is maintained throughout, principally because of the treatment which makes the atmosphere quite convincing. Others in the cast were Henry Leone, Joseph Ricciardi, A. G. Corbelle, Bruno Zirato and Master William Bray. A Sure Cleanup and Is Good Enough To Play Anywhere The Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor You can grab this and clean up. Without question you would have been willing to play this even though it was rotten, because Caruso's name was sure fire for big business on one picture at least. Fortunately you will be able to promise that this is a very interesting and quite human comedy romance and you can safely say that Caruso has made good as a screen player in this film at least. You might also suggest that the story of this has been so developed as to give an insight In a way, into the private life of the great tenor. I would not make any foolish statements as to the fact that Caruso has scored a sure success as a screen star because in another sort of story, or in future work, he might miss fire altogether. You can, however, be very positive in saying that in this film there is a happy combination of story and treatment which shows him in two characters that will certainly win any audience's favor. Since Miss Caroline White is also an opera singer, you can afford to make a little fuss about her presence in the film, and you can safely say that she is wonderfully beautiful. Since there was a song about "My Cousin Cams" I would emphasize this title by registering in my ads. such lines as "You've heard the song, 'My Cousin Carus,' now see the screen play about the sculptor who claimed the great tenor as his cousin!" Be sure that you emphasize in your advertising the fact that Caruso appears in two parts in this, and really is the central figure throughout, because I have an idea that some of the public have become skeptical about famous personages appearing in films, since in the past we have had the names of personages used in advertising, where these people only appeared in a few flashes that were deliberately cut into a story in which they were not in the least concerned. Go to your victrola dealer in your town and get co-operation from him, because this is a chance for him to stir up interest in Caruso records. It might be a good stunt, if you are in a small town and have a theatre that is not too large to use a victrola in, to have one of Caruso's best records played before the film begins and you might also use his record of "Pagliacci" during the film when that scene is being enacted. If you are in a big city and have a big theatre, speak to your Victor dealer about the possibility of using one of the very large compressed air machines which the Victor Company at one time used in large hotels with orchestra accompaniment because these machines are so powerful that they can fill any theatre, and with orchestra accompaniment it is impossible to distinguish between the machine and the human voice.