The Film Daily (1918)

Tuesday, December 31, 1918 DABL.Y Out of Date Draft Meller Lifted by Performance of Star Charlotte Walker in "EVERY MOTHER'S SON" Fox Production. DIRECTOR Raoul A. Walsh AUTHOR Raoul A. Walsh SCENARIO BY Raoul A. Walsh CAMERAMAN Not credited AS A WHOLE Meller treatment of response of typical American family to draft law. Rather artificial and for the most part doesn't convince. STORY Based on the 18 to 45 conscription order; doesn't run smoothly and gives indication of having been pieced together. DIRECTION Went in for hectic Meller and permitted a lot of "acting." PHOTOGRAPHY ....Many scenes hazy; for the most part lacks sharpness. LIGHTINGS Ordinary CAMERAWORK Passable STAR Acts with feeling and gives impression of real American mother. SUPPORT Satisfactory in the main. Bernard Thornton, as German officer, over-reaches. EXTERTORS Answer the purpose INTERIORS Conventional DETAIL Doesn't figure very largely. Much stilted English in titles. CHARACTER OR STORY Might have been b^npfi'-'pl d'T'nf^ t^e war. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 5,000 ft. All of yon who skim throuerh the trade papers know well enough that William Fox started this production at about tve time the 18 to 4=. draft order hecame a certainty. The original intention vas to call the film "18 to 45" and exnloit it as something out of the ordinary wHch would have heen very appropriate and timely if Kaiser Bill hadn't gone and surrendered. Nohody wants to blame Mr. Fox for having a production all dressed tin with no place to go, and he seems to be ma'ing the bect of the situation by cutting the film down a"d sliding it through his usual releasing channels. Of course it can't he the success it might have hern a few months ago, or that it might be even now if the picture were of a higher calibre. The whole thing appears overwrought and is played at a fast tempo that permits little opportunity for real characterization. The story is a bit episodic and jumpy, giving the impression of a lot of material thrown together without the discrimination needed to get truly art:stic results. There's plenty of emoting and superficial excitement, but save in occasional instances when Charlotte Walker does some really appealing acting, they don't get down to the heart of things. The American family dealt with is the kind that would please Teddy. The two eldest sons go off to war without a murmur and the father is more than ready to do his part when the 18 to 45 ruling gives him a chance. Dramatic conflict is obtained by making the mother a pacifist when it comes to giving up any more of her sons to the battlefields of France. The feelings of the woman are sincerely conveyed by Miss Walker. The average audience will experience at least some sympathy for her when registration comes and her youngest son, just eighteen, and much under the influence of German pacifistic propaganda, is unwilling to register. The mother and her boy make a hasty trip to the seclusion of their country home, followed by the irate father. They get some good scenes out of this family rupture, which is about to result in the patriotic parent dragging hi= son off to the registration booth when the bedraggled victims of a submarine make a landing on the shore near the country home. Their entrance into the house is highly opportune. Seeing with their own eyes the consequences of German autocracy, both mother and son have a surMen change of heart and the boy. acompanied by his proud father, rushes off to place his name on Uncle Sam's list. An instance of the exaggeration which characterizes much of this film is found at the registration room where the director presented a struggling crowd of men suggestive of a mob scene, when as a matter of fact no such disorder existed on registration day. Interspersed with the American end of tne story are many scenes purporting to show the fighting in France in which the elder sons are engaged. These are for the most part passable but nothing to brag about. The romance between ore of the sons and a French peasant girl is conventional movie stuff. Emphasize Appeal of Mother Love. Go Easy on War Angle Box Office Analysis Now that it has become the fashion to try to forget the war element in pict"res and exploit them as dealing with the reconstruction period, the Fox people probably will advocate some such camouflage in this instance. Rut it's going to be a hard job if you want to play fair with your patrons. This is a consrrip'ion and war film from beginning to end and there is no getting away from it, so I would go very easy on the kind of billing intended to give a wrong impression. "Every Mother's Son" is a good heart interest title and it is possible to play upon that without going very definitely into the nature of the story. In war or peace the mental suggestion of the words, "Every Mother's Son", is prettv certain to arou«e a response in the heart of the woman who reads it. The best chance for your women folk being plea-sed. and this is essentially a woman's picture, is in trie performance of the star whose sincere personality is for the Exhibitor. 1 revealed effectively. In selecting pictures of Miss Walker try to get some bringing out the emotional intensity of her expressions at the time she is called upon to sacrifice her youngest son. Such pictures, in combination with the title, should attract attention. Some of you may think it worth while to bring ou* the fact that this is an 18 to 45 draft picture with a liberal amount of war stuff. But generally speaking that doesn't look to me like a good angle to make a fuss about, particularly as the war end of the picture won't stand comparison with a number of other films now on the market. If you want a catchline you might try this: "If you had sacrificed two sons on the altar of patriotism and were asked to give a third, What would you do? See how Charlotte Walker answers the question in 'Every Mother's Son'." Another might read, "Between a mother's love of country and mother love for her sons — WHICH? See Charlotte Walker in 'Every Mother's Son'."