The Film Daily (1919)

Sunday, January 5, 1010 — afrMsET Star in Dual Role Scores in Rough Western Meller Frank Keenan in "THE MIDNIGHT STAGE" Anderson-Brunton Prod. — Pathe Dist DIRECTOR Ernest C. Warde AUTHOR Adapted from Henry Irving's "Lyons Mail." SCFMARIO BY Jack Cunningham CAMERAMAN Charles Kaufman AS A WHOLE Western meller with plenty of fast action; enough thrills to keep an audience on edge. STORY Doesn't amount to much except that it affords star opportunity to give strong performance in dual role. DIRECTION F-rst ra»e in keeping thingt moving and providing sharp contrasts; mob sre n*s well handled. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally good LIGHTINGS Will do. although they don't bother much about artistic effects. CAMERA WORK Double exposures used to advantage. STAR MaVes telling contrast in playing two rh-racters, one a brute, the ot^er a gentleman. SUPPORT Joseph Dowling registers as road house proprietor; Mignon Anderson and others meet requrrements. EXTERIORS Give all the western atmosphere needed. INTERIORS Nothing out of the ordinary, but suitable to the story. DETAIL Scenes well assembled to get most oi'r of d-am»t?c situations. CHARACTER OF STORY Roughness may shock som« sensitive folks. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 47«> ft There's no doubt about who's the star in this film. It's Frank Keenan all through and he sure does_ give a Performance calculated to make your fans sit up and take notice. At oi.e moment he's a kindly father, at another the most brutal sort of a brute and in eit'er capacity he is interesting to watch Compared to Keenan's bandit, most western bad men that shoot their way through five reels are amiable citizens. For sheer force it would be hard to beat the portrayal given here, and it becomes all the more startling on account of the contrast provided by Keenan in the role of a professional gambler who is a kindly man at heart. The picture grips because of the strength of the acting and the melodramatic power of the situations, rather than because of exceptional qualities in the story which is merely a western meller of the conventional type. They don't go after anything particularly new in the way of a plot; the fragmentary little love affair in which Mignon Anderson figures doesn't really count and the improbabilities in the story are passed over without any attempt at explanation; but despite shortcomings, Keenan puts the film over with a wallop. Having established the atmosphere of a California mining town in the late sixties, they swing into the story of John Lynch, gentleman gambler and bandit Rivers, with Keenan alternating between the two roles. The bandit first reveals his nature by abusing the dancehall woman with whom he has been living. The scenes between Keenan and Maude George as the woman, lack nothing in brutality, but they are a reasonable forerunner of what is to happen as the sinister desperado pursues his merry career. Meanwhi'e John Lynch is pictured as a sort of philanthropist trying to counteract the evil wrought by the bandit. He takes the cast-off woman to his home, then prepares to assist his aged father whose quest for gold has been unsuccessful. It happens that Lynch's journey to the roadhouse where his father lives, coincides with the holdup of a stage coach shipment of gold by the bandit and his confederates. All are brought together at the roadhouse where Lynch's father is shot by Keenan in the character of the desperado. Circumstances make it appear that the son has shot his father. As the bandit and the gambler look precisely alike, the innocent victim is accused of being the leader of the road agents as well as a murderer. The climax of the production is worked up to a high pitch of excitement, showing the condemned Lynch bei^g taken off to be hanged when tbe bandit's discarded sweetheart, having discovered the resemblance between the men, is instrumental in disclosing the mistake. The two are brought face to face and Lynch shoots his double. Brutality May Offend Some, But You Can Count on Keenan Being Liked Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor. Without a star of the quality of Frank Keenan this wouldn't amount to much, but with him T see no reason why it shouldn't go over very satisfactory with a crowd that doesn't ob;ect to rough stuff. Tt isn't the kind of thing for children, or women who like to have their films sugar-coated. But it's going to go right with folks who get a thrill out of watching br-tality on the screen. Keenan is such a capable actor that he rrgis'ers a real character where others might merely spoil the effect by over-acting. From an advertising standpoint his name is a big advantage. Tt means considerable to followers of the "legitimate" whose memories go back to the notable performance he gave in "The Girl of the Golden West Also, he has appeared frequently enough in vaudeville to become well known to patrons of the two-a-day. As a photoplay star he has always been associated with high class productions and you're not going too far in promising your fans that he gives one of his most interesting performances in the dual role offered here. The title suggests the nature of the picture, but I wouldn't bank on it to draw business. Make your big play on the name of Keenan in a dual role, using contrasting pictures side by side, one showing the fiendish expression of the bandit, the other revealing the kindly John Lynch. A line to accompany the pictures might read: "Frank Keenan is both in his powerful photoplay, 'The Midnight Stage.' "