The Film Daily (1919)

Sunday, January '2, 1919 isiiM >AILY is Holds Interest From Start to Finish. Has Excellent Cast and Artistic Distinction Cecil B. DeMille's Prod. "THE SQUAW MAN" Artcraft. DIRECTOR Cecil B. DeMille AUTHOR Edwin Milton Royle SCENARIO BY Beulah Marie Dix CAMERAMAN Alvin Wykoff AS A WHOLE Corking. Holds the interest right straight through because of whole-hearted sincerity of flawless cast. Registered with wallop. STORY Adaptation from novel certainly fine for screen purposes; story incidents well tied together to sustain heart interest. DIRECTION Made each characterization ring true and register convincingly; skillful in the subtle treatment of delicate situations. PHOTOGRAPHY Varied from excellent to just good; generally clean cut. LIGHTINGS Some splendid effects. CAMERA WORK Intelligent use of closeups and good angles. PLAYERS Elliott Dexter's performance registered with a bang; Ann Little impressed with her sincerity as did Miss McDonald. Others very good indeed. EXTERIORS Many exquisite moonlight and garden scenes at beginning then shifted to ordinary Western atmosphere. INTERIORS Luxurious settings in opening reels; changed to fit atmosphere of story. DETAIL .'Many excellent touches. CHARACTER OF STORY Will not offend. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 5300 ft. Certainly this latest production of Cecil B. DeMille is a winner. Full recognition should be given his directorial ability in the turning out of such an excellent bit of work in this new screen adaptation of Edwin Milton Royle's widely read novel. Artistry is the keynote of the entire production, from the viewpoint of human characterization study as well as the fine, realistic treatment of each situation. Comparing this with the first screen version of the same film gives an excel lent conception of the marked advance oi motion pic tures as an art. In the opening reels we get some moonlight and garden scenes in which the lighting and photographic effects are remarkably picturesque and pleasing to the eye. Any class and type of audience is bound to recognize the artistic excellence of composition in these, and it helps in creating right from the start the impression of finesse and classy distinction. But most worthy of mention is the intelligent selection of the cast. Each individual role portrayed registered conviction and sincerity. Elliott Dexter particularly stood out in his interpretation of a real honest to-goodness he-man white to the core, and he made you believe it. Ann Little gave an honest portrayal of the role of the Indian girl, and abandoned any attempts at registering beauty in her chief concern of genuine characterization. Miss McDonald as the unhappy society wife was forcible in the part and was photographed to splendid advantage. Thurston Hall as her husband was well cast as was J:J|'c Holt, the western bad man. The picturization of "The Squaw Man" follows closely along the lines of the novel. The opening situations present an eternal triangle problem, involving Miss McDonald as the unhappy wife of Thurston Hall with Elliott Dexter as the other man. At the wife's suggestion, Dexter leaves England, in order to avoid impending disaster, and the following scenes establish him on a ranch. The incidents leading up to his marriage with the Indian girl were skillfully handled in a subtle manner that will not fail to impress and register big with any audience. Here's where the hall-mark of good direction shows plainly. The final scenes in which the heart-broken Indian mother shoots herself because of being deprived of her five year old son, are pathetically touching, having been presented in a manner that gets right under your shirt. Taken as a whole, this offering is decidedly worth while from every angle. The most critical of audiences will find it rich in entertainment value and heart interest Reoinald Barkeiv ^^ .M.P.D.A.. ^r Nov completing For Goldwj/tv Fourth Special Production tj* ^r **arr»flFL.