The Film Daily (1919)

DAILY Tuesday, January 21, 1919 In the Courts he ground that recent acts by d directors of the New Motion Picture Corp. resulted te of the assets of the corporsuit lias been li'ed in the buCourt by William N. Brewer xU of himself and other stock5 who may care to join with or an accounting of the acts officers and for an order setside the acts of the directors ,are alleged to be against the terests ot the company and are alleged to have been in terests of the directors per complaint by House, GrossVorhaus, names as defendant E. Aitken. Charles Liy„ Walter N.'Seligsberg, David "ris and Adam Kessel, Jr. The 1 owns 260 shares of the IP,rjres outstanding stock of the Ltion, and alleges that the deb control the majority stock, inate t'e policies of the corHe allegs that the TnCorp. of which Aitken and Seligsberg a director, practically identical offices je New York Motion Picture land the Triangle owns 75 per I its stock, while the Triangle Liting Corp., has offices in the fcilding with the New York Picture Corp. The Keystone o of which Aitken is trcatnd director, has offices in .roximity and the Western Co, has offices in the same \r and its affairs are lodged in hs which incline Harry E. y E. Aitken. The complaint that Tohn Simonds is enn the film business as the W. thictions Co.. and all the des named are interested di[r indirectly in the W. H. ions Co. :r alleges that the defendants pired to direct the affairs of v York M. P. Corp., for their rscnal benefit and against the of the minority stockholdersf they are "engaged In a plan Kand misappropriate the ashe financial loss of the N. ?. Corp. and the minority ders." and that in bad faith out the knowledge and confin plaintiff they have con 0 sell the property of the ion to other concerns with |iiate consideration." ts obiected to by the plain te pale of negatives of films eystone Company and the Distributing Corp., and ten 1 of pictures to the Western ~o Thev have sold nega illiam S. H?r_t films to the ■ Productions Co.. and have ffe ruber City plant to the Film Corp. bv extending jiHe Wge credits contrary Eablished custom of the busi consennenre of the lack ,h'ch t^ey might have rea plaintiff savs the derend . catted the N. Y. M. P. iotow lar^e funds bv mort ne property, and to take Nothing Extraordinary, But Should Get by as Passable Film J. Warren Kerrigan ir. "COME AGAIN SMITH" J. D. Hampton, Prod. W. W. Hodkinson Corp., Dist DIRECTOR '. E. Mason Hoppei. SUPERVISED BY Jesse D. Hampton. AUTHOR John H. Blackwood. CAMERAMAN Chas. Stumar. AS A WHOLE Mixture of comedy and drama that holds interest most of t'ne way. STORY Reveals some ingenuity in plot construction, although t'~e theme is ord.nary. DIRECTION Goes after comedy points and generally gives a natural touch to scenes. PHOTOGRAPHY Varies; for the most part good. LIGHTINGS Rather uniform. CAMERAWORK Nothing extraordinary. STAR W 11 be liked in this; has opportunity for some character work. SUPPORT Efficient; Lois Wilson and William Conklin figure most prominently. EXTERIORS All that the action demands. NTERIORS Correctly arranged. DETAIL Shows regard for small points in photoplay production. CHARACTER OF STORY .... Enfrely inoffensive. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION .... About 5,027 feet Some of your folks won't recognize handsome J. Warren Kerrigan when they first meet him as "Come Again Smith". He is a park bench loafer, disguised by a three day's growth of beard and a liberal coating of dirt. And his companions at the free resting place look like sure 'miff down-and-outers. But there's a sudden transformation, bringing back Warren as his customarily well groomed self and therein lies the story, which is good enough in the way of light entertainment. To be sure, things do happen rather oddly and conveniently, but there needn't be any real kick about t^at, as long as the author has given a certain surface plausibil'ty to his narrative and the characters help to make you believe it. Fans aren't going to be exactly surprised at the way affairs turn out for the park bench ' ero, but they may be expected to find amusement in following the comedy romance with a meller tint. At college they called him "Come Again Smith", because he was a free spender, so free in fact that his Dad, a western oil king, decided that his province in life was t|» spend mo.ey, not to earn it. Defying the precedent of all millionaire movie parents, Warren's father absolutely refuses to put him to work, so the youth sets out to fight his own way. He has advanced downwards to the fringe of trampdom as the story opens. A copper is dragging him off to jail when H. A. Harrows, a prosperous broker, happens along with his friend William Conklin, a wily promoter. They have had a little dispute about oil stock investment and Barrows has announced that the only bond worth buying is "the bond of humanity". Regarding the hapless Kerrigan as a reasonable prospect, he takes h!m to his home for a week's trial. In ore'er to explain his presence to Barrows' wife, \Vinirred Greenwood and his sister, Lois Wilson, Kerrigan is asked to invent a pleasantly romantic story about his past. He tells how he came to be called "Come Again Smith", how he determined to prove his worth, despite the skepticism of his millionaire father, and altogether concocts a wild sort of ra'e, w'ich frns" out to be nothing more than the true story of his life. Seeing a chance to capitalize on Kerrigan's relationship to the oil king, Conklin, the stock broker, employs him at a salary of $100 a week. He booms his stock by making it appear that the millionaire oil man is one of his backers. Also, he gets Barrows" wife into tro'ible by persuading her to invest $10,000. Forced to pawn a necklace in order to cover the investment and then account for the disappearance of the jewels, the woman becomes the center of a meller sequence in which the willun is exposd and "Come Again Snrth" is recognized as the millionaire's son. The love interest developed between Kerrigan and Lois Wilson is slight, but suffices for a picture of this stamp. Charles French and Walter Perry are in the cast. Make a Point of Lines Bringing in Catchy Titles Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor. This is just an average film, likely to get by safely enough, but not justifying special boosting. Whether :t draws business for you or not, depends largely upon the popularity of Kerrigan in your community. In playing up the star, I would try to give the impression that as "Come Again Smith" he has a role permitting real characterization and that he makes an interesting contrast between the down-and-outer and the socially correct millionaire's son. The title indicates comedy, so I would go strong on that end n preference to the dramatic features of the plot, which are not prominent enough to count much. Lois Wilson is coming to be known as Kerrigan's 'esding woman, so I would mention her rather con spicuously in advance announcements, also using her picture in your lobby display. Her role doesn't figure very largely in this instance, but some folks may be attracted 1 y her good looks. The name of Winefred Greenwood, William Conklin and H. A. Barrows also should be referred to in your advance publicity. "Come Again Smith" is a title that offers chances for various twists in the way of catchlines. For example: "Can you guess why they called him 'Come Again Smith' ?" or "It's 'Come Again Smith' as long as your bankroll holds out — Then what? See J. Warren Kerrgan in his new picture." For another angle say: "Did you ever invest in the Bond of Humauity? It paid a big dividend in 'Come Again Smith'." from the Triangle "property for which the Triangle had no need or use for a grossly excessive consideration." QUOTATIONS Famous Players— Bid Asked Sale Lasky 33 38 34 World 3/16 5/16 Triangle 54 V2 Valuable Prop. In "The Lion and the Mouse," which Tom Terriss is completng, perhaps the most valuable prop ever used in a motion picture production is seen, namely, ' the original "Duchess of Devonshire", by Gainsboro, which is valued at over $800,000. B. H. Mills, manager of the Elk Photo Play Co., is sick at home with the "flu." ^"~~ People seldom improve zvhen they have no other model but themselves <> copy after. — Goldsmith