The Film Daily (1919)

February 2, 1919 >AIL.Y Agility of Star is Best Asset of Conventional Crook Meller. George Walsh in "LUCK AND PLUCK" Fox.. ECTOR Edward Dillon »RY BY George Scarborough ;N ARIO BY Adrian Johnson JERAMAN Not Credited. A WHOLE Not much to it outs.de of the acrobatic feats of the star. )RY Spy me'ler wi.h a quantity of extravagant situations. ECTION Doesn't bother much about plausibility, but keeps th ngs moving. DTOGRAPHY Generally poor. HTINGS Harsh and lacking in artistic effects. «ERA WORK Ordinary. iR Agile and not afraid to take rough treatment in fights. •PORT Virginia Lee rather pretty; several others inclined to overact. TRIORS Fair. ERIORS Frequently have a "setty" appearance. 'AIL Doesn't figure much. \RACTER OF STORY Unconvincing, but wen't offend. JIGTH OF PRODUCTION About 5000 ft. je Fox people just can't get away from German p cropping up in all sorts of pictures — commas, melodramas and continue to do their the way of prosecuting the innocent heroine ■taking thine s difficult for the gallant hero. lother combination of spy and crook matter decidedly hectic nature. The plot runs wild iigh most of the five reels, which owe their chief the acrobatic feats of George Walsh. As Bph-climber he displays the daring of a profess I There seems to be nothing, in fact, demanding fecial agility that daunts the athletic Fox star. le matters of rapid action and fight stuff this film Hi I supplied ri'-d may get by on that score an uncritical crowd. irg sequences, dealing with a rough-and-tumble between the spy gang, trying to make a get away on a ship, and the secret service men who come. to the assistance of Walsh, who lias been holding off a dozen assailants single-handed, make a suitable climax for a picture of this description. They contain some startling fa Is and generally maintain a high degree of excitement. The star plays the character of Joe Grim, alias "Velvet", a crook noted for his skill in handling any sort of a job. It just happens, as things generally do happen in convenient "movies" of this type, that Walsh rescues pretty Virginia Lee when she is endangered by a runaway horse. The crook promptly becomes sentimental in his memories of "the first pure influence" that ever entered his life. Intent upon knowing more about the girl, Velvet follows her to the home of Countess Briand, played with melodramatic force by Corene Uzzell. The crook does not realize that the house is the headquarters of a German spy gang, in which the countess and Virginia's fiance, George Fisher, are prominent factors. He enters, crook fashion, believing that it is the girl's home. Caught by the countess, Velvet is about to be arresed when the woman concludes that she can uce the crook to serve her own ends. She concocts a yarn about Virginia being the victim of a b'ackmailing scheme, which may be checked if certain letters in the possession of an. old inventor are secured. The crook gladly accepts the job and returns with a package ot aeroplane plans which the German agents are anxious to get. Tt seems a trifle odd that he does not detect any difference between a bundle of letters and a set of charts, but folks aren't expected to examine too closely the plausibility of the story. When Velvet discovers his mistake, he returns the drawings and proceeds to save Virg:n'a from the spy net into which she has been unsuspectingly drawn. The girl's father, chief of the Intel'igence Bureau, having no idea of how his daughter is involved, places detectives on Velvet's trail, but the crook goes his own way undisturbed. F.ach time the young woman gets into a tight place he is on hand to save her, the critical clash coming when she is kidnapped by her fiance and and held captive. . The cast includes Joe Smiley. George Fisher, who over-plays the part of the German spy and George Halpin. May Attract Crowd That is Content With Rough Stuff. Box Office Analysis For the Exhibitor this is coining your way and you can't it, I would pass it by in favcr of something lore substance to the plot and better calculated se a crowd that doesn't fall for old time "movie" spy plot theme has been done to death and ta real justification at present, un'ess it is sh and interesting twist, which isn't in the present instance. There isn't any real 1 the reformed crook angle either, so the ppeal narrows down to the fight stuff and 1 oi George Walsh to hold an audience. i'l admit that the star is a considerable and will find some entertainment in watch ing him go through a variety of stunts, but whether this will be sufficient to compensate for the lack of other really entertaining qualities in the production is problematical. If you have accustomed your regulars to expecting artistic photoplays, in photography, settings and acting, this doesn't belong. Basing and advertising campaign on the star, play him up as one of the foremost athletes in pictures and don't be afraid to assert that his ability is used to full advantage in "Luck and Pluck," a typical Fox title, by the way, in that it hasn't any particular connection with the picture. Forget the spy element in the plot and handle the film as an exciting crook meller.