The Film Daily (1919)

■nday, February 2, 1919 Tskifo AILV 21 Novel Theme Used in Brightly Acted and Well Directed Comedy. Mry Allison in "IN FOR THIRTY DAYS" Metro. DIRECTOR Webrter Cullison AUTHOR Luther A. Reed SCENARIO BY Geo. D. Baker and Tom J. Gfraghty. CAMERAMAN William Fildew. AS A WHOLE First mte com.d/, calculated to get laughs out of any crowd. STORY Adaptat'on of Luther A. R ed's narrative o'.eri novl th ra: t at lends itself to screen adaptation. DIRECTION Goes after hu-norous bit and makes t'lem register in film that keeps things moving. PHOTOGRAPHY Genera'ly clear. LIGHTINGS Good in a conv?ntional way. CAMERA WORK Gets full value out of some fast action. STAR Easy to look at and acts with plenty of pep. SUPPORT Robert E'lis manly as hero, Bu!l Montana presents fine convict type, others do ver' well EXTERIORS Village main street looks a bit artifical. INTERIORS Nothing wrong. DETAIL Several incidental bits get laughs; sub-titles written in natural vein. CHARACTER OF STORY Harmless. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 5000 ft. For comedy purposes tbere is a first rate idea in the nlot e'evis d by Luther A. Reed and done into iio form by Metro sceiar'o writers. A small Southern village i^ credited with still adhering to an old hire law 1 y which prisoners are rented out at so much per dav. This is made t''e bas's of a story that is capably handled by May Allison and those in her support. Improbabilities are apt to be ht of in view of tie swi't notion and varii s i 1 cidni's. from the •imc that May =ets ont to startle t' e si epy 1'tt'c village by driving her c r through t'?e s at a c'ip tuat smashes the speedom-tc-r. Good direction is rcsno-si' le for getting full comedy value lout of these scenes. In t'e course of May's reckless joy ride, she itur"s over a Ford that i stalled bv t'ip roads:de while its owner, Robert Fll's, an a'thor living in the tie yhborhood, is trying to adjust the mechanism. His accounts lor tie meeting of the girl and the man w' o is destined to be her employer. Continuirg 1 er jot n.ey, May cieates ha\oc on Main StieU, which has fatal consequences when she ■ <■ into the town judge. Eeing numbered ;mong the wealthy northern'o arc none too popul r with the villagers in the southern community, the judge refuses to let May off with t'e usual fine. A'ter a trial introducing a nvmber cf vi 1 ge *ypes and son e natural co ne ly, tl c g rl is sjnte ..ed to thirty d ys in jail which pln.es 1 er in the same category as tie other prisonin who are lined up each morning in front of the jail that the townspeople may b>d for their services. F.fforts of May's wealthy aunt and her nambypamby suitor to get a reversal of the sentence are fruitless, ieeking the counsel of the village lawyer, are adv.sed to get around the law by hireing the prisoner, bt t it so happens that Robert Ellis has gotten ahead of them and paid six dollars as a fee to co'.er the entire thirty days. Despite the exaggeration of ensuing scenes, dealing with the author's cave man methods of giving the society girl a domestic training, this sequence is li' ely to jet a lot of laughs. When May is forced to wash the dishes she breabs about half of them and then refuses to cook an eatable meal, but all the while she is learning to respect her master, who, rnknov. n to her, has had her jailed cell (converted into a lady's boudoir. While the intimacy between these two is growing, efforts to secure the girl's release are still being made, with a N'evv York lawyer adding his advice to that of the village attorney. They cook up a scheme whereby, with the ad of Bull Montana, the girl will be carr'ed into a re ghboring state. Tl is works out well enough, save that the girl has become quite contented with her jail lii'e and instead of leaving peaceably w:th her rescuers, she dri\es tie car straight for Ellis' residence and crashes her way through the side of the bouse. Final seinrnoes preset a series of chases, culminating in the marriage of the author and the heiress wlii e in a speeding automobile, with the justice e peace seated on the hood of tbe car. This incident is suggestive of the climax to Douglas FairVan's' vers'on cf ".Arizona," except that be used a horse in place of an au'omo' ile. Among thrice •" 'he cast are Mayme Kelso, Rex Schcrryn-.an and J. Dwiggins. Lcoks Like A Good Attraction for Any Kind of A House. Box Office Analysis for the There's no reason why this shou'd not get by satisfactorily as a comedy offering, whol some n its tone and played with spirt. It strikes me as e;"g first cla = s material for May Allison, who should dd to her following if Metro continues to give her ories of this type. Bull Montana, although be does not appear in very conspicuous role adds appreciably to t' e cotnestrergth of the film and should be mentcned in _ r pubTcity, because regular picture fans w 11 reember him as a player °^ distinct individuality. obert Ellis, as Miss Albson's leaor-g man. also is kely to be popular with your women patrons and together ma' e« a good running mate for t'e star. It is doubtful if Lut'er A. Reed's story is relied by many photoplay patrons, so I would not Exhibitor. count upon his name to draw business, although it would be well to mention him as the author of one of tbe most original and humorous photoplays that Miss Allison I as bad in some time. In addition to t'e usual ldbby display. T would try to get some good lmes to use along with a picture of May Allison and Robert Ellis. For instance, under a photo-Trap'1 of the star, run "A convict for th'rty days"; t' en under an adjoming picture of Ellis, "Here is her '■ il k-eper." You might excite curiosity by as' inc. "Did you know that tbere is a town in tl e Uni'ed States where prisoners are hired out for twetv cents a d y ' May Allison didn't until she got pinched for speeding, and then — see "In for Thirty Days."