The Film Daily (1919)

April i3, 1919 ali^t 1A11.Y ilar Stars Are Best Feature of Meller Based on Conventional Plot Montague Love and June Elvidge in "THE QUICKENING FLAME" World TOR .....Travers Vale DR Elizabeth R. Carpenter lRIO BY Giles R. Warren ilAMAN Alfred Moses IVHOLE Meller handled in conventional way; some rather effective situations r Doesn't strike any particularly new angles, but suffices for picture of the type TION ■■....Allows some of the action to appear a bit crude. DGRAPHY ! Generally clear. 1NGS Conventional RA WORKS Passable ( • • Both of them act sincerely and do all that is possible with the characters pro! vided by the author. 'RT Adequate, with Jack Drumier and ! Albert Hart in important roles. HORS Suffice IORS Answer the purpose L •• . . Nothing exceptional enough to cause comment VCTER OF STORY. . . ■ . .Censors won't object *H OF PRODUCTION About 4,800 ft. igu Love _ and June Elvidge are a first rate combination and should be able to put this bcross, even if it does not advance beyond conjil meller, constructed around a time-honored ft introducing situations which have been utiljnuch the same form many times before. kes me, that the story does not do justice to Jity of the two World stars, who, when fair chance, are able to portray sympathetic, and convincing stage characters. Throughout this production Miss Elvidge is seen in a cannot be expected to exert any great appeal, hange of heart in the musical comedy star whom fcprets, comes too late to alter the impression :n the audience. Elvidge has revealed _ such a congenial per in roles requiring a display of kindly emotion |ieems a waste to find her cast as a vamp at 'cy of an, evil-iminded paralytic/, whom she passes off as her stepfather when in reality he is her husband. When it becomes necessary to bring out the softer phases of the woman's character, the director uses many of the old expedients, placing particular emphasis on the response of the actress to the ingenuous appeal of the child of the man she has deceived. The first part of the picture is devoted to a presentation of incidents leading up to the meeting of Montagu Love, as a wealthy American lawyer, and June as a reigning favorite of the London musical comedy stage. Without much premeditation, Montagu asks the actress to marry him, a proposal which she accepts after her decision has been influenced by her crippled companion, who figures on getting money from Montagu. The boredom of a quiet, domestic life with her lawyer husband soon proves too much for June, and she takes advantage of one of his brief absences to entertain a party of her theatrical friends who are pretty thoroughly intoxicated at the time that the husband— as all husbands will in "movie" mellers — returns home unexpectedly. This revelation of his wifes' true character is quite enough for the conservative American, who returns to New York while June resumes her career on the stage. The second woman in Montagu's life is the freshly innocent niece of his law partner. The friendship which grows between them is harmless, but when Love reads a report of June's death in a train accident, he naturally presumes that there is no reason why he should not marry again. Years pass and the pair are entirely happy in their love for each other and for their son, when the actress, accompanied by her crippled companion and the Japanese valet that figure throughout the story appears in America and proceeds to blackmail Montagu. Not until the final reel is it explained by the repentant June that the man with whom she has been living is her husband and that she had never been legally the wife of Montagu. They bring in quite a bit of meller in the final scenes, eventually getting rid of the villain, by having him topple over a cliff. It should be said in favor of the plot that up to shortly before the close of the picture there is doubt about how things are going to turn out. In the cast are Mabel Ballin, Frank Quong, Rodney McKeever and Bert Leigh. iie Names of June Elvidge and Montagu Love to Draw Patronage Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor outine program offering you may be able to over on account of the popularity of June and Montagu Love rather than because of usual quality of the story. There Is no reason U shuld make any particular effort to get "The Bng Flame" if it is not coming your way, D don't need to be afraid of offending your roviding you don't load them to expect lory could hardly be called uplifting for I in which there are many young folks, but ther hand, it is kept free from objectionable "ranting that people don't mind a picture a matrimonial mix-up which places the child in doubt. They finish with all the re entirely straight, so no one can say the its to the success of wrong-doing. "The Quickening Flame" is just an ordinary title without any particular bearing on the subject matter in the picture. It probably wouldn't attract much attention on its own account, therefore I would make as much as possible out of the names of Montagu Love and June Elvidge, bringing in some references to previous photoplays in which they have appeared. It might be well to indicate that Miss Elvidge plays a musical comedy star, for folks are apt to be interested in portrayals of stage favorites. For catchlines try something like "Supposing you had been married for five years and had a son, when your first wife, whom you supposed to be dead, reappeared. Such is the predicament confronting Montague Love in 'The Quickening Flame,' a drama in which he co-stars with June Elvidge." Or, "Is your past buried? Montagu Love thought his was until it returned to haunt him in 'The Quickening Flame,' a heart interest drama of strong emotion."