The Film Daily (1919)

jMA DAILV Friday, August 8, 1919 Coast Brevities ^{Special to WW'S DAILY) iollywood, Calif. — Rita Stanwood, ; of H. B. Warner, iias been ened to play opposite her husband I new Jesse D. Hampton produc he Morgan Dancers have acted an engagement to appear in toedy being put on by the Model nedy Co. entitled "Don't Chase ir Wife," in which Gail Henry is •red. /illiam Wickersham, dancer, who been appearing in pictures of has l^ecn engaged to play a ling role in the Romayne film ams" written and to be directed Walter McNamara. Work will imence on the play in two weeks. Excellent Detail and Pleasing Artistry in Good Production of Old Indian Formula D. W. GRIFFITH will present, at the Geo. M. Cohan Theater, New York, a revised irersion of "Hearts of the World," wherein the League >f Nations is convincingly visualized. This will be the third offering in the Griffith Repertory Season, and will be shown for the first time Monday evening, August 11th. The engagement will be for one week only, with daily matinees at 2:30 and evening showmgs at 8:30. 'HEARTS OF THE WORLD" in its new form will he booked by llie Hearts of the |World Company, Albert L. , jrey, General Manager, Suite i/20, Longacre Building, New York City. California Theatre {Los Angeles) Says the Christie Special "Rowdy Ann" is a winner * among Short Subjects ^ J Robert Warwick in "Told in the Hills" Paramount=Artcraft DIRECTOR George H. Melford AUTHOR Marah Ellis Ryan SCENARIO BY Will M. Ritchey CAMERAMEN Paul Perry and Henry Kotani AS A WHOLE Old=time Indian meller artisti= cally done with enough big scenes to take off the curse. STORY Rather obvious throughout with no gen= uinely tense dramatic values; decidedly of Indian stuff formula. DIRECTION Apparently did his darndest with good atmosphere, artistic photography, et cetera, to lift this into worthwhile class. PHOTOGRAPHY Generally very pleasing with many decidedly artistic bits. LIGHTINGS Some very fine; some too uniform CAMERA WORK Varied from excellent to just fair. STAR Heroic figure looking rather odd in cos= tume at first, but rather the right type for such a production. SUPPORT Ann Little very pleasing; all others quite satisfactory. EXTERIORS Many very artistic shots, but some could have been better. INTERIORS Generally excellent as to construc= tion, but some times too uniformly lighted. DETAIL Splendid, which is one of film's best assets. CHARACTER OF STORY Unadulterated Indian meller that may please because of remini.s= cences. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION About 5,500 feet CONSIDERED from the viewpoint that thi.s is a picturization of a woll-known old-timer, the production will undoubtedly entertain and be passed as satisf.-ictory. but I am afraid that a large percentage of our film fans who are not familiar with the old-time story will check this over and consider it only a lavish attempt to do the Indian formuhi which they have grown very accustomed to through observation on the screen. As regular releases run, I would say that this will go over the hill all right, beciiuse the director has slipped in quite a lot of artistry, and has been particularly careful with his detail. He has presented rather a realistic conception of life in the days when Indians went on the war-path, and from that viewpoint the film in many ways is jiarticularly interesting. The chief objection that will be brought to this subject is. that the story is painfully obvious, particularly to the regular fans, and it is (luite lacking in really big dramatic situations. This Is partly due to the formula which forbids our considering the soldiers in any great peril of the Indians when we have already l)een shown that tiiend hero has discovered a tunnel through the mountain on the other side of wliicli they have been traiiped. We jest know that air hero is gonna get through in time. Mr. Warwick, as the heroic matinee idol type, marches through the production in a manner that should delight any lover of the idealistic western scout of the old days. Ann Little, as the girl we know the hero is going to get. and Monte Blue, as the young Indian chieftain who is dramatically killed to cause complications between the Indians and soldiers, were pleasing, and the rest of the cast Ijlended nicely, witli Tom Forman. Wanda Hawley and Eileen Percy having rather small parts. (,»uite a lot of Indians are used in some scenes, and we also have a troop of cavalry on the job in old time costumes. Some of the incidents in which these hundi-eds of peoi)le participated helped rather materially in giving l)ody and size to the offering. While in my judgment your fans will not rave over this, it is quite possible that they will be entirely satisfied if you are careful in the handling of your advertising campaign. Be Careful in Your Advertising, Because Many Will Think Old-Time Story Weak Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor There is one thing about this film that should certainly be done in a manner that will leave no mistaken impression in the minds of any who are going to see the production. You should come out clearly and forcefully in j-our advertising campaign, explaining that this is a picturization of a famous story, presenting a vividly realistic conception of the old days in the western hills when American pioneers were blazing the trails through the territory that had for a long time been the liQme of the Indians. You might go about this from the attitude of "You have seen Indian pictures and Wild West stories on the screen that have been hurriedly thrown together in the rush of the old days of film production, but here is one of the American classics given a production of proper dignity with every detail of the time and atmosphere carefully checked vip." You must also, of course, expect to place considerable emphasis on the star, Robert Warwick, because your attendance at this will depend to a great extent upon the magnitude of his following in your community. Ann Little, Monte Blue, Wanda Ha'wley, Tom Forman and Eileen Percy have many friends, and it would be advisable to give this cast some prominence in your advertising. I would advise you to make no wild claims about this being the most superior western ever produced, or anything of that sort, because extravagant adjectives at the wrong time have a real kickback, and it is always much safer to talk about the merits that you are sure of in a production instead of shooting indiscriminate meaningless phrases, because the usual extravagant string of adjectives has become meaningless to the great percentage of regular film fans. You are very safe in saying that the production values of this are excellent, and you should alibi your story on the strength of its past popularity ; but you will note that there is a difference between working that way and making a general claim of excellence. Cuts and mats for heralds and programs, free NATIONAL , /Cparamount-^rtcm^t' ' WEEK -~-^> 0>