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The Celluloid Critic
By
FREDERICK
JAMES
SMITH
rHE house of Pathe contributed the one unusually interesting thing of the month, “Common Clay,” with Fannie Ward. This screen adaptation, by Ouida Ber;ere, of Cleaves Kinkead’s rrelodrama, may not find its v&y into our list of the best ihotoplays of the season — beause of its banal conventionlity — but Miss Ward’s playtig stands out at the very orefront of the year’s acting.
“Common Clay” starts as a veritable human document, the ital story of a young woman, raised in squalor, who longs for uxuries and pretty things. But Mr. Kinkead lapses into the tsual melodrama of the persecuted heroine and the illegitimate he-e-ild. Thru all the trite situations Miss Ward is an inensely moving and dramatic figure. The star has never given better characterization to the screen. There is a genuine :rip to it.
George Fitzmaurice’s direction has its excellences and weakesses. His interiors of wealthy homes are obviously huge studio ets, with cloth checkerboard “marble” floors and canvas walls f painted “stone.” But Mr. Fitzmaurice has succeeded in get,ing every player into the dramatic spirit. The cast is wholly dmirable. Mary Alden contributes one more unforgettable prtrayal, a very real woman of the slums. There is one jenuinely big moment in “Common Clay,” when she sees little '.lien Neal go into the night. Fred Goodman’s weak manbout-town is a distinct thing and W. E. Laurence reveals ,e c i d e d lossibilies as the ear-hero.
The 1 0 n t h ,
,3 0, p roll ced at ast three ecidedly e a s a n t ght phosplays, he best of h e s e ,
Peggy
oes Her arndest,”
Metro) , a d e fht, with ay Allis n. the of the roceed;gs. The ' L A s s I c 1 s narratthis lith farce, lu t no lire telli? of the wry could iveal the Iquancy,
1 3 spontar ity and
vivacity Miss Allison lends the slender little theme. It is just a , farce built around the younger sister of a wealthy family — a tomboyish hoyden who revolts against her elder sister’s tyranny and steals her beau. “Peggy Does Her Darndest” is brirnful of fun, the beautiful May being admirably assisted by Rosemary Thefy as the autocratic sister and Dick Rosson as the gymnastic brother, while Augustus Phillips makes the small role of a gentleman crook stand out. This comedy marks a new milestone in the career of a young woman who is going to be the most popular comedienne on the screen.
One of the ushers at the New York (Continued on page 79)
Top, William Farnum and Louise Lovely in “The Man Hunter” ; right center, Fannie Ward as the heroine of “Common Claj^”; and, left, Corinne Griffith in ‘‘The Girl Problem”
(Forty-five)