Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1923)

March I 7 . 1923 1293 Daddy Sol Lesser-First National — Six Reels (Reviewed by Laurence Reidi I T doesn't make any difference what kind of a picture Jackie Coogan appears in — so long as he is over. The precocious youngster could star in a dramatization of the telephone book and make a hit. There are only a few who can get the crowds and little Jackie is one of them. " Daddy " is mediocre in subject matter — it being nothing else than a vehicle. Naturally the interest centers on young John's performance— as it does when he appears in such a work as " Oliver Twist," only in the present release one is compelled to watch the star because of the plot shortcomings. He has his moments. Watching him toy with the spaghetti pail and endeavor to eat the slippery food is good for a hearty laugh. And his emotional opportunities arrive when death stalks in and robs him of his aged companion. " Daddy " was surely written with the little star in mind. It may be catalogued as a heart interest story — so obvious and shopworn as to carry little sustaining value. With a less talented personage than Jackie it would be dismissed instantly as a work of little consequence. It tells the tale of a mother leaving her husband, a violinist, because she believes him unfaithful and taking her baby son to ms grandparents on the farm. There is no real motive for her hasty departure since no conflict is precipitated. The husband is supposed to have been killed in an auto accident, but he bobs up years later a world-famous violinist. Meanwhile the grandparents have gone to the poorhouse, the mother has died, and the boy goes to the city to make money to restore the farm to his aged relatives. So he meets a street musician who happens to be his father's tutor. The scenes between the two are the best in the picture. Eventually the father discovers the child, provides for him and restores the farm to the old people. The picture did not cost a great deal of money. But Jackie could play in a single setting — one bare of all detail and put a story over. Very few can do that. Cesare Gravina contributes a neat cameo as the old Italian tutor. His scenes with the little star make the feature worth seeing. Jackie needs a story which brings out all the imagination, all the childish impulses and whimsicalities, all the frolic and play of the eternal juvenile. We are anxiously awaiting the next one, " Toby Tyler." Being a circus story, it looks more suitable. The Cast Jackie Savelli (afterwards Jackie Holden) Jackie Coogan Paul Savelli Arthur Carewe Helene Savelli Josie Sedgewick Cesare Gallo Cesare Gravini Eben Holden Bert Woodruff Mrs. Holden .Anna Townsend Impressario William Lewis Valet George Kuwa Mildred By Herself Directed by E. Mason Hooper. Froduced by Sol Lesser. Distributed by First National The Story — Wife, jealous of her husband, a violinist, leaves him and goes back to her parents on the farm. She dies and the grandparents, unable to make both ends meet, are forced to auction the farm and household goods and go to the poorhouse. The father of the boy, supposedly a victim of an auto accident, recovers and becomes a world famous violinist. He later meets his little son who has gone to the city to make money to buy the farm back. The youngster lives with his father's former music teacher. A reconciliation follows and the old people are restored to the farm. Classification — Heart interest drama. Production Highlights — Jackie Coogan's efforts in eatfhg spaghetti. The scenes when Jackie is adopted by old music master. The moment when the old man dies. Exploitation Angles — Play up Jackie Coogan. He will pack your house. Use the title. Feature a youngster playing the violin for a prologue. Drazving Power — Will get over everywhere on account of star's talent and personality. Lige Conley in " Hold Tight," Educational Mermaid comedy, a Jack White production. " Just Like a Woman " Haskins-Hodkinson — 4900 Feet (Reviewed by Laurence Reid) " T UST LIKE A WOMAN " may be com«J pared to a moon-beam, so light, so penetrable are its contents. Just why the sponsors saw picture material in a story so innocuous and vapid is difficult to imagine. But there it is telling a tale of a boarding school girl who masquerades as a young old maid, prim and proper, in order to show her aunts that she is not lacking in deportment. The story is padded and is so entirely obvious that the finish may be anticipated from the first reel. In fact it is all much ado about nothing. First we see a group of girls gamboling about on the green. The heroine gets a letter from her spinster aunts asking her to come and live with them — although they are afraid she has inherited the artful ways of her actress mother. Once she is installed in the house, it is her object to put over the " prim and proper " stuff so that the aunts rebel. And the romance is introduced by a wager and the story never gets anywhere. Just what the title indicates is hard to determine unless it is an attempt to express coquetry. Certainly there is nothing in the action to hold the interest. The youth, a lawyer, meets the girl and catches her in the arms of another man. It is her brother who is introduced for no other reason than to precipitate this scene, although he makes two or three appearances begging money from the girl, notwithstanding the fact that he looks prosperous. Such a story should have been condensed into three reels. It asks too much of the players as it stands. Even George Fawcett is unable to make anything of his role, while Ralph Graves is considerably awkward and amateurish in his portrayal of the love-sick swain. The spinster aunts who should have provided a note of humor are interpreted in a conventional manner. There is doubtless an audience for this picture if it is shown on double feature day. It is too weak and inconsequential to stand alone. The Cast Peggy Dean Marguerite De La Motte Judge Landon George Fawcett James Landon Ralph Graves Abigail Jane Keckley Salina, Peggy's aunt Julia Calhoun Peggy's Brother J. Frank Glendon By Grace Haskins. Directed by Scott Beal and Hugh McClung. The Story — Boarding school girl receives letter from her spinster aunts asking her to live with them. They have cast aspersions on her actress mother. So she decides to teach them a lesson. She masquerades as a prim and proper girl studying to become a missionary. She falls in love and nearly breaks the young man's heart. But a reconciliation follows. Classification — Romantic comedy. Production Highlights — The good staging. Exploitation Angles — The title might come in for some publicity through a teaser campaign. Also play up George Fawcett and Marguerite De La Motte. Drazving Power — Best suited for neighborhood houses which cater to feminine clientele. Needs support from another feature. " Scars of Jealousy " Ince-First National — Six Reels (Reviewed by Laurence Reid) '"T HOMAS INCE sponsors a first rate 1 story of conflict and character development in " Scars of Jealousy," which aside from its hectic title is strong enough in its plot, action and interpretation to interest even the most jaded of fans. We will advise you, however, that you are not in for anything original other than exposing a clannish group of people who live up in " them thar hills " — people who are descendants of the nobles of France, but who escaped the wrath of royalty by fleeing to America, settling down in the hill country of Alabama and taking up the moonshining business. The story introduces a prologue showing the nobles in conflict with the haughty rulers. It then gets off on another tack, by presenting their descendants. And so to the conflict between the hill people and the proud settlers in the valley. " Scars of Jealousy " presents Frank Keenan in a role which he can do better than any of his contemporaries — that of a Southern colonel of the old school. His son lacks character and after a wild party the boy is disowned. The pater rides into the hills to adopt a Cajan — the name by which these descendants are known, although they are pictured as people of ill repute, shiftless and of no account. The story is treated in a manner so that the interest is maintained, due to a well arranged continuity and emphasis being placed upon the feud and characterization, here are some healthy fights between the young Cajan and the colonel's son, but the lad from the hills goes back home when the neighbor's daughter scorns him. The climax presents the conventional conflict between the revenuers and the hill people. And it offers a thrill when a forest fire threatens to wipe out the entire community. The colonel's son is made over into a man when the Cajan compels him to accompany him home and the heroine dashes to the rescue of the hill youth when he is imprisoned on suspicion of killing a revenuer. Lloyd Hughes cuts a picturesque figure as the young mountaineer. The atmosphere is good and the settings entirely appropriate. The story has vitality and Keenan's acting carries quality. The Cast Colonel Newland Frank Keenan Jeff Newland Edward Burns Coddy Jakes Lloyd Hughes Helen Meanix Marguerite De La Motte Colonel Meanix James Neil Pere Jakes Walter Lynch Zeke Jakes James Mason Mandy Hattie Peters Mose George Read By Anthony H. Rudd. Directed by Lambert Hillyer. Froduced by Thomas H. Ince. Released by First National. The Story — Wealthy planter disowns his son for his weak character and adopts a youth from the hills — a youth with Cajan blood in him, which means that his ancestors were nobles in France. The revenue officers are after the youth's people and he is suspected of a murder crime. He runs away from his new home and compels the planter's son to accompany him. Succeeds in developing the character of the youthful planter, but is captured by revenuers and imprisoned. Girl effects his escape and they find love together after saving themselves from raging forest fire. Classification — Romantic melodrama laid in South. Production Highlights — Frank Keenan's fine character study. The fine atmosphere. The fights. The capture of the boy. The forest fire. Exploitation Angles — Play up the Southern atmosphere. Tell something about the Cajans being descendants of the nobles of the days of Napoleon. Feature the cast. Drazving Power — Will interest the average audience. Good for any downtown house.