Motion Picture News (May-Jun 1923)

2542 Motion Picture News Opinions on Current Short Subjects " Roll Along " (Educational — Two Reels) HERE is a comedy which is decidedly above the average. The entire Christie cast, including Jimmie Adams, Sam Irving, Natalie Joyce, and Babe London, appear in blackface roles. Nor is the make-up the only unusual element in the subject. The action transpires on a genuine Mississippi River location in the South with dancing darkeys making merry on the levee, old black mammies, cotton-laden stern-wheelers, and all the other elements of the conventional Southern atmosphere in the background. Th.e effective characterization of the loquacious and garish darkey of the Southland by both Adams and Irving deserve special mention though the rest of the cast do commendable work in their blackface roles. And the comedy carries a story too — one with real situations, well sustained suspense and some very amusing incidents. Adams and Irving are rivals for the hand of Miss Joyce.' It is decided that the first suitor back with a parson from the neighboring landing will be the winner. Two competing stern-wheelers are employed by the rivals in their race for the fair one's hand. The cotton steamers vieing for the lead with their smokestacks belching great black clouds of smoke and their propellers churning up the water at top speed will give a thrill, especially when one of them is operated by a crew of one, Jimmie Adams, who climbs from engine room to wheel-house and back again every few moments to keep his ship in the race. The finish is a whirlwind with an O. Henry twist that, we predict, will get a real howl of merriment from any audience. The sub-titles couched in Southern dialect, for the most part, are adequate and amusing. If you are looking for an out-of-the-ordinarv comedy, be sure to book this one.— E. F. SUPPLE. " The Unsuspecting Stranger " (Pathe — Two Reels) THIS is one of the Range Rider series of westerns with Leo Maloney in the featured role. Maloney is presented in the part of a stranger looking about for a ranch with a water supply on the property. Unscrupulous cowmen with a ranch devoid of water scheme to palm off the useless property on him. Their plan is to secure for the prospective buyer " a right of way" to the adjoining ranch which has water running through it. When the owner of the adjacent property refuses to become party to their deception they plot to have him jailed on the false charge of cattle rustling so as to get him out of the way temporarily until the sale is closed. An element of suspense is injected by the planting of a fraudulently branded hide in the barn of the intended victim and the arrival of the sheriff at the instigation of the crooked ranchmen to make a search of the property. The counter plot launched by Maloney, who has overheard the scheme to victimize himself and the owner of the adjoining ranch, makes an interesting story. The conventional western atmosphere is well carried out. There is a fight scene staged by Maloney and the leader of the crooked cowmen on the retaining wall of a dam that starts out rather poorly but registers effectively towards the close. A romance between the hero and the daughter of the owner of the adjoining ranch lends additional appeal to the subject.— E. F. SUPPLE. " Ain't Love Awful? " (Universal — Two Reels) AS comedy fare this will probably be found to rank as " good." Made up, to a considerable extent, of orthodox comedy situations and incident, there are nevertheless sufficient original touches injected from time to time to keep the action interesting and furnish some good laughs. Bob Dunn is first presented as a training partner of " One Round Ed." The pair are minus funds and are put to the task of securing their breakfast surreptitiously. By means of a movable dial revolved on the inside of the door they are able to change their apartment number and secure delivery of food supplies intended for their neighbors. The customary hard-boiled landlady is eventually introduced. She detects them in the act of cooking breakfast, discovers that their garden pictures are really made up smuggled fruit and vegetables and promptly throws them and their " kitchenette " out. Dunn is then presented as a suitor whose prospective father-in-law does not think kindly of his matrimonial intentions. To discourage his courtship, father engages "One Round Ed" to trounce daughter's beau when he calls. Subsequently, a number of financiers interested in a promotion scheme of father's arrive for a conference. As they enter one by one " One Round Ed " promptly beats them up, determined on not letting daughter's expected caller get by through any mischance Meanwhile, Bob outside notes that everybody admitted to the conference wears a beard; he disguises himself with a long pair of whiskers and makes his entry. " One Round Ed " promptly opens the attack but desists upon discovering that his victim is his old pal Bob. Later, a letter from Bob's rich pa announces his readiness to finance the scheme sponsored by daughter's parent on the condition that Bob be given the girl's hand in marriage. Bob's father has been an enthusiastic supporter of his son's suit from the start. Of course, with sure funds in sight for his scheme, father-in-law cancels his objections. — E. F. SUPPLE. " Pop Turtle's Lost Nerve " (Pop Tuttle Comedy-F. B. O.— Two Reels) DAN MASON as the much "beavered" bus driver bobs up here in a dentist's chair — which certainly places him in a different type of comedy than that with which he has usually been identified. Any opus having to do with physical pain is not good material for entertainment. But this effort does not take itself too seriously and no one should take exception to it. One of those much-advertised painless dentists opens up an office in Pop's town and invites the innocent onlookers (the dental surgery is practiced in the open air) to have their teel pulled free of charge. He has the up-todate methods of a picture director in that a two-piece orchestra is engaged to jooth the nerves of the patients. It has its effect in drowning the screams of the victims. Pop is having a tough time on his hands — and a tough drill on his teeth — 'til Tillie, the big girl, rescues the peppery ol' bus driver and knocks the dentist for a row of false plates. A fairlv amusing effort— LAURENCE REID. " The Three-Gunman " (Fox — Two Reels) LI ERE is a good fast comedy with some orig*■ -1 inal touches and plenty of action. The story centers around studio life and the tribulations of a leading man who has to make a personal appearance before a hostile crowd at the premiere of his picture. There is plenty of hokum and much of it has been seen before in the way of comedy incident, but the " old stuff " is cleverly handled and, in addition, there are some original stunts that are bound to send the most hard-boiled audience into appreciative laughter. The story opens with a casting office and the entry of candidates for the leading role in a Western thriller. There are dozens of applicants of all shapes and weights, but they have one thing in common — a Charlie Chaplin makeup and the well-known Chaplin hop and skid. They are unceremoniously ejected, one by one, on a hidden conveyor. Next the hero enters in conventional cowboy attire, stages a fake holdup, and then, partially concealed behind a partition, does a rapid-change performance, assuming the double role of bandit and rescuer. This part is particularly good. The premiere of the hero's picture follows. His screen vehicle proves to be an exaggerated Western with trick gun-play and plenty of burlesque situations that are good for a laugh. The audience led by a deposed director, who is sore at the hero, " pan " the picture and the leading man's acting, and when, at the close of the performance, he appears before the house, he is greeted with the customary slapstick barrage of cabbages, rotten tomatoes, etc. The fade-out shows the crowd in pursuit of the hero. Some original touches are introduced into the chase. The titles deserve special mention : they are original and appropriate. — E. F. SUPPLE. " Sold at Auction " (Roach-Pathe — Two Reels) THIS belongs among the best comedies that we have seen recently. The action sets a fast pace from the start and keeps going until the fade-out. There are novel situations and some clever original and very amusing gags. The story presents Snub Pollard in the role of an auctioneer who is given the job of selling the furnishings of a house whose owner is in need of ready cash. Everything in the house is disposed of ; even a set of false teeth found on the premises is sold. Then it is discovered that the auctioneer has gotten into the wrong house and what is worse that the furnishings disposed of belong to the Chief of Police who has been on a vacation with his family. When the owner arrives and finds his home vacated of all his belongings he compels the auctioneer to go out and recover every article down even to the set of false teeth. The recovery of the property presents many difficulties, and some of the stunts resorted to to redeem the furniture will afford a wealth of amusement to the most hardboiled audience, we predict. There are thrills here too ; a piano is sent hurling through the street across trolley and railroad tracts with Pollard atop directing its course ; and the task of recovering the false teeth necessitates a wild flight in an aeroplane. There are some novelty effects introduced that are exceptionally well-handled. Pollard in the auctioneer's role proves highly amusing, and the rest of the cast give him adequate support. — E. F. SUPPLE.