Motion Picture News (May-Jun 1925)

May 30, 1 9 2 5 2625 When Director Edwin Carcwe found he was two days behind on the script for "The Lady W ho Lied ' (First National), he enlisted the services of Birdie Reeve, world champion speed typist. Lewis Stone and Virginia Valli are interested spectators. A EARLY VACATIONS S an indication that summer is upon us, the vacation sHps are being handed out. The other day Tom Meighan and Tom Geraghty, the star's scenario writer, shpped away and caught a train for White Sulphur Springs — the former to take a rest after supervising the Lambs' Gambol, the latter to take the baths as a sort of spring tonic and to tone up the Booth Tarkington story, "Whispering Men." Wanda Wiley slipped away from Los Angeles to spend a month's vacation in her home town, San Antonio — it being the first trip she has made to her native heath since she found her name m electric lights. The star was a dental student before she turned from molars to makeup — which probably accounts for her pretty dental smile. William K. Howard, who has been busy the past few years directing one picture after another, including "The Thundering Herd," has also heard the call of Home Sweet Home. He has struck out for St. Mary's, Ohio, his first visit to the old homestead in a long, long time. As for the New York publicity and advertising men, they are slipp ng away from the office on the oif days m order to brush up Claire Windsor, Metro-Goldwyn ptnyer, and Mrs. R. B. Grunauer, break ground for South Side Theatre company's first house, the Manchester in Los Angeles. Mike Gore, Sol Lesser and Mr. Grunauer, secretary, treasurer mid general manager of the firm may also be seen. their niblick explosion shots out of the sand. Some of the boys working for them get away, too, by telling of their engagements with the dentist. With the trees coming out in leafy attire — with the flowers budding in the deep-tangled wildwood — with the call of the partridge and the pheasant — you can't blame anyone for wanting to enjoy a brief bit of open air in the open country. It's every man to his calling. Some like stepping down the fairway, some like trout and deep-sea fishing, some like the races and the ball games, some like trap-shooting and crap-shooting. And some like buggy riding or a hike through the woods. Norman J. McLeod, Christie gag man and artist, who draws the funny little skeleton cartoon figures on the subtitles of Educational-Christie comedies, has his right arm insured against injury which would interrupt his work. HA REAL HORSE OPERA AL ROACH'S film novelty — a sort of eternal triangle of the equine world — may be classified as a genuine horse opera. The filmgoer hasn't forgotten his previous picture which introduced Rex. Indeed, "The King of the Wild Horses," ushered in a happy departure from the usual run of westerns. We have had a plentiful supply of dog pictures — and occasionally Tom Mix comes forward with an opus written around his famous steed, Tony. But Mr. Roach in cataloguing his star as a wild stepper stimulates the imagination. One anticipates a healthy line of thrills in wondering over the skillful and patient direction in training Rex and his fourlegged companions to execute their stunts. They are remarkably well trained — and yet they carry out the impression of being perfectly wild. Certainly no small feat to accomplish. Fred Jackman, who directed the feature, is not only a director who knows how to construct sequences and piece them together, who knows how to collect marvelous vistas — and place his action against them so that the plot and scenery seem to blend, but he also qualifies as an expert animal trainer. He has guided Rex, the Lady and the Killer — the latter two being the heroine and villain respectively, in this equine melodrama — so that they express the necessary emotions with as much fervor — and as much naturalness, too — when the occasion calls for it — as the best of the human actors. It might profit some of the humans to imitate their naturalness. And so "Black Cyclone " comes to the screen. It is a picture carrying intense action, thrills and romance. For the sake of adding human interest Rex rescues a young fugitive from a mountain lion — and to show his gratitude, the fugitive in turn rescues Rex from quicksands. This naturally cements a strong friendship as man and horse co-operate together in overpowering their enemies. Rex, with the youth on his back, speeds after the human villain. When he is out of the way, the horse turns his attention to the Killer who can be as devilish in a horsey way as Wally Beery can be when cast as a villain. It's a picture which we recommend heartily to all picturegoers. Anyone with a fondness for thrills, anyone with a friendly feeling for horses, will respond to it and call it a wonderful treat.