Motion Picture News (Jul-Oct 1914)

68 THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS The ALBUQUERQUE FILM MFG. CO., Inc. RELEASING THROUGH , Warner^s Features, Inc. FEATURING Miss Dot Farley IN FEATURE STORIES WRITTEN AND ACTED BY HER. PRODUCED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF GILBERT P. HAMILTON Pmt Releases "First Law of Nature" "The Trail of the Law" Web of Fate" "The Course of Justice" "The Unwritten Justice" "The Daughter of the Tribe" Ready for Release "The Lust of the Red Man" The greatest Indian Story ever produced. "The Toll of the Warpath" "The Price of Crime" Undoubtedly the greatest three-reel subject of the year. "False Pride Has a Fall" OTHER GREAT PRODUCTIONS IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION AT THEIR WESTERN STUDIO 406 Court St., Los Angeles, Calif. In writing to advertisers please "MY OFFICIAL WIFE" (Vitagraph — Five Reels) KEVIEWED BY "WILLIAM EESSMAN ANDREWS IN this drama of unusual power one gets realistic pictures of Russian life, from the secret meetings of NihiHsts to court functions presided over with all the regal dignity of a great house by the mighty ruler of a vast empire. Finished acting of an all-star cast in a production exceptionally staged by James Young makes the play a brilliant example of the best in motion pictures. Clara Kimball Young in the lead, Helene Marie, a beautiful Nihilist, acts with such splendid technique that she succeeds in creating a wonderful illusion. Her living presence seems to be on the stage, and the spectator forgets that he is only looking at a film. So absorbing is this feeling, one expects in the more dramatic episodes to hear her speak. The scenes have been arranged with rare judgment for allowing her ample opportunities to interpret all feminine moods. The character of Helene is complex, and the fair Nihilist's mind has as many involutions as the rose leaves in an undeveloped bud. The actress not only caught the illusive phases of the girl's traits, but by sheer force of superacting projected the personality of the character right through the picture with as much conviction as if the scenes were enacted on the speaking stage. Clara Kimball Young makes the film. This is said without losing sight of the excellent support she received and the credit that must be accorded the efficient stage management evident in every scene. The producer showed no fear of using plenty of subtitles for the purpose of enlightening the audience, instead of assuming that the perfect film drama must have practically none — with the result that it was easier to follow the plot than in the case of the complicated farce, "Uncle Bill," included on the same program of the Vitagraph Theatre. "My Ofiicial Wife" was taken from the novel of Richard Henry Savage, of that name, which enjoyed considerable popularity some years ago. The heroine is a Nihilist leader who resorts to numerous clever expedients to gain admittance to the closely guarded realms of the Czar for the purpose of re-establishing the broken line of communication between the plotters in Russia and in America. "FANTOMAS, THE FALSE MAGISTRATE" (G-aumont — Part 5) REVIEWED BY J. BURROUGHS NOELL THROUGH four more reels we are shown the clever work of this sharp-witted criminal, Fantomas, to escape punishment for his misdeeds, his impositions upon the public and the police in the guise of an examining magistrate, until he is finally, tracked down by Inspector Juve and put in a cell, only to get away at midnight by using the keen wits with which he is blessed. This is no ordinary criminal and his pursuers are not ordinary detectives. Therefore, to elude them, as Fantomas does in this picture, requires a mighty high order of intellect. The crude, bungling, time-worn and commonplace methods so often seen in detective pictures would be entirely out of place here. This requires the nicest calculations, the subtlest deductive reasoning and the greatest alertness for every opportimity and advantage. We are thus carried through a maze of baffling complications and original ruses that keep the attention breathless from beginning to end and the spectator guessing what is going to happen next. There is no dearth of dramatic moments when no one can tell just who will get the best of the battle of ingenuitjr. One thriller appears that will excite comment for its novelty and reckless daring. Swag in the shape of jewels has been hidden in the bell of a Gothic church. The robber climbs for it on a ladder suspended against the bell, and then Fantomas fiendishly pulls the ladder away, leaving the unfortunate swinging to the clapper in the lofty belfry. The fifth part of "Fantomas" was released July 13.' n "THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS"