Motion Picture News (Apr-Jul 1915)

76 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 11. No. 24. is IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INTERESTING FILM REVIEWS PRODUCTIONS FROM ALL PROGRAMS GENERAL FILM PROGRAM Bayne and Jack Meredith appear in the leading roles. "A Romance of Old California." (Biograph. Mon., June 14.) — As the title indicates, this is a story of "the days before the gringo came." The blind son of a wealthy don loves a peon's daughter. The boy's sight is restored and the plan to marry him off to another girl frustrated. He finally finds his own sweetheart who nearly killed herself through fear that she would not be beautiful enough in his eyes. Victor Rottman is the boy and Mary Maletesta his sweetheart. Ivan Christy is the surgeon, Wray Physioc directed with his usual skill. "Mrs. Van Alden's Jewels." (Biograph. Two reels. Tues., June IS.) — Davison, an ex-crook, hired by the Van Aldens, recognizes in Marian Ross, their secretary, his former wife. He tries to make her steal the jewels, but she refuses and buys a revolver to protect herself. _ Davison attacks the girl when she has the jewels in her hands. She fights. In the struggle her revolver goes off and kills Mrs. Van Alden, who had just entered. Marian is tried for murder. On the stard she tells her life story. Davison is arrested after a hot fight. Before dying he substantiates Marian's story and she is set free. Louise Vale plays Marian, Franklin Ritchie is Davijon and Jack Drumier is John Van Alden. Travers Vale directed. "His Ward's Scheme." (Biograph. Thurs., June 17.) — Mr. Wise wants to marry his young ward. She is being courted by a young man, about her own age. To get rid of him she tells him of her expensive tastes. But he doesn't seem scared. When Mr. Wise comes down to bestow the ring on his ward he finds the table piled high with expensive feminine luxuries. So he decides he cannot marry a girl with so expensive tastes, swaps the engagement ring for a pair of cuff buttons, and gives the young couple his blessing, a situation which the girl doesn't wholy enjoy. Gus Pixley is Mr. Wise, Irma Dawkins is the girl and Jack Mulhall is the sweetheart. Edward Morrissey directed. "The Way Out." (Biograph. Sat., June 19.) ■ — A school teacher is courted by the father of one of her pupils. The teacher sees on the hand of her suitor's little daughter a ring which she recognizes as her own. Then it comes out that the suitor is an ex-bandit who had resolved to go straight for the school teacher's sake. But when the teacher finds out that her suitor had killed her father she refuses him. The suitor kills himself and the teacher adopts the little girl Claire McDowell is the teacher, Harry Carey the bandit, and Lewis Wells the father. "Cartoons in the Parlor." (Edison. Wed., June 16.) — Another selection of Raoul Barre's excellent animated cartoons. Some comedy figures dancing, the adventure of a henpecked husband who takes a strength builder, and the chaperone as seen by her victims, are the pictures. The last views win over the chaperone, who is presiding over the young couple, who seek to divert her attention _ with their pictures. A highly entertaining picture. "The Corporal's Daughter." (Edison. Sat., June 19.) — This is a typical film of the old school of fast action and little plot. It deals with the old days of Indian fighting at the U. S. Army posts in the far West. A scout who marries a girl at the post thinks that she cares for a former lover, and exposes himself to useless danger during an Indian attack in order that he may be shot, and leave her to do as she wishes. When he finds that she stays at his side he discovers his mistake, and all ends happily with the arrival of the relief force. Gladys Hulette and Arthur Housman do excellent work as the principals. Yale Benner is seen as the rejected suitor. The battle scenes are well done. "Whose Was the Shame." (Essanay. Mon., June 14.) — A young artist fall<= in love with the girl whose portrait he has painted. Although he is ashamed of his father, a poor farmer, who has slaved for his success, out of justice to the girl ho invites her to visit the farm. The girl is much taken with the kindly old man and the artist's fears are dispelled. Beverly "The Little Deceiver." (Essanay. Three acts. Tues., June 15.) — Reviewed at length in another part of this issue. "Dreamy Dud in the Swim." (Essanay. Wed., June 16.) — This series of living cartoons by Wallace A. Carlson shows the horrible things that happen to young boys who steal jam. Dud and Wag, his dog, first swell up to enormous size and then shrink so small that they can go swimming in a tea cup. Mr. Cat comes along to play with the diminutive Dud and Wag. He drinks the milk out of the cup and is about to swallow the terrified Dud when the latter wakes up to find all is a nightmare. "The Broken Pledge." (Essanay. Thurs., June 17.)^ — Three young girls pledged to spinsterhood and contempt for mankind, go camping. Likewise do three boys, pledged to nothing save fun and the joy of living. Their camps are adjoining, and_ when the boys succeed in thawing out the icy barrier, all pledges are forgotten. Wallace Beery, Harry Dunkinson, Gloria Mae and Virginia Bowker are in the cast: "Vain Justice." (Essanay. Two acts. Sat., June 19.) — A logical Civil War drama produced in the South with beautiful scenery and proper settings. Love for a Union officer finally conquers a Southern girl's hatred for his cause. Very well acted by a cast led by Richard C. Travers and Lillian Drew. "Raskey's Road Show." (Kalem. Tues., June 15.) — This is a very funny Ham and Bud comedy. The two comedians are attached to a traveling show. They spoil the trapeze act and the lady performer falls on them from the bar. They otherwise upset the show and end by fighting with each other when, dressed as a lion and a tiger, they are taking the places of the animals in the animal act. "The Vanishing Vases." (Kalem. Two reels. Wed., June 16.) — Another of the girl detective series with Marin Sais in the lead. A business man hires a crook to steal a rare pair of vases from a museum. When the business man gets the vases he refuses to pay for them, feeling that the crook cannot squeal. The girl detective lands them both. The two reels are full of action. "Rival Waiters." (Kalem. Fri., June 18.) — A farce comedy featuring George Hoffman and Frank Meeker as the rival waiters. Both are jealous of each other, and the funny part of it each is afraid of the other. The result is that any movement on the part of one of them is taken by the other as an act of hostility. A few good laughs are in the picture, and the result is a pretty fair comedy release. "Near Eternity." (Kalem. Sat., June 19.) — This latest of the "Hazards of Helen" keeps up the good work. As a series these railroad stories are certainly full of thrills and tense situations, and "Near Eternity" is no exception in this respect. To_ further enhance the recommendation of this episode of the "Hazards of Helen" there is a good plot entailing the rejected lover seeking revenge on his successful rival, by blowing him up by dynamite attached to a mail bag. The plan is frustrated by Helen, who in the nick of time grabs the dynamite and throws it into the marsh just as the train rushes by. The rejected lover happens to be crossing the marsh at this time, and is literally "hoist by his own petard." "A Safe Investment." (Lubin. One reel. Sat., June 19.) — Billy Reeves does not have as good a medium in this picture as in some others. A dominant wife, a henpecked husband who yet flirts with every female he sees, the wife's expedient of bringing her husband home with a chain around his neck form the plot. Mae Hotley as the wife, aids and abets Billy Reeves .in his antics. "The Bridge of Sighs." (Lubin. One reel. Fri., June 18.) — A young contractor is forced to give graft to get the job, and then with ruin staring him in the face, and the loss of his sweetheart threatened, yields to strong temptation and puts inferior materials in the supports, in order to come out with a profit. On his way to be married, he hears of the collapse of the bridge, the killing of many people and his own impending arrest. In despair he shoots himself, lniei esiingly played by Velma Whitman, Raymond Gallagher, Lharles French, Henry Stanley. "Caught with the Goods." (Lubin. Split reel. Tues., June 15.) — An impossible situation, showing how a wife's endeavors to cure her husband of a love for poker brought herself into the trap. When the police are called in, she is found with the cards and chips in her own pockets, and is therefore given thirty days in jail by her own husband, a justice of the peace. This seems too absurd even for such a comedy, but 'twill please some people. George Welch and Mabel Paige are the warring couple. "Capturing Bad Bill." (Lubin. Split reel. Wed., June 16.) — With "Caught with the Goods." This tells how Bad Bill, the pest of the village, worried a restaurant keeper until the latter had to put dope in his coffee. This made Bill so gentle that he allowed himself to be captured, tied up in a clothes line, and delivered to the proper authorities. Written by Epes W. Sargent and produced by Will Louis. It is acted by Ben Walker, Mabel Paige, Ray McKee. "The Insurrection." (Lubin. 3 reels. Drama.) -Reviewed in another part of this issue. "Letters Entangled." (Selig. Two reels. Mon., June 14.) — A drama well acted by Henry King and Dorothy Davenport, showing how the non-delivery of a letter leads a girl to believe that her lover has deserted her just before the birth of their child. In future years they meet, but because the child, now a young woman, believes her father dead, they decide to part forever. "The Heart of the Sheriff." (Selig. Tues., June 15.) — A Tom Mix western drama with the usual _ display _ of b^eak-neck horsemanship and realistic fighting. The sheriff unselfishly consents to the marriage of his adopted daughter whom he has grown to love dearly. Before the ceremony her suitor is shot in the act of robbing a stage coach and the girl realizes she will be happiest always to remain with the sheriff. "A Tragedy in Panama." (Selig. Wed., June 16.) — For this picture the jungles and towns of Panama have supplied unusual and interesting settings, which are produced with clear photography. The acting is excellent but the plot is a trifle vague unless the picture is followed closely. It_ shows the punishment administered to an unfaithful wife and the man for whom she deserted her husband. "His Father's Rifle." (Selig. Three reels. Thurs., June 17.) — A Diamond Special reviewed at length in another part of this issue. The Angel of Spring." (Selig. Sat., June 19.) — Guy Oliver has cleverly produced a picture which shows how a young wife's horror of becoming a mother is removed when during the Twilight Sleep the "Angel of Spring" takes her spirit on a journey to see the jungle mothers tenderly nursing their young. A pretty picture with the visions well worked out. "Mr. Jarr and the Ladies' Cup." (Vitagraph, Mon., June 14.) — The amusing exploits of the Jarrs continue in this comedy, the eleventh of the series. After the Jarrs have left the Cheese Hill Inn dancing contest' because of trouble with another party which is taking place there, they invite their friends to the flat for the rest of the evening. There they discover that the children have nearly wrecked the place and that the m id has gone_ out. The only consolation comes next morning in the discovery that the maid has been to the dance and won the ladies' cup, thus maintaining indirectly the prestige of the Jarr familv. "The Little Doll's Dressmaker." (Vitagraph, Tues., June 15.) — June, a girl of a poor region in a city, is falsely accused by her sister of a theft from a boarder and sent to a reform school. She has always been noted for her sunny disposition in spite of the fact that she is crippled, and in the school she acts as a strong influence for improvement.