Motion Picture News (Jul-Oct 1915)

88 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 12. No. 10. "Never Again." (Selig. Tues., Sept. 7.) — Tom promises his sweetheart to stop drinking, but he slips, and in a bar-room brawl shoots a friend. He flees, not knowing the man was only slightly wounded, but the sheriff, plotting with Tom's' sweetheart, pursues and arrests him for murder. Tom is in the depths of despair, when his supposed victim appears. The young man is cured of drinking. Tom Mix is featured in this picture. "Into the Dark." (Selig. Sat., Sept. 11.) — F. Mc.Grew Willis wrote this story. Ruth flees to the city with Clark. Her brother pursues the pair. Clark becomes conscience striken on reaching the city, but before Ruth learns the manner of man he is, she is shot by a burglar. Her brother finds her in a critical state, and is told by the physicians that only blood transfusion will save her life. Believing her life not worth saving he refuses, but Clark volunteers, and gives up the blood at the cost of his own life. "'Neath Calvary's Shadow." (Selig. Three, reels. Thurs., Sept. 9.) — Reviewed elsewhere in this issue. "Mr. Jarr and the Visiting Firemen." (Vitagraph. Mon., Aug. 30.) — In the seventeenth of his family troubles, Jarr poses before the Smalltown Fire Company as a real fireman from the city. His popularity is remarkable, and Mrs. Jarr is anything but pleased when she sees her hero husband parading down the street, surrounded by the village beauties. He has to faKefti fire and rescue in order to snuare himself. Besides Harry Davenport, the producer, and Rose Tapley, the cast includes Paul Kelly and Audrey Berry. "The Kidnapped Stockbroker." (Vitagraph. Two reels. Tues., Sept. 7.) — A reporter figures prominently in the search for the broker, who disappears after threatening his_ partner for misuse of the firm's money. With the aid of a clever girl, the reporter locates the man in a haunted house, but is himself seized by a band of thieves, who set fire to the building. The broker is rescued with great difficulty and the reporter "makes good" on his search. "Mrs. Jarr and the Society Circus." (Vitagraph. Mon., Sept. 6.) — More than usually delightful is this chapter in the troubles of the Jarrs. Mrs. Jarr and Mrs. Smith are snubbed at a fashionable summer hotel, and in revenge_ they send for Gertrude, the Jarr servant, who is introduced as a countess. The society circus is too much for Gertrude, and she joins the performers, breaking up the plot and the circus. Rose Tapley, Eulalie Jensen and Harry Davenport have the principal roles. "The Siren." (Vitagraph. Wed., Sept. 8.) — This is a comedy in which Margaret Gibson is a country girl, in love with a city chap. After he has led her out of a dansant she realizes that he considers her merely a child, so adopts real siren ways in order to attract attention. She gets into a lot of trouble, but is successful. Alfred Vosburgh, Anne Schaefer and Gretchen Lederer are also in the cast. "The Romance of a Handerchief." (Vitagraph. Thurs., Sept. 9.) — Through a handkerchief, used to bandage the hand of a girl injured in a railway car, John Harmon gets into trouble with his wife. There are a number of exciting situations and absorbing scenes which make an attractive picture. In the cast are Maurice Costello, Leah Baird and Van Dyke Brooke. "Unlucky Louie." (Vitagraph. Fri., Sept. 10.) — In this picture Sidney Drew is featured without Mrs. Drew. ' As Louie he regrets giving up the comforts of jail life, and tried to get back. Theft, arson, assault — all fail, and he is rewarded instead of arrested. Finally he is elected an official of the village, and accepts the fact that he is through with jail life forever. Francis Le Roy and L. Case wrote the scenario. "One Performance Only." (Vitagraph. Three reels. Sat., Sept. 11.) — In this Broadway Star Feature an actor's make-up and a "poison needle" are two novel factors. Orme, a clever thief, induces a great impersonator to help him in a robbery. The impersonator makes up as a noted jeweler, after the real man has been rendered unconscious by an injection of drugs, and the jeweler's wife robbed. Detectives placed on the trial finally discover how the thing was done, and one of them makes up also as the jeweler. In this guise he so frightened the impersonator that he confesses the plot, and soon he and the thief are serving time at Sing-Sing. Thomas R. Mills, Lionel Adams, Garry McGarry. Templer Saxe, Eulalie Jensen, Stanley Dark and Charles Eldredge compose the cast. MUTUAL PROGRAM "Only a Messenger Boy." (Keystone. Two reels. Aug. 23.) — Excitement rules throughout this film, and there are extravagances which will call forth howls of delight. The messenger boy, caught between such millstones as the mayor's office and the delegation of visiting women, gets into all kinds of trouble, culminating when he is locked into a safe, the safe thrown from a lofty window, loaded onto an automobile, and finally blown unto the clouds, where it sails around until it drops into a river. There are chases by land, air and sea, and disaster when the handcar runs off an open drawbridge. "A Leap for Life." (Rodeo. Thurs., Sept. 1.) — This is a melodrama of the wild Western type, full of action and thrills. Williams, a wealthy miner, takes his daughter, Lillian, for a trip to the Western mines, where he made his fortune twenty years before. There he is recognized by a man and a girl, both of whom accuse him of having wronged them in the old days. They resolve to revenge themselves through Lillian. The first attempt fails, but the second attempt consists in tying Lillian to an empty stage coach and sending it dashing toward the brink of a precipice. She is rescued by a dashing young man in an automobile. The revengeful girl, who has fainted on the railroad track, is also rescued by a cowpuncher with a lariat, and the arch conspirator topples off a cliff to his death. "Man and the Laws." (Gaumont. Two reels. . Thurs., Sept. 2.) — The strong scene of this picture is laid in a jury room as the jury is debating the verdict in the case of a man accused of murdering his sister's betrayer. Finally one of the jurors, who has been holding out for acquittal, tells a story of how his own sister was led astray, and in seeking to punish the man responsible he was saved from a crime by the young man falling under the Wheels of a railway train. The jury votes for acquittal. "A Bully Affair." (Beauty. Sat., Sept. 4.) — A very amusing comedy showing how a stranded vaudeville actor stages a bull-fight in a country town. The village belle falls in love with him and everything goes fine until the two country bumpkins, who had been playing the part of the "bull," get their hands cn a bottle of whiskey. The "bull" acts very peculiarly in his encore appearance, and eventually falls apart, disclosing to the irate audience that they have been fooled by the flashily dressed toreador. John Steppling and Beatrice Van appear in this picture. "A Question of Honor." (American. Sat., Sept. 4.) — A Western drama featuring Vivian Rich, Walter Spencer and Jack Richardson, which shows how a miner father saves his daughter's husband from being sent to prison and at the same time keeps his word about selling the mining claim. "The Father." (Reliance. Two reels. Sat., Sept. 4.) — Sent to prison for seven years by a wealthy manufacturer. Bill Kenare vows vengeance, and, escaping from his cell, plots with others to kidnap the manufacturer's little son. He is about to carry out the plot when he sees his wife in the garden of the millionaire's home and from her learns that the manufacturer has been taking care of Mrs. Kenare and her boy while the husband was in prison ; the boy he was about to steal is really his own. Overcome, Kenare returns to prison to serve out his term. "From the River's Depths." (Tanhouser. Sun., Sept. 5.) — Several unusual features are introduced in this drama, and the action is cleverly arranged. The story is that of an escaped convict, who finds the clothes and credentials of a titled Englishman by the river's bank and impersonates their owner, opening a bank account and paying his attentions to the banker's daughter. Through a portrait in a paper she discovers he is an impostor, and to avoid exposure he attempts the banker's life. Discovered and pursued he leaps to death in the river, his body settling on the bottom beside the skeleton (presumably) of the man he has been impersonating. "The Unsuspected Isles." (Rialto. Three reels. Wed., Sept. 8.) — Reviewed elsewhere in this issue. "Her Oath of Vengeance." (Majestic. Two reels. Sun., Sept. 5.) — This is an exciting story of a_ plot among the Russian workers in "a California cannery. Sergius, a fugitive, is employed at the cannery, with his daughter Sophia; and Ivan, the overseer, who knows the Russian's political record, buys the girl for $500. The owner's wife protects Sophia, and Ivan forces Sergius to incite a strike, preparing a bomb to blow up the works if the men are unsuccessful. Nicholas, the girl's sweetheart, finds the bomb and saves the cannery, but Ivan is killed. "Over and Back." (Komic. Sun., Sept. 5.) — Another vehicle for Fay Tincher in her amusing exploits. Ed, barred from Fay, finds a way to reach her by a clothesline and pulley, by which he can pull himself across the area to her room. His rival sees the scheme worked and changes the terminus of the line, so that on the second trip Ed rides into papa's room. Ed retaliates by getting both papa and his rival dangling on the line, while he and May run off to the minister. "The Indian Trapper's Vindication." (Reliance. Mon., Sept. 6.) — Dark Cloud is falsely accused of robbing the trader's store and ordered to leave the country. As he wanders through the woods he hears cries for help, and rushes • to the river in time to save the trapper's two small children from going over the falls in their canoe. While starting them back to camp, a shot reveals a quarrel between the real thieves, and Dark Cloud is instrumental in running them down and recovering the stolen money. Dark Cloud, Bert Hadley, Alice Pettus, Paul Willis, Mildred Harris, Art Ortego and Charles Gorman compose the cast. "Pansy's Prison Pies." (Falstaff. Mon., Sept. 6.) — This is an unusual comedy, built around Pansy's village restaurant, and her perfect pies and doughnuts. A drummer, who wins her affections, is arrested by the local policeman, a rival, and locked up. Pansy showers pies on him in jail, and he takes the shape of a balloon. She finally smuggles in a saw, and he severs the bars, stuns the policeman with a loaf of prison bread, and start the escape. The other convicts see the bars sawed off, and all break into the drummer's cell to escape, but the drummer is so full of pies that he sticks in the opening and prevents the escape of the others. For this he is rewarded with the shield of the policeman. "For Love of Mary Ellen." (Majestic. Tues., Sept. 7.) — A charming little story of a wealthy boy who shuns the companions of his own set and chooses to play with Mary Ellen Rafferty, whose mother keeps the little newsstand and tobacco shop on the corner. Mrs. Rafferty falls ill and the little family is in despair when the boy gets an idea from a street beggar. He gets a tomato can and a sign : "Pity a blind widow with six children," and waits on the corner for aid. Chief Justice Jones happens along, and on investigating the strange sign, learns of Mrs. Rafferty's plight, and all is made well. 'The Family Doctor." (Reliance. Wed., Sept. 8.) — Osborne Peters opposes the marriage of his daughter Alice to young Dr. Montrose, and the latter is compelled to visit her secretly. The family physician, the unscrupulous Dr. McGrew, knowing of the trouble, hypnotizes the old man and induces him to will his fortune to a nurse with whom McGrew has an understanding that the money is to be shared up. "Jerry and the Gunman." (Cub. Thurs., Sept. 9.) — George Ovey has unusual opportunities for being funny in this burlesque on Western "bad men," and he takes advantage of them. The gunman is a rival of Jerry's, and seeing the impossibility of competing with a portable arsenal, the little comedian finds there is a price on his rival's head, and so turns him over to the police. He gets the reward, but also gets locked up and thrown into the same cell with the man he has betrayed. It is a serious situation for Jerry, but he gets out of it in his own unique style. "Brand Blotters." (Eclair. Two reels. Thurs., Sept. 9.) — This is an exciting story of plot and counter plot among cowboys and outlaws over Melissy, a girl of the plains. One of the outlaws, jealous of the sheriff, makes up to resemble him, and when he is sure the girl can see him, reburns the brand on a cow. Accused by the girl, the sheriff denies the charge, but she casts him off. Later the girl is captured by the outlaws, and at the point of a pistol compelled to marry their leader. The bridegroom is about to carry her away when the sheriff appears to the rescue ; there is a fight and the outlaw is hurled off a cliff. UNIVERSAL PROGRAM "A Game of Love." (L.-Ko. Wed., Sept. 1.) — The rivals in love again ; this time they are Reggie Morris and Fatty Voss. It's only a fair picture with few real laughs, save for the titters provoked by the ridiculous physique of Fatty. "Animated Weekly, No. 182." (Wed., Sept. 1.) — Scenes depicting the disaster caused by the storm in Galveston, Texas ; the recent Baby Parade at Asbury Park, N. J. ; thirty-two governors of states throughout the country witness parade in Boston, Mass. ; testing twelve-inch moitars at Fort Totten, N. Y. ; two interesting scenes from the war zone, and a patriotic cartoon