Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1916)

404 MOTION PICTURE NEWS Vol. 13. No. 3. of the performers quit it because back salaries have not been paid. To fill up the depleted ranks, the manager hires Ira Pash and Phil Pickle to ride in the chariot race, and the slender Selina Tubbs is engaged for the ballet. The town folks who were not employed conspire to break up the show. Johnny West loosens the tent ropes, and when the big top collapses a panic ensues. Some of the animals escape, and this adds to the confusion. That night there is no performance in Bloom Center. The regular Bloom Center cast does the acting. "The Devil in Chief." (Selig. Three reels. Mon., Jan. 10.) — Reviewed at length elsewhere. "No Sir-ee, Bob." (Selig. Sat., Jan. IS.) — In this, as in many of the other _ "Chronicles of Bloom Center," the plot is refreshingly novel and well conceived, but the potential situations are not developed to their fullest by the cast. The imagination of the average audience would be fully capable of grasping many details that are fully, and sometimes laboriously, made explicit. Ezra Pash, Bloom Center's popular postmaster, decides that he ought to be given a pension for his work in the Civil War, even though he never saw any battles outside of the current war films. He makes his application, and awaits results. A stranger comes to town and gets into an altercation with Ezra. In the ensuing fight Pash discards the crutch he had been affecting, and proceeds to clean up the fresh city fellow. When the mutilated stranger turns out to be the investigator for the pension bureau, and his application for Uncle Sam's bounty is turned down, Pash is a very sad man. The regular Bloom Center cast does the acting. MUTUAL PROGRAM "Viviana." (American. Two reels. Mon., Jan. 10.) — The motivation of this film is not always good, and the plot has many inconsistencies. In spite of these drawbacks, the able cast, which includes Vivian Rich and George Periolat, does much to make the story plausible. George Perry, a wealthy man-about-town, is interested in Viviana, a stenographer, and his interest is not wholly platonic. When Perry discovers that his sister is about to elope with a disreputable actor, his better nature asserts itself, and he rescues his sister from infamy and Viviana from himself. He becomes a social worker. Others in the cast are Leslie Reed, Silvia Ashton, and Marion Christie. The director was Reeves Eason. "The First Quarrel." (Beauty. Tues., Jan. 11.) — Carol Halloway always makes a delightful ingenue in roles of frank frivolity, and in spite of a very lightweight theme to work out, she gets away very well. In her support are those "Beauty" luminaries, John Sheehan, Beatrice Van, Rae Berger and Chance Ward. The picture was directed by James Douglas. In a quarrel over the propriety of keeping the picture of an old flame, a young married couple engage in their first quarrel. Each decides _ to bring the other to terms by a threat of suicide. Both leave a note explaining the tragedy to be, and giving explicit directions as to where the selfdestruction is to take place. The two bluffers are finally brought together by an uncle with a sense of humor. "The Secret Wire." (American. Two reels. Fri., Jan. 14.)— There are thrills, melodrama, love, good acting, and good directing in this picture. Harold Lockwood and May Allison furnish their usual smooth work, and Harry Von Meter and William Stowell are effective, too. Thomas Ricketts had charge of the directing. Harold Locke is a "trouble shooter" employed by a telephone company to keep its lines in order. He is sent to locate a secret wire that has long baffled the telephone officials. He discovers that this wire is a secret communication between an automobile dealer and a gang of auto thieves. When the dealer sells a car to Vera, the daughter of a millionaire, he telephones his confederates, and they steal the car and hold Vera for a ransom. Locke overhears a clue of this crime, and manages to rescue Vera from a burning building where she is bound and gagged. Her feeling of gratitude for her rescuer is changed into love after about eighteen hundred feet have been run off. "Spider Barlow Meets Competition." (American. Fri., Jan. 14.) — This kind of comedy-drama is not wholly new in conception or treatment. The names of Edward Coxen, Winnifred Greenwood and George Field in the cast are sufficient guarantee that the acting is of a high grade. When Mr. and Mrs. Dale return from a masked ball, they suspect the presence of a burglar in the house. Mr. Dale's costume is that of a cracksman, so when he starts to look for the intruder, a policeman believes him to be a lawbreaker, and a tussle takes place. Meantime Mrs. Dale sees the real burglar, and believing him to be her husband, falls on his neck. The surprised crook makes hay while everything is to the merry, and removes a priceless neck lace from her person. When hubby and the better half get together, the total results of the evening's experience are a black eye for the former, and a beautiful neck unadorned for the latter. The director was Charles Bartlett. "Water Stuff." (Mustang. Three reels. Sat., Jan. IS.) — Reviewed at length elsewhere in this issue. "Getting in Wrong." (Beauty. Sat., Jan. 15.) — Neva Gerber and William Carroll, with their sidekicks, Lucille Ward and Jack Dillon, inject a lot of action into the mediocre story of this piece. The not unusual situation of a bibulous gentleman mistaking an adjoining apartment for his own is the foundation of the plot. Tom and Alice, who are sweethearts, induce their families to take adjacent apartments. Owing to the similarity of the rooms, and the alcoholic tendencies of Alice's aunt and Tom's father, several mix-ups of a more or less humorous kind develop, and the result is the engagement of the young couple. Jack Dillon directed. "The Gamble." (American. Two reels. Sun., Jan. 16.) — Will be reviewed next week. 'Ham and Eggs." (Casino. Sun., Jan. 16.) — A really clever comedy. Willie, an artist, is in love with Lucile, the banker's daughter, and at the same time is in a horrible financial situation. When Lucile and her father call he conceals his poverty by painting an order of ham and eggs on a plate. The banker tells Willie he must accomplish something worth while before he can have Lucile, and that night Willie dreams of accomplishment. He dreams of receiving $10,000 for painting the words "ham and eggs" all over New York, on skyscrapers, sky, churches and parks, and just as he completes the task and receives the check, he awakes to find the landlady calling for the rent. In the meantime, however, Lucile has told her father of Willie's straits, and the banker, admiring the young man's pluck, decides that he shall be taken into the family. Then a waiter appears, bearing a tray of real ham and eggs. Budd Ross, Marie Weirman, Phin Nares and Katherine Sheldon complete the cast. 'Graces Gorgeous Gowns." (Falstaff. Tues., Jan. 18.) — This comedy centers about Grace, a stenographer, who had a longing for gowns. A rich aunt died, and after all the various wills were sorted down, Grace was found to be the last heir. So she bought a lot of gowns and went to the shore. She displayed her gorgeous apparel to the best effect, then, while in bathing, met and fell in love with a life guard. At the same time a new will was discovered, and the latest heir swept down and seized all of Grace's finery, leaving her only the bathing suit. The life guard rose to the emergency and took Grace home as his wife. Louise Emerald Bates, Bert Delaney, Riley Chamberlain, and Frances Keyes head the cast. 'The Silent Trail." (American. Two reels. Tues., Jan. 18.) — The hero is very manly, the villain very wicked, and the heroine very sweet in this picture — perhaps a bit too much so. There are snatches of melodrama to put punch in the plot. The cast throughout is very good. Mandott and Martin are suiters for the hand of Helen Hayward, a trapper's daughter. They themselves are woodsmen. Although Helen loves Martin more, she marries Mandott because she is engaged to him, and her eense of honor will not permit her to break her word. Mandott abuses her constantly, so she often goes to Martin for sympathy. One day Mandott sees them together, and grapples with Martin in a desperate struggle. Helen rushes off to get the sheriff and stop the fight, but he is already on his way. He has received a message from the New York police to arrest Mandott as a wife deserter. He shoots at the bigamist as he is escaping in a canoe, and Martin and Helen, hand in hand, see the dead body of Mandott floating by. In the cast are Ashton Dearholt, Jack Prescott, Charles Newton and Nan Christy. The director was Charles Bartlett. "Johnny's Birthday." (Bauty. Wed., Jan. 19.) — The plot of this comedy will not tax anyone's brain. John Sheehan, Carol Holloway and John Steppling are delightful in their fun-making, as usual. Johnny is slated to call on his fiancee on the night of his birthday, but he drinks too many toasts at the club, ' and becomes beautifully "slanted." On his way to her house he picks up a dozen or more friends, _ and a motorman. They call on the outraged girl en masse, and she furiously returns the ring to Johnny. The next morning he sees the sleeping motorman in his room, and decides to work for him. He takes out a trolley-car, and after he has piloted it a few blocks, his former fiancee gets aboard. When he sees her he threatens to take her on a trolley joyride if she does not wear his ring again, and she willingly consents to become re-engaged. "Sammy's Dough-Full Romance." (Vogue. Thurs., Jan. 20.) — Not shown for review. "Wild Jim, Reformer." (Mustang. Two reels. Fri., Jan. 21.) — In a Western drama along conventional lines, it is hard to find a more satisfactory trio of players than Jack Richardson, E. Forrest Taylor and Lizette Thome. The story is not in any way remarkable, being merely a variation of a favorite theme. Helen goes West to escape her brutal husband, and there becomes a fast friend of Bill, a prospector. When Helen's husband traces her to her home, he finds Bill there. He is about to kill the interloper when Wild Jim, a bad man whom Helen had once befriended, steps in. He offers to fight a duel with the husband, and in this encounter kills him. Helen asks the bandit to reform. Many years later she returns to the mining camp with Bill, who is now her husband. They find an old man, who turns out to be Wild Jim, who has reformed and is now leading an honest life. "The Thunderbolt." (American. Fri., Jan. 21.— rThis is rather a neat little tale in which the long arm of coincidence is effectively employed. The cast, which is made up of Helene Rosson, E. Forrest Taylor and Charles Bartlett, does much to add to the power of the drama. A girl and a young man meet in a frontier saloon. Both have been ruined by the machinations of a man named Berger. This man happens to come into the saloon, and the two victims both wish to obtain revenge. Both say, "the vengeance is mine." But neither is to be the nemesis, for a bolt of lightning strikes the man dead. "Mischief and a Mirror." (Beauty. _ Sun., Jan. 23.) — There is more slap-stick work in this picture than in most of the "Beauty" releases. The story is trifling, but owing to the consistent power of the cast, the interest never flags. The players are Neva Gerber, Wallace MacDonald, Rick Rosson, William Carroll and Lucille Ward. Archer McMackin direced. Maud doesn't know whether to accept Fred or Tom, so she asks the advice of a medium. This seeress advises her to look into a mirror on Hallowe'en night, and there she will see the face of the man she really loves. Fred overhears this oracular advice, and on the night mentioned crawls through a window in Maud's house, and stands behind the mirror. But Tom has seen this stealthy move, and calls a policeman to arrest the intruder. _ Maud thinks Fred is a burglar, and so faints into the convenient arms held out by Tom. She decides that they are a pretty good pair of arms to protect her for life. "A Baby Grand (?)." (Vogue. Sat., Jan. 22.) — Not shown for review. PAT HE EXCHANGE INC. "The Red Circle," No. 5. (Balboa. Two reels.) — "Weapons of War" is the title of this episode, June Travis, the heir to the red circle brand of the criminal Borden family, goes with her "mother" to the seashore. There, in attempting to hide the men's garments she used in protecting her faithful nurse in an earlier episode, she stumbles upon a shack, in which two men are discussing the plans of an invention calculated to increase the horrors of war. Reaching through the slats of a window, she steals the plans, but the men catch her hand, and see the red circle mark. She extricates herself, makes way with the plans, and throws them into the sea, together with the bundle of clothing. The two conspirators start a search for a girl with a red circle on her hand. Ruth Roland and Frank Mayo are featured in the cast. "Luke Lolls in Luxury." (Phunphilms.) — Luke and Tommy, his companion, have some very exciting adventures when shipwrecked on an unknown island. The chief of the place puts them to work fanning his six wives, and they soon become unduly interested in the women, and viceversa. The chief on observing this, starts trouble, but Luke succeeds in deposing him and becoming chief himself. Through the aid of a white man, whose sweetheart has won Luke's fancy, the chief regains his throne, and so hurriedly that Luke and Tommy start on a long swim back to their native land. "Railroad Construction on the Dark Continent." (Photocolor. Split reel.) — This is a series of unusually picturesque and interesting color pictures of engineering work in the heart of Africa. The difficulties of transporting machinery and equipment, and the natural obstacles to be overcome in the jungle are well illustrated. The views include bits of magnificent scenery, to which the colors add greatly. On the same reel is "The Lizard," a color study of this little-understood reptile.