Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1916)

September 16, 1916 MOTION PICTURE NEWS 1727 stones in a toy balloon she sends them out of the window to Hurst who intends to deliver them to her by messenger when she is on board ship. The messenger makes a mistake and deHvers the stones into the hands of the Holsteds' maid. When Helen sees Hurst she tells him that she has not received the stones but he does not believe her and takes passage on the same boat in order to watch her. Hudson, of the secret service department, is under the impression that the Hoisted maid is the guilty party. Hudson and Helen become good friends, while Hurst and she are quarreling all the time. At last Helen discovers the package and turns it over to Hudson, with whom she has fallen in love, at the same time helping him to capture Hurst. " THE UNWELCOME MOTHER " (Fox — Five Reels) REVIEWED BY E. DRAW THIS story is very ably written by Mary Murillo, and although the title does not suggest it there is a decided atmosphere of the sea. James Vincent, the director, has utilized some excellent scenic locations which are delightfully refreshing and well chosen. The -story has been well told and the director has succeeded in portraying it faithfully on the screen. At times there are incidents which are a trifle improbable, but the production is interesting throughout and affords unusual entertainment. Just Out of the Chimney Valkyrien has been well chosen to play Ellinor and her performance is very natural and will excite sympathy and pity. The character of Ann interpreted by Violet de Biccaro is highly gratifying and more will be heard of this young lady in the near future. The Lee children are as irresistible as ever. Mr. Walter Law (of whom we saw too little) in the role of Mason was splendid ; his acting was most convincing and his fight scene on the ship very realistic. Ellinor, a child of the waves, is raised by old Peter, a light house keeper. Ultimately she meets Mason, a rough sailor whom she marries with a ceremony that he originates. Immediately after he leaves her saying that he will return some day. Meanwhile, Ellinor meets Hudson, a rich widower, who marries her. When she arrives at his house she learns that the memory of his first wife is held sacred by his children, and they will have nothing to do with her. Ellinor decides to leave although her husband pleads with her to remain. Ann, the elder daughter, hears her father's plea, whereupon she enters the room, takes Ellinor's hand, saying " We all love you, please don't go." " THE KID " (Vitagraph— V-L-S-E— Six Parts) REVIEWED BY PETER MILNE NO ONE is perfect — least of all can a producing company lay claim to a string of uninterruptedly perfect pictures. Slumps come to the best of them and " The Kid " is just one of those. Wilfred North is given as author and director. His opening reel contains a series of views of New York City which are interesting specially to those out of town, but hardly significant. The story has to do with newspaper life and several times is the New York Herald acclaimed an excellent newspaper, which it may be, but there is a place to tell everything. . Mr. North has taken as his central figure a girl reporter and given her an entangled murder mystery and graft case to work on in which the principal exponent in each instance is her father whom she has never known. The graft and the murder are suddenly subordinated to the reclaiming of the father in a manner that can hardly be called smooth running. There is considerable unnecessary detail pictured, with the result that the offering soon grows tiresome. The director's idea of time and place is pretty inaccurate and his story never gains any sustaining amount of dramatic interest. In many places the film gives the appearance of having been poorly edited, while other parts run along as if they had never made the acquaintance of the editor's shears. The subtitling cotild be extensively improved upon by rewriting and omission. Lillian Walker plays the title role and succeeds fairly well when her part calls for nothing strenuous in the way of histrionic endeavor. Ned Finley, Eulalie Jensen and Robert Gaillard are others. "THE WOMAN ALWAYS PAYS" (Essanay — Three Reels) REVIEWED BY WILLIAM C. ESTY, 2nd WE have seen several hundred dramas, celluloid and otherwise, in which " the woman pays," but the producers of this version managed to give the world-old theme a sHghtly original aspect. The plot is manipulated to yield some situations of considerable intensity. Only one misses fire. This exception is a scene in which the heroine, after a supposed fall from a seventy-foot cHff, gets to her feet and walks away. The leads are capably handled by Lillian Drew and Sydney Ainsworth. Miss Drew, first in the role of an unsophisticated mountain girl, and later as a cynical adventuress, gives a sympathetic and effective interpretation. Sydney Ainsworth has a part well suited to his ability as a player of heavies. The photography is good ; the directing and settings are fair. Gregory, a lawyer, betrays the love of Elsie, a country girl. When a baby is born. Gregory kidnaps it and takes it to the city. Circumstances lead him to believe that Elsie is killed, while she thinks her child has died. Years afterward Gregory is a respected lawyer, and his daughter is a social favorite. Elsie has become an adventuress. One day Gregory and Elsie meet, and the woman swears to revenge A Scene from One of the Recent Episodes of the " Beatrice Fairfax " Serial Released Through International *