Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1917)

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December 8, 1917 MOTION PICTURE NEWS 4045 Mary Garden, the Majestic Star, Will No Doubt Dazzle Anew the Blase Screen Public in Goldwyn's Elaborate Feature, " Thais " that Alexis Caesar Napoleon Brown is entitled to the crown of Vulgaria, that the reviewer will wager that there isn't a half dozen persons in the millions who will see Mr. Fairbanks in his latest creation for the screen, who will anticipate this most welcome but unconventional awakening of this most distinctive Brown person. The awakening is welcome because we are thoroughly convinced that this fellow Brown would rather be back in the button factory transferring items from the debit to the credit side of Bingham's ledger than to be King of Vulgaria and have to hear the " honor and obey " stuff from Princess Valentina. There is a touch of the burlesque given Mr. Fairbanks's latest work that renders this production distinctive as compared to other Fairbanks' pictures. There are few exhibitions given on the screen today that can be referred to as original in development. The idea of having enacted on the screen the unprobable or impossible, and then to explain it away by running a sub-title or showing a flash of the hero or heroine waking from a dream is old stuff, but to have Douglas Fairbanks enact what he has seen in his dreams and to accomplish this without conveying the slightest hint that he is " only dreaming " until he catapults from bed, is clever originality. Well done Anita Loos, John Emerson and Douglas Fairbanks, enter thou into the kingdom of good scenarioists, good directors and clever actors, respectivGly. This development of the dream idea should not be encouraged in dramatic work for either screen or stage, but it must be confessed that the authors of " Reaching for the Moon " have pretty nearly succeeded in convincing, one at least, that it's not a bad idea after all. Anita Loos and John Emerson have done faultless continuity. There isn't an obstacle left in the way of true dramatic action. It rings true from the opening flash to the fade-out. If one word were added or one subtracted from one of the sub-titles there would be confusion. They are meaning, emphatic accents, accenting action, not supplying it. Some will shake their heads after witnessing this performance. They will be disappointed. Not because the picture lacks dramatic merit but because it lacks Fairbanks' stunts. Mr. Fairbanks displays as much pep if not more than usual, but he does not jump from second-story windows to the branches of a tree, scale fences six feet in height or leap from the back of a charging horse — none of these — and this is the work that his audiences have been educated to expect and unconsciously do expect. The nature of the story is such that the authors could have made possible some of these thrillers without destroying its smoothness or dramatic worth. They have seen fit to let Mr. Fairbanks convince his audiences that he is an actor as well as a stunt artist and in this they have done admirably, in the opinion of the reviewer. John Emerson shows in creation of this work for the screen that he has few equals for accomplishing detailed work in production. The scenes covering three reels or more of this pro Claire Du Brey, Whose Alluring Presence Scores in Bluebird Productions Marion Davies, the Pathe Star, Who Will Shortly be Presented in " Runaway Romany," Which Is Said to Be a Child of Her Own duction are laid in an Italian city — presumably Venice — where the streets are canals. Mr. Emerson did not take his company to the Italian city, but he could not have reproduced a street of Venice on the screen with more realistic results if he had set his camera on the banks of the Grand Canal and shot the actuality. The directorial work in these scenes is to be highly commended. The shots of the Plaza Hotel are evidence of this detailed work. Some clever bits of comedy have been made possible by the authors. The scene showing Brown scanning the menu, noting the prices and choosing the least expensive dish and drink and the close-up of the menu and its prices give rise t'o some of the best bits of clean humor recorded on the screen. Richard Cummings is a typical business man and idealizes Old Cummings. Eileen Percy has little to do but does that little well. Millard Webb's absence would have detracted not a little from the picture. Frank Campeau makes a villainous pretender. Eugene Ormonde has a minor role. THE STORY AND PLAYERS Alexis Caesar Napoleon Brown (Douglas Fairbanks) is a clerk in Old Bingham's (Richard Cummings) button factory. He entertains high ideals, so high, in fact, that Old Bingham thinks that he would do better outside of his employ. Brown's sweetheart, Elsie (Eileen Percy), is a firm believer in concentration of thought if one would realize his or her ambitions, but she confine her ambitions to the acquisition of a husband and a neat little cottage in Jersey. Brown aspires high. He would be king — a ruler of nations. He is fired from Old Bingham's employ and goes to his room to think it over. An idea strikes him. A distinguished foreigner had registered at the Plaza. Brown looks him up, and engages a table next to the one occupied by him. He gets a good look and leaves. He returns to his room to think it over and lies down to rest. He is interrupted by the distinguished stranger who has come to announce that he is heir to the crown of Vulgaria, and wishes him to depart at once to be crowned. Brown and he leaves on the boat. The stranger notifies him that because there are spies aboard, he must not eat the food served for fear of poison, and he must not speak aloud. His troubles had begun. It wasn't such a cinch to be a king. They arrive in Vulgaria, and he discovers that there is a pretender, Black Boris (Frank Campeau). Plot after plot is devised to bring death upon Brown. A grand reception is arranged, and Brown is to meet his future wife and queen. Princess Valentine. The princess proves to be an old maid, not good to look upon. He resolves to quit his job of king and return. Then he wakes from his dream, returns to the button factory, gets his job back, and he and Elsie plan to buy a little cottage in Jersey on the installment plan. " The Lost Express " (Signal-Mutual — Two Reels) REVIEWED BY F. G. SPENCER THE eleventh chapter of this interesting and exciting serial, "A Fight for a Million," shows Helen still on the heels of the Baron and the members of the Syndicate, and also discloses the fact that Bonner, who up to the present has been Helen's ardent champion and co-worker, has gone over to the syndicate. But it will doubtless be shown that in so doing he has some ulterior object to serve, which object might possibly be the discovery of the lost express, and the garnering of the attractive reward therefor. In the preceding chapter Helen got a glimpse of this same express in a tunnel, but being discovered, the band dynamited the fimountain side, and so obliterated the scene, on account of which Helen was unable to retrace her steps. (Continued on page 4052)