Motion Picture News (Sept-Oct 1921)

\ 2188 Motion Picture N e 'iV s "BAR NOTHING" (Fox) Buck Jones Has a First Rate Western Here THOSE exhibitors who cater to program pictures will find in " Bar Nothin'," Buck Jones' newest release, a western which is quite above the ordinary in point of characteristic ingredients. There is plenty of snappy action and incident and the characterization has a ring of sincerity about it that will strike a responsive chord with the spectator. The star heretofore has been burdened with plots which were deliberately worked out, and he seemed to meditate entirely too much for one of these energetic representatives of the West. In " Bar Nothin' " the cowboy star comes into his own. The plot is a likely tale of an untamed rancher who whoops it up on every pay-day. He rides into town at the head of a group of rollicking cowboys and proceeds to play the bully until he is halted by a girl who makes him realize that he is something of a coward. The heroine has journeyed West with her sick brother in order to take care of him. However, ranch life is proving too much of a task, and so she advertises for a foreman. The hero offers his services and is accepted. At this point the picture develops its punch, and what is flashed takes on the form of highly interesting melodrama. The "heavy" of the plot is weaving a net of intrigue. He is desirous of winning the girl so that he might gain tide to her property. But his real motive is to dispose of her cattle to his henchman. The cowboy comes to the rescue with his breezy personality and sells the herd at the right figure, but before he has had time to pocket the money, the crooked cattle dealer has staged a little ambush. The result is the cowboy finds himself on the trackless wastes of the desert with death staring him in the face because of the absence of water. It appears a trifle convenient when he captures a runaway horse and rides back to the town, and his sudden recovery of energy does not ring entirely true. However, the thrill attached to the scene offers full compensation. The conclusion brings another effective melodramatic touch when he rides to the rescue of his friends. Jones steals some of Tom Mix's stuff when he drops from a bridge onto the roof of a train and captures the villain. "Bar Nothin'" is so crammed with action and suspense, that the romantic note is nearly lost sight of, and when it does appear it only serves to lighten the heavy portion of the story. The picture is adequately staged, carries effective exteriors and is saturated with good atmosphere. The acting is capable throughout. Westerns will not lose their appeal as long as they stick to such standards as are set up in " Bar Nothin'." — Length, 5 reeh.— Laurence Reid. THE CAST Duke Travis Buck Jones Bess Lynee Ruth Reni<ik Stinson Arthur Carewe Bill Harliss James Farley Harold Lynne William Buckley Scenario by Jack Strumwasser. By Jack Strumwasser and Clyde C. Westover. Directed by Edward Sedgwick. Photographed by Frank Good. PRESS NOTICE— STORY " Bar Nothin* " is the title of the new Buck Jones picture which comes to the theatre next . It is a Western marked for its vigorous line of action and its keen suspense and it furnishes the Fox cowboy star plenty of opportunity to show his skill in the saddle and with the two guns. He plays a rollicking ranchman who loses his " bully-like " nature when a refined Eastern girl proves him a coward. He straightway makes amends by offering himself as a foreman on her ranch and before the story is finished she has occasion to discover that Travis is courageous to a degree. \ A certain vicious cattle dealer nearly upsets the plans of the innocent figures and the cowboy is in dire straits until he is fortunate to lasso a runaway horse and rescue himself from the desert. " Bar Nothin " teems with excitement from beginning to end and carries dramatic punch in every scene. Prominent in the cast are Ruth Renick and Arthur Carewe. Edward Sedgwick directed. PROGRAM READER Whoopee! Here he comes ridin' at the head of a band of boisterous cowboys. It was pay-day, and the event of collecting the money meant that there was no holding the irrepressible ranchers. So Buck Jones rode into town — to shoot it up and make the natives seek safety. He remained long enough to fall in love with a refined Eastern girl. Come to the theatre next and see the cowboy star. Buck Jones, in his best picture. Come and see " Bar Nothin' " a feature which crackles with snappy Western action and incident. A picture which will keep one keenly interested from start to finish. SUGGESTIONS Since this is a Western you know the policy to exploit the feature. If Jones has a following in your locality — well the mere mention of his name will attract the patrons. But you can emphasize that this Western is far above the ordinary in its interest compelling moments. Play up that it crackles with action and incident. Use stills of the star and his leading woman, Ruth Renick. You can put over some breezy copy, in the style of Western speech. Play it up as a fastmoving melodrama which carries sufficient strength to anneal to everyone. Make mention of the fact that Jones is one of the best riders identified with the screen. CATCH LINES He was a rollicking cowboy, but when the girl called him a coward — well it sort of took his breath awray. See Buck Jones in " Bar Nothin'." See Buck Jones in " Bar Nothin' " — a picture of fast action and interesting incident. Don't niiss it. "THE CASE OF BECKY" (Realartj Constance Binney Has Acting Opportunities in Story of Dual Personality THIS screen version of David Belasco's play permits Constance Binney the biggest acting opportunities of her career, and her pantomime in the role of the dual figure is certain to be accepted as quite the best work she has contributed. It is an arduous task that she has here— a task that must have called upon a deal of energy, but if the plot fails to ring genuine in many of its sequences at least the impersonation carries the element of reality. The story might not stand close analysis in certain critical quarters because it reveals considerable hokus-pokus which has to do with hypnotism. Becky is known as Dorothy in her wholesome personality. She is the unwilling subject of a hypnotist attached to a traveling carnival. It is when he casts his piercing eyes upon her and flashes a diamond ring before her concentrated gaze that the girl's unwholesome personality asserts itself and she becomes a veritable tigress. The spell wears off after a time (the reviewer, not being acquainted with hypnotism beyond the average layman's viewpoint, cannot say whether the scheme is correct, although the impression is that the hypnotist, himself, has to bring the patient from under his influence) and the girl becomes her better self. She promises her dying mother to make her escape and finds refuge with a family in a small village — a village which harbors a nerve specialist. One can see which way the wind is blowing at this point. And the romance is gently introduced and weaves a fabric of charming moments, for the youth of the house falls deeply in love. She accepts an engagement ring, but the mere sight of it cause her to become Becky. Her benefactress, being alarmed, places her in the care of the specialist. And this is the point to reintroduce the hyponotist, who has come to town, sneaked into the house, and placed the girl in his power again. There is a flash of creditable incident which concerns the attempted kidnapping of the girl and her subsequent tigrish impulses. But why did the director place a revolver in the secretary's drawer so that the heroine might use it to injure her sweetheart? Any doctor who has a nerve patient in his care would see to it that all dangerous weapons were carefully hidden. The shooting scene is really irrelevant and does not advance the story. The heroine takes the test and emerges resplendent in health, and when the trap is laid to ensnare the hypnotist, he steps into it. He has lost his power. The long arm of coincidence intrudes when the heroine is revealed as the specialist's kidnapped child, the hypnotist having stolen her in her childhood days. However, there is enough dramatic substance to the picture to hold the attention.— Length, 5 reels.— Laurence Reid. THE CAST Dorothy Stone (Becky) Constance Binney John Arnold Glenn Hunter Dr. Emerson Frank McCormick Professor Balzamo Montagu Love Mrs. Emerson Margaret Sedden Mrs. Arnold Jane Jennings By David Belasco. Scenario by J. Clarkson Miller. Directed by Chester M. Franklin. PRESS NOTICE— STORY David Belasco's celebrated play, " The Case of Becky," has reached the screen and comes to the theatre next as a vehicle for the talented and pretty Realart star, Constance Binney. This actress easily assumes the mantle worn by Frances Starr upon the speaking stage and gives a performance marked for its poise and persuasion, and her emotional moments are really praiseworthy. The story revolves around a girl of dual personality. As Dorothy she possesses a lovable, wholesome nature, but since she is the unwilling patient of a hypnotist, he uses his evil influences to transform her into a human tigress — whose nature is to hate and destroy. The girl makes her escape and finds refuge with a family in the country, but she has lapses when her evil nature asserts itself. It is then that she is placed in the care of a nerve specialist who will experiment to discover which nature is truly dominant. The picture is punctuated vsrith startling dramatic surprises and carries a romance of tender appeal. And the cast is entirely capable. PROGRAM READER Did you ever know anyone who possessed a dual personality — whose nature carried two souls — one of which asserted itself in evil thoughts and deeds, the other a soul which found expression through human and wholesome impulses? Probably you have not. But this is not to say that David Belasco's play, " The Case of Becky," which has reached the screen does not spell good entertainment. When you coome to the theatre next you will be entertained with a startling line of drama and Constance Binney is the star. Really this clever little actress demonstrates that she is unusually gifted in histrionic talent. The play will interest you and intrigue you. Come early. SUGGESTIONS The names of David Belasco and Constance Binney should be exploited here. You can tell that Belasco wrote the play which had a wide success uoon the stage, and that it has come to the screen with all its dramatic strength and characterization. Tell that it gives to the star her biggest acting opportunities and that she avails herself of them. You might use a line of argument concerning hypnotism and get your audience in a discussion as to the efficacy of hypnotism. Prevail upon your crowd to come and see a play out of the ordinary and play up the star and the author. Bill it as a dramatic, siu-prising, startling exposition of a dual personality. Make mention that we all possess good and evil natures, although the unwholesome personalities are mostly negative. CATCH UNES See Constance Binney in her dramatic triumph. See the clever Realart star in " The Case of Becky."