Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 35 "THE DEVIL WITHIN" Ramo t'>~|—^HE Devil Within," the latest product of the Ramo Company, is a story in three reels that will please. It is a combination of mild melodrama tinged with romance, 'which is so well staged and effectively acted, that it can hardly fail to prove popular. Photographically, the production is of the first rank, the clarity and distinctness "LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION" of the scenes being unusually superior in character. It will be released December 10. The play, which was produced under the direction of William Davis, centers about the misfortunes of Jack Walker, a college man and football star, whose brother-in-law, James Gleason, by his machinations, succeeds in discrediting him, and in having him cut off in his father's will. By the aid of a woman, a friend of Gleason's, Jack is charged with theft and is compelled to leave college. Soon afterward Jack's father dies, and in an effort to see him, he once more falls under Gleason's baneful influence, who charges him with attempted burglary, thus cutting him off from ever sharing in his father's estate. Jack escapes, and becoming hungry and desperate attempts to enter a farmhouse. He is only saved from this crime by overhearing a prayer of the farmer's daughter, Edith. In leaving he is injured, and is taken in and cared for by the farmer's family. Later Jack and Edith grow to love each other. Meanwhile Gleason, whose wife has come into the fortune rightfully Jack's, has renewed his acquaintance with the woman who effected Jack's downfall. A thief enters her apartment and accidentally kills her. All the evidence points to Gleason as her murderer as the thief succeeds in making good his escape. Gleason flees, pursued by the police. He hides himself in a barn, to which later comes Jack, Edith, and a party of merrymakers on a straw ride. Discovered by Jack, Gleason threatens him with exposure of his past unless he aids him. In consequence Jack sends the detectives on a false scent when they arrive. THE conclusion of the production shows Gleason trapped in the barn, which has caught fire from a carelessly thrown cigarette. He is rescued by Jack, at the risk of his life, and. dying, makes a confession which completely clears his rescuer. A reproduction of a bona-fide college football game and the fire scene are two of the screen portrayals in "The Devil Within," which deserves special mention. Jack Hopkins did excellent work as Jack Walker, the football hero and disinherited son, and Stuart Holmes, as the scheming brother-in-law, filled his part in a fashion which could hardly be excelled. Others in the cast were : Olga Troska, as Maude Barnes, the woman in league with Gleason; Lois Howard, as Edith ; Jane Fisher, as the wife of Gleason ; and John Travis, as John Walker, the father. "THE GUERRILLAS OF ALGIERS" Features Ideal THE intention of Features Ideal, as piloted by Mrs. \gnes Egan Gobb, is to place two films a month on the market and make them the most unusual two that can be found. "The Guerrillas of Algiers" or "The Mosque in the Desert," a three-part production released December 5, gives great promise for those that are to follow. It contains corking good battle scenes, an excellent story, fine acting and good photography. Most of the action is laid in the sands of the Sahara desert in Algeria during the Napoleonic wars that devastated that whole region. Phillippe, a youthful soldier of France, is apprised by his father in Algiers of the probability of their never meeting again. The older man has been sent by his general to negotiate with an Arab chief, in an attempt to bring about an armistice. A year following the letter, as nothing has been heard from his parent, ■the boy sets out on the quest of the family fortune, as he had been directed. Arriving in Algiers, he overhears a plot which he knows is connected with his father, whom he believes living. Together with a friend he captures one of. the conspirators, who turns out to be the chief his father had been sent to see. The Arab escapes and the boy follows. He is chased by the Arabs under the chief in. the desert, and goes to a mosque for aid. The priest there recognizes him and tells BATTLE SCENE FROM "THE GUERRILLAS OF ALGIERS" him that the interior of the mosque contains the money which is the property of his family, because of services rendered by an ancestor to the Arabs. He finds his father and marries the girl. There are some very excellent battle scenes in the picture, all of them true to history. They depict the methods Napoleon used in forming squares when opposed by a larger force. The photography and acting leave nothing to be desired. A. D. M.