Motography (Apr-Jun 1916)

April 22, 1916. MOTOGRAPHY 941 the amount of good effect he procured with the two little negro boys who wait upon the genial captain, Mr. Vernot's work is most praiseworthy. John Reinhard is Percy Moreleigh, who, Elsie discovers, is nothing more than a straw man who wagered that he could kiss the "country Jane" any time he cared to and made a. memorandum of it in his note book. This incident is about as foolish as everything else Percy does, so Mr. Reinhard can hope for no sympathy in a part like that. Charles Graham, Sydney Mason, Mathilda Baring, who, as usual, is very good, and James Levering complete an adequate cast. "The Eternal Grind" Famous Players-Paramount in Five Reels Starring Mary Pickford. Reviewed by George W. Graves. THE greed for gain which is a passion in many people is set forth in its crudest aspect in this film through the ■conduct of James Wharton, a wealthy factory owner, who, though knowing the miserable state of his employees, refuses to better their condition. Wharton threatens to disown his son, Owen, whose socialistic ideas lead him to investigate the sweat-shop, and turns a deaf ear to the evidence his son procures, showing that even death is often the result of his neglect. Among the unfortunates employed in Wharton's sweat-shop is Mary and her two sisters. Amy is a helpless invalid and Jane is morally weak. Mary Pickford plays the part of an optimistic and determined girl, full of youthful vivacity in spite of the burdens she carries, and with a strength of character that is able to surmount both her own troubles and others'. The personal charm and tender appeal to the emotions which have endeared Mary Pickford to the multitude of her admirers permeate this offering with the same delightfulness of her other portrayals. Instead of falling a victim of circumstance, only to be helped out by human interposition or fate, she meets and conquers all untoward conditions entirely by her own efforts. The story, written by William H. Clifford, is told in a direct comprehensible way. It has plenty of situations of good dramatic strength. John B. O'Brien, in his direction, shows that he had a firm grasp of the story and its salient points. A feature of the picture which it would not do to neglect is its bright, clear photography. As the story progresses, we see how Amy, determined to get some joy out of her youth, falls into the snare and becomes the victim of a rich young sport who is none other than Wharton's dissipated son. Unknown to Amy, the latter meets Mary, and, intending to trap her, he plans to throw Amy over. A stirring scene is enacted when Mary forces the man to marry Amy at the point of a revolver. Mary appeals to Wharton to help her invalid sister, Jane, but he angrily refuses. Wharton's other son, Owen, a friend of the struggling poor, while investigating conditions in his father's sweatshop, meets and falls in love with Mary. Wharton warns his son that if he marries her he will cast him off. The rotten floor of the shop caves through and Owen is mortally injured. While he is in a frenzied delirium, the doctor tells the factory owner that if the boy does not see "his sweetheart at once, he will die. Then Wharton races to the slums after Mary and pleads with her to come with him. But she is defiant, and, in spite fronts him with, "You wouldn Why should I save your son?" stubborn sin is at last broken ployees fair wages. After he Mary speeds home with him Owen. The story ends with a romance with Owen, while the to Amy. of her love for Owen she cont help me to save my sister. The back-bone of Wharton's and he agrees to pay his emhas conformed to her wishes, and arrives in time to save happy culmination of Mary's other son repents and returns 'The Invisible Enemy" Anti-Tuberculosis Film Offered by E-K-O Film Company. Reviewed by Thomas C. Kennedy THE E-K-O Film Company's anti-tuberculosis propaganda •■• offering, "The Invisible Enemy," was shown to social workers, members of the medical fraternity and the press at the Russell Sage Foundation, New York, on April 3. This five-reel production, of which the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis is reported to have stated to be "a real contribution to the educational campaign against tuberculosis," was staged in California and, according to present arrangements, will be marketed on the states rights basis. Primarily, "The Invisible Enemy" is a plea for a concerted and intelligent crusade against the white plague throughout the country. The producers have made an attempt to do this through the dramatic possibilities of the screen. In the last reel the amount of good being accomplished by the Red Cross Society, whose income is through the seals which they sell, is told about in some titles and a number of scenes taken in one of the Society's stations are given. "The Invisible Enemy" is the longest film thus far presented whose subject is the white plague, its causes and the manner in which to guard against it. The story deals with characters or 'groups of characters in different environments. In the city there is the poor family residing in unhealthy tenements, and the rich family whose luxuries, or some of them, are paid for with the rent from the unsanitary tenements, while another character is a man who lives in the country, on a ranch, with a sumptuous house and acres of rich farm land. In the beginning of the story we see the Duryea family. Mrs. Duryea is a victim of the white plague and she spends the money her two daughters earn for medicine .prepared by Dr. Quack, who, through the advertising columns of newspapers, lures the people who are ignorant about their condition to his office with promises which he cannot fulfill. There are two daughters. Faith works in a laundry and is healthy and Hope, the younger, has contracted the disease. Both Hope and the mother die. Faith meets the son of Mr. Webster, who is part owner of the tenement, and after a short acquaintance they are married. Muriel, Jack Webster's sister, is engaged to Haggerty, her father's business partner. Through the efforts of Dr. De La Roche, a tireless worker in the cause of humanity against tuberculosis, she finally persuades Webster, who is wealthy and can do a great deal to help the sufferers, to use his influence and some of his money in a fight against the menacing white plague. In the end Muriel breaks her engagement to the villainous Haggerty and marries the doctor. The players who appear in the picture are E. K. Oswald, who is a pretty and pleasing Muriel, Leon Kent, Lucille Young, Frederick Vroom, Jack Cummings and William Parsons. If "The Invisible Enemy" will teach people anything that will aid in fighting tuberculosis it will then accomplish a very great good. Negro Conference Condemns Films At the third annual session of the Delaware Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held in Philadelphia a short time ago, the 500 negro clergymen and laymen present condemned motion pictures which were alleged to slander the colored race. "There ought to be an organization in our midst to fight the slander against our race which is continually cropping out in motion pictures such as 'The Birth of a Nation,' and in dramas and books of all kinds," stated the Reverend R. E. Jones, addressing the conference. The question was, however, laid on the table and no further action was taken.