Motography (Apr-Jun 1916)

May 6, 1916. MOTOGRAP H Y 1067 Brief Stories of the Weeks Film Releases Swords and Hearts — Biograph — May 1. — Featuring Wilfred Lucas, Claire McDowell and Dorothy West. In the old South, before the war, the wealthy belle is wooed by her neighbor's son. When he rides away to join his regiment she kisses him before the assembled crowd. The daughter of a "poor white" on the plantation, who loves him secretly, bids him good-by also. Later, while riding to see his sweetheart, the officer is pursued by Union troops. The poor girl sees them, and, galloping off, draws the troopers in pursuit. She is wounded, but makes her escape, returning the horse without her escapade having been suspected. Her father heads a band of lawless men who, knowing the lieutenant's father has a treasure chest in the house, attack the mansion, kill the owner and set fire to the place during their drunken orgy. They do not find the treasure chest,however, for the old negro butler has buried it in the earth. At the close of the war the officer returns home a beggar, and is flouted by his former sweetheart in favor of a Union man. The old butler discloses the secret hoard and tells of the poor girl's bravery. The young man offers the heroine the life she saved, and she confesses her love. The Buckshot Feud — Lubin — May 1. — Featuring Davy Don. Don, a lawyer in a mountain town, has the distinction of winning the first and only case tried in town. It happens that a feud breaks out among two families. The leader has been arrested and is on trial for his life. The court room is crowded, and Don, who has been selected to defend him, is making a good defense when he is shot at by the friends of the other family. Don, scared to death, refuses to be made a target and is about to give up the case when the defendant's friends point a revolver at him. Don suddenly changes his mind and proceeds with the trial, and after many very funny situations the judge charges the jury and they file out. When the verdict of "Not Guilty" is announced, the friends of the opposing feudists proceed to shoot up the court. The Man Within— (Three Reels) — Selig — May 1. — Reviewed elsewhere in this issue. In the Moon's Ray — (Two Reels) — Essanay — May 2. — Featuring Francis X. Bushman, E. H. Calvert, Bryant Washburn, Rapley Holmes and Gerda Holmes. Meredith Blake, a gentleman crook, learning that Robert Hamilton, a millionaire, has obtained a priceless scarab, determines to procure it. With the aid of his accomplice "Spider," he enters Hamilton's home and, by the light of the moon shining through the windows, obtains the scarab. Judith Hamilton, hearing the noise, comes into the room, and Blake, infatuated with her, has "Spider" carry her away. On her white slipper she makes a plea for help with a fountain pen which she unconsciously carried with her when disturbed in writing, and hurls it out the window. It strikes Richard Neal, a private investigator, who rescues the girl and returns the scarab to its owner. The Candle — (Two Reels) — Lubin — May 2. — Featuring L. C. Shumway and Helen Eddy. James Carr, a young author, one evening finds a youth in his cabin. They struggle and the lights are extinguished, and when Carr lights the candle again he sees the flowing tresses of a girl before him. Carr asks Sue to tell him her story, and she shows him a letter which she received that morning from one Bancroft, known as Shiro, the Hypnotist, demanding five thousand dollars. She tells Carr that years before she met Bancroft, who acquired hypnotic influence over her, and on his account she was arrested. After serving her term in prison she marries Jim, a young mechanic, and that morning she received the threatening letter, and, ' not having the money, she went out to kill him. Carr then tells her that Bancroft has been killed in a gambling brawl, and when Sue hears this she rushes out gladlv into the night, while Carr looks after her meditatively. Fit for Burning — (Three Reels) — Biograph — ■ May 3.— Featuring Vera Sission and Charles H. Mailes. Constance Grey saves Madge Martin from the police and plants her feet in the path of righteousness, but Madge, driven from one employment to another by members of her own sex, becames disgusted and goes back to the purlieus of vice. She falls in love with Dick Foraker, who, unknown to Constance, was the cause of Madge's downfall. Sophie, a young girl of sixteen, whom Constance has befriended, disappears, and Constance^ asks Madge to help her find the girl. That evening Madge asks Constance to come to her resort, and when she arrives Madge leads her to a door and asks her to look through the tramson and she sees Sophie in the arms of Foraker. The next day Constance returns the ring which Foraker gave her with a brief note, and stronger of mind and higher of soul Constance rises superior to the shocks of life and continues her work of love and kindness among the weak and downtrodden. The Fable of the Preacher Who Flew His Kite But Not Because He Wished to Do So — Essanay — May 3. — A certain preacher became wise to the fact that he was not making a hit with his congregation. The pewholders could understand everything he said, and they began to think the preacher was common. The preacher decided that to win and make everybody believe he was a nobby and boss minister he would have to hand out a little guff. On the following Sunday morning — from his lookout — he gave out a text which didn't mean anything. He sized up his flock with dreamy eye as he vocied the poetry and mysticism in those familiar lines of the great Icelandic poet, Ikon Navrojk. A stout woman leaned forward so as not to miss anything, and a venerable harness dealer seemed to recognize the quotation and nodded his head solemnly. The preacher didn't know what all the talk meant and he didn't care, and perceiving that the congregation would stand for anything, the preacher knew what to do after that. Moral: Give the people what they think they want. None So Blind — (Three Reels) — Lubin — May 4. — The cast includes Walter Spencer, Evelyn Page, Nona Darkfeather, Adelaide Bronti, Cecil Van Auker and Ruth Saville. _ A longer review appears on another page of this issue. The Brave Ones — Vim — May 4. — Featuring Plump and Runt. Plump and Runt, footsore and weary, arrive at a village, and after devouring a plate of newly-made pies, proceed to make love to the sheriff's daughter, who is rescued from their attentions by the worthy official himself. Not having the necessary money to pay for their meal, the old man tells them that if they will sleep for one night in an untenanted house on his property he will not have them jailed. Our two heroes agree to this proposal and take up their new quarters. As midnight approaches they are disturbed by unearthly noises, creakings and shadow-like apparitions. Finally, giving up hope of sleeping, they lay awake. Their door slowly opens and in the wall appears a ghost-like shape. This puts the finishing touch to their nerves and they bury their heads under the bed clothes. Meanwhile, a gang of counterfeiters, who have long used the house as their headquarters, discover the precense of the new tenants and decide to scare them off. Dressing in white sheets, they invade the bedroom, but Plump and Runt, now thoroughly aroused, attack and make them prisoners. The Oath of Hate — (Three Reels) — Knickerbocker— May 5. — Featuring Henry King and Marguerite Nichols. Captain Mark Stone receives word from his financee that she has decided to marry another man. He arrives at her home just after the ceremony and vows that he will marry and rear children to hate her children as he hates her. Stone is injured in the head and loses his sight. He marries May Manning, the slavey at his boarding house, and later, when their child is born — a girl — he leaves_ the house in a rage of disappointment. Meeting _ an old shipmate he goes on ^ a voyage with him, and one of the crew, bearing an old grudge against Stone, throws him overboard and the shock restores his sight. He returns home, but discovers that all trace of his wife and child has been lost. Stone, seeking his wife, is recognized on the street by his former sweetheart, who, having left her husband for another, is an otttcast, and to avoid meeting her he enters a restaurant, where he finds May, who became a dishwasher there to support her child, and he discovers that the weapon he chose to work evil against the woman he once hated has turned to love in his hands. Home-made Pies — Vim — May 5. — Featuring Pokes and Jabbs. Pokes, _ badly in need of a meal, steals a couple of pies which Mrs. Jabbs put outside to cool. While he is eating the pies he is attacked by a policeman and a farmer whom he has previously insulted. By using the pies as ammunition he manages to get away. Coming upon Ethel, Jabbs' daughter, he carries her off to the quarry which Jabbs owns. Here he pauses to rest and sits on an old log under which an irate employe whom Jabbs has discharged had placed a keg of powder in an attempt to blow up Jabbs. When the explosion occurs Pokes is making love to Ethel, and both are blown high into the air. Ethel falls on top of her mother, and Pokes, when last seen, is perched on top of a high tree calmly devouring the last of the home-made pies. Once a Thief— ?— -(Three Reels) — Essanay — May 6. — Featuring Bryant Washburn and Nell Craig. Paul Hendrick, who has a position in Tames Overton's antique shop, asks his employer for $1,000 to pay for an operation which will restore his crippled sister to health. Overton refuses him, and when he sells a curio for $1,200 he makes out a sales slip for $200 and spends the $1,000 for his sister's operation. He is caught, however, and gets only a six month's term. Through Mary Fulton, who has more than a feeling of friendship toward Paul, he is able to get his position back and keep it until he can return the money he stole, and when the story ends it is natural to assume that Mary will resign her position when the $1,000 is paid. An Elephant's Gratitude — Selig — May 6. — Featuring Harry Lonsdale and Edith Johnson. John Blythe, a planter, and his daughter, Ellen, live near the edge of the jungle. Kasu, the foreman of the native laborers on Blythe's plantation, is caught abusing an elephant which has become the particular pet of Ellen, and he is discharged and he vows to be revenged. While Huntley Jackson, the new foreman, and Blythe are inspecting the plantation, Ellen is enticed to a deserted hut by a skillfully written note, and there she is bound and gagged. The pet elephant, missing Ellen, traces her to the hut, forces the door open and carries her home, and gives the girl into the keeping of her father. Mutual ProgTam Pierre Brissac, the Brazen — (Two Reels)— American — May 1. — Reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Secret of the Submarine — (Two Reels) — American.— Episodes 1, 2 and 3 reviewed elsewhere in this issue. The Dashing Druggist's Dilemma — Falstaff — May 1. — Jay C. Yorke is the handsome drug clerk who receives coy and meaning glances from all the young girls in town. Two of his admirers, sisters, have a wealthy uncle and they take such good care of him that he in desperation offers them each $10,000 if they contrive to marry within a week. They both set out for the drug clerk. One attempts to kidnap him but the other foils the plot and runs away with the handsome one herself. She takes him to the parson's, there a third person is met — a woman of portly dimensions. The clerk then explains that he cannot marry because his wife, the determined looking stranger, will not let him. The Weakling — (Two Reels) — Thanhouser— May 2. — The story of a man who, since boyhood, is dpmineered by a bullying sort of chap. After the Bully marries the girl who has long been the Weakling's friend, the latter leaves for other parts. He wins the friendship of a little girl, who compliments him upon his bravery when he rescues her doll. As time passes the Weakling and the girl grow more fond of each other. _ The Bully again comes upon the scene and his attempt to wrong the girl spurs the Weakling on and he defies the Bully, who is a great coward. The former Weakling is now a spirited man, and the husband of the girl whose influence over him proved his making. Harris Gordon, Thomas Curran and Louise Emerald Bates are in the cast. Out for the Count — Vogue — May 2. — Featuring Madge Kirby, Arthur Travares and Alice Neice. Madge's father insists that she marry a title, and they go to a marriage broker, who promises to send a count. Arthur and his pal, strolling down the street, hungry and penniless, see a count and his valet coming toward them, and in desperation they overpower the count and his valet and exchange clothing. Arthur and his pal go to the office of the marriage broker, from which they are taken and introduced to Madge and her father. Preparations are immediately made for the marriage. Arthur and his pal go their way to prepare. Without money they are forced to sleep in a stable, where they pay for their lodging by cleaning a horse. They oversleep and reach the bride's home late. The guests immednately notice the strong stable odor and question its origin. About this time the genuine count, who has recognized his clothes on Arthur, comes upon the scene, is married to the bride, while Arthur and his pal make off through windows, grabbing viands from the heavily laden table as they make their getaway. The Spirit of '61 — (Three Reels) — Thanhouser—May 4. — In this story of a mining town, containing the element of human interest, J. H. Gilmour is seen as an humble old grocer, who