Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

712 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 15. Fox Bill for April Is Large and Varied Includes Two Standards, Four Special Features, Two Mutt and Jeff Cartoons and One Sunshine Comedy THE APRIL releases of the Fox Film Corporation include two Standard plays, four special features, two Mutt and Jeff animated cartoons and one Sunshine comedy. Of the Standard plays, one, "The Soul of Buddha" is a Theda Bara super-production, written by Miss Bara herself and featuring her as a half-caste Indian girl. The star is first shown as a sacred dancer sworn to the worship of Buddha. But she falls in love with a British officer, is cursed by the high priest and later is struck down on a Paris concert stage just as she is entering upon a promising stage career. Her adventures lead her through the gay night life of Paris and she is given many opportunities by her weird role to run the gamut of emotional acting. The picture was directed by J. Gordon Edwards. "The Blindness of Divorce," the other Standard release, was written and directed by Frank Lloyd. It is played by an all-star cast, prominent among whom are Bertha Mann, Charles Clary, Rhea Mitchell and Bertram Grassby. The drama tells in a strikingly effective manner the story of a woman divorced by her husband in spite of innocence and driven into despair by the scorn of society. The curse of the divorce court even besmirches her daughter and is just about to wreck the young woman's life when the mother, now a broken outcast, appears in a court-room and denounces the judge as the hypocritical cause of her own downfall. Jewel Carmen, in "The Bride of Fear," a Fox special feature, portrays the part of a girl, discouraged in her attempt to make a way for herself in a great city, who is saved from suicide by a crook. Through fear, she is forced to marry him, but later learns to love the son of a wealthy business man. Only the violent death of her jail-bird husband releases her from his ruinous influence. The play was written bjr Bennett Cohen and directed by S. A. Franklin. "American Buds," another special feature, presents the Fox "Baby Grands," Jane and Katherine Lee, in a sparkling romantic drama in which the two children arc seen as inmates of a poor farm. The mischievous orphans not only make things lively for everybody, but they drag into the action several military men and parents, real or pretended. The playwas written and staged by Kenean Buel. Prominent among the support of the Lee children are Albert Gran, Regina Quinn, Lucilc Southerwaite, Leslie Austin, H. D. Southard and Nora Cecil. Tom Mix has an uproarious comedy in "Western Biood." The play is different from what Mix has been accustomed to appear in because it features him and his cowpuncher friends in dress suits. Much to his and his friends' discomfort, Mix decrees dress suits for everybody invited to meet a pretty girl in whom he is greatly interested, and , the resulting capers and mixups provide may ludicrous situations. Mix's leading woman is Victoria Forde. The story was written by Tom Mix himself and the acting was directed by Lynn Reynolds. George Scarborough's thrilling drama, "Her One Mistake," is the special feature for Gladys Brockwell. Here the star again brings to the screen a dual role, playing the part of Harriet Gordon, an heiress, and Peggy Malone, her maid. The action begins when the heiress elopes with "Chicago Charlie," a crook, and continues through several years and through manj' exciting adventures until Harriet finally stabs the man who lured her from home and "bled" her of her money. The drama was staged by Edward Le Saint. Supporting Miss Brockwell are William Scott, William Louis, and Charles Perley. The Sunshine comedy is "A Waiter's Wasted Life." This hilarious farce is said to be fully up to the standard which Lehrman has set for variety, action, daring escapades and laughable situations. Mutt and Jeff will disport themselves in "The Freight Investigation" and "The Leak." An a) situation in "Western Blood," a new William Fox picture starring Tom Mix. "The Spy" Guides Authorities "Persons possessing powerful influence are making a strong effort to minimize the offenses of the members of the German spy ring who are already under arrest, and particularly to save from official molestation several persons of prominence whose names have not yet figured publicly in the scandal," says the New York Herald. "Which only goes to prove," commented William Fox, "that the prognostications in my great anti-German propaganda picture, 'The Spy,' to the effect that on the list of Prussian secret agents in America would be found many names of natives who had been lured by promises of titles and honors from the imperial war lord more than by monetary reasons. "In this thrilling photoplay a typical New York clubman is inspired by the patriotism of the old Union League to go to Berlin and, by even bolder methods, secure for the American government a copy of this list of secret agents. I cannot state for a fact that this has been done, but evidently the authorities have taken a tip from this picture and have gone after other suspects besides those of German blood and names."