Motography (Jan-Jun 1918)

806 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XIX, No. 17. Harry Morey as he appears in the new Vitagraph Blue Ribbon feature, "A Bachelor's Children." Harry Morey Heads Vitagraph Program "A Bachelor's Children," the Vehicle, a Story That Presents Star as a Strong Man of the Big Outdoors HARRY MOREY, with Florence Deshon playing opposite, heads the Vitagraph program for the week of April 22 in "A Bachelor's Children," a Blue Ribbon feature. There is a strong supporting cast, including Alice Terry, Denton Vane, William Shea, Jessie Stevens and little Aida Horton. The play, which is from the pen of William Addison Kathrop, a regular contributor to the Vitagraph program, was produced under the direction of Paul Scardon. It is a vehicle which presents Mr. Morey in the type of character in which he has made his strongest appeal, that of a strong man of the big outdoors, heroic and just. This is the third feature in which Mr. Morey and Florence Deshon have appeared as a combination, and a fourth, to be released later in the season, has just been completed. In "A Bachelor's Children," which is as original in theme as it is striking in title, Mr. Morey plays the role of Hugh Jordan, a robust mining prospector seeking his fortune in the hills near Loco City. He gets word that his wealthy uncle, for whom he had been named, is dying in the East, and he hurries thither, accompanied only by "Whiskers" O'Brien, a faithful camp pal. The uncle dies before the train arrives and in due time Jordan is awarded the old man's estate, amounting to several millions of dollars. Hugh settles down to the easy going life of a young and very wealthy bachelor surrounded by scheming and jealous women and idle men, but yearning all the time for the mountains and the plains. In another part of the city live Penelope Winthrop and her sisters, one time in affluence, but now in dire poverty. They are served with dispossess papers and in preparing to move Penelope comes across an old letter in her father's handwriting, saying he had transferred his mining claims to Hugh Jordan, uncle of the present Hugh, and that he would see they got their due. Penelope and her sisters go at once to Jordan's home, interrupting a great house party, and present the letter to Jordan. Hugh has never heard of Winthrop, but realizing his uncle may have wronged his old partner, gives the girls over to his housekeeper and starts an investigation. The sisters receive every courtesy from Hugh, but Penelope (Alice Terry), who is unusually beautiful, is an object of hostility on the part of Mrs. Beaumont (Florence Deshon), who intends to win High and his millions. In her plans she is allied with Larry Kendall (Denton Vane). Learning that Hugh is determined to give the girls a "square deal," even though it cost him most of his fortune, Mrs. Beaumont goes to Penelope and tells her she and Hugh are engaged and that her presence there is blackening his name. The young girl, horrified, prepares to leave at once and is intercepted by Kendall, who professes love, and says he will care for her and her two sisters. The youngest of the sisters, however, although not realizing what it is all about, gets "Uncle Hugh" on the phone at the club and tells him Kendall is there "trying to make Pen go away with him." Hugh gets home in time to undo the plotters and the next morning at a general councils of family and lawyers formally tenders the girls the millions rightfully theirs, although there is no legal claim. Penelope tears up the papers and she and her sisters thus give Hugh to understand that the millions without him mean nothing to them, that is, to Penelope, and that the old poverty is preferable. Penelope becomes Mrs. Hugh, and all share equally in the Jordan Winthrop millions. "Over the Top" Stirs Blase New York Continues to Play to Capacity at Lyric Theatre — Prominent Patriots Speak at Every Show ENTERING its third week at the Lyric Theatre, New York, "Over the Top," Vitagraph's reproduction of Sergeant Arthur Guy Empey's famous book, in which the soldier-author appears as the star, continues to play to capacity. The big production, which brings the front line trenches and No Man's Land vividly before the eyes of the American people, has been one of the sensations of the year in New York theatricals, both from the standpoint of spoken and screen dramas. Albert E. Smith, president of the Vitagraph Company, under whose supervision the production was made, and Wilfrid North, who directed it, have been the recipients of congratulations from all branches of the industry. The week of April 8 was American Defense Society week, the patriotic organization having had speakers on the stage at every performance. The speakers included some of the most notable public men and women engaged in patriotic work. Among them were George H. Mann, Mrs. B. Bennett-Burleigh, daughter of one of England's most famous war correspondents; Corporal R. Derby Holmes of the British Army, author of