Motography (Jul 1918)

56 MOTOGRAPHY Vol. XX, No. 2. Bluebird The City of Tears — (Five Reels) — July 1 — Featuring Carmel Myers. Wop love, comedy and melodrama, flavored with beauty. Rosa Carillo, a chorus girl in a wop opera company, is robbed of her savings and cannot go on her vacation. An artist, Billy Leeds, makes an improper proposal, but she knows how he acted with Maria, a model, and Carmel Myers in "The City of Tears." turns him down. Rosa is in love with Tony Bonchi, a delicatessen dealer, but he, she believes, is in love with the Maria whom Leeds has mistreated. Tony gets into trouble with the police, though innocent, and Leeds is able to get him out. Rosa promises to accept Leeds' proposition if he will get Tony out of jail. But as Rosa is the leading woman in the picture, of course she gets out of the scrape and everything ends as it should. Director — Elsie Jane Wilson. General effect — This story is just a little off color here and there, but not enough to hurt, and it is really very well done. Star— Miss Myers is going to be one of the biggest in the business one of these days. Support — Very good. Production Fair. Photography— Fine. This will go well in the cheaper houses. It needs better dressing up to belong in the more particular sections. Paramount Sandy — (Five Reels) — July 1 — Featuring Jack Pickford. A fine romance of sea and Kentucky mountains in melodramatic setting. Sandy Kilday, a quick-witted Scotch youth, stows away on a ship bound for America, hoping to make his fortune. On the voyage he is discovered and a witness of his misfortune is Ruth Nelson. In America Sandy and a doubtful character. Ricks Wilson, eke out a precarious living, finally arriving in Kentucky near Ruth's home. Ricks gets into trouble and threatens to kill Ruth's father. He is sent to jail. Ruth's brother is about to make a lot of trouble byeloping -with a coquette. Sandy interferes and takes the girl home. Ruth's father is killed, and Ricks, who has broken jail, is accused. Sandy discovers the truth, saves Ricks from a mob, and convinces Ruth that he is man enough to deserve the love she has really felt for him all along. Director — George Melford. Cameraman — Paul Perry. General effect — A swiftly moving story, with lots of adventure and a good deal of comedy. Star — A typical role for Pickford. Support — Unusually good, including Louise Huff, James Neill, Raymond Hatton and Edythe Chapman. Production— Excellent. Photography — Great. This picture ought to go well anywhere, especially as it is the last of Jack Pickford that you will get until after the war. A notice to this effect ought to bring in all the friends of the actor-sailor. He's in the navy now, you know. 4? 4* 4? The Kaiser's Shadow — (Five Reels) — June 30 — Featuring Dorothy Dalton. A thrilling German spy plot story. On his wedding day, Clement Boyd, inventor of a wonderful rifle, is abducted and taken to the house of Kremlin, a German spy, a heavilv veiled woman, Paula Harris, taking the place of his bride in their carriage. Meanwhile Boyd's bride has been similarly abducted and taken to the same place by Hugo Wagner. Paula soon tells Boyd, however, not to be afraid, as she is really acting for the French secret service, and has concealed the designs of his gun. These plans disappear again, and after everyone has passed through the direst of perils it is discovered that Hugo is an American secret service agent and Kremlin is killed in a raid on the place. Meanwhile a love affair has been developing between Hugo and Paula, though each thought the other a German spy. Director — R. William Neill. Cameraman, John Stumar. General effect — A fast-moving, mysterious and extremely timely story, good enough to go over on its own merits if you have been having too much spy stuff, though that seems difficult to imagine just now. Star — Miss Dalton is much better in this sort of melodrama than the exotic society stuff she has done recently. Support — Very good. Production — Ince quality, very luxurious and pleasing to the eye. Photography— Excellent. This is the time to get the money on pictures with Kaiser in the title, and while this hardly looks like a picture for a run, it ought to pack them in almost anywhere except in a strongly German community. Petrova Tempered Steel — (Five Reels) — June 23 — Featuring Madame Petrova. Stage life melodrama in de luxe settings. Lucille Carruthers, a cultured young woman, has made a success as an actress through the coaching of fcerge Radikin, an actor, who wants to be paid by marriage. Lucille repels him. Another suitor is her manager, Edwin Archer. She, however, loves Dr. Slieldon. The night of the opening of her big play, Radikin comes to her apartment and tries to throw vitriol in her face. She fires a revolver at him and he falls dead. She pulls herself together and goes through a triumphant performance. Returning to her apartment she is about to give herself up, when Sheldon comes, and surprises her by explaining the real cause of the actor's death. They marry, it is hinted. Director — Ralph Ince. Cameraman — Harry Harris. General effect — A carefully worked out story of life among theatrical people of the higher class. Star — Petrova is at her best as one of these stern, self-controlled women. Support — Fair. Production — So luxurious that it gives the production a lot of extra value. Photography — Excellent. This is a production for the highest class houses, though it should go well in the medium priced ones as well. It has no cheap appeal and the action is logical rather than sensational. Triangle The Fly God— (Five Reels)— July 1— Featuring Roy Stewart. Another "Red Saunders" story, full of Western adventure. Red Saunders discovers a consumptive named Allers and his wife stranded, having been robbed of $200 by a stranger. He takes care of them at his ranch, but Allers wants to move on because he doesn't want to take charity. Red tricks him into taking $200, which he has received from the conscience-stricken thief. Allers later discovers the thief and kills him in a fight, but the thief is the sheriff's brother and Allers is arrested. Red Saunders saves Allers from being lynched and gets him a fair_trial. The jury. is. for conviction, all but one, and. this man. finally gets the others to agree that if a certain fly, buzzing on the ceiling, lights on the top of the.window pane they will vote for acquittal and the fly obliges. Director — Cliff Smith. Cameraman— Steve Rounds. General effect — A good Western, but it will be difficult to make anyone take the jury scene seriously. Star — You know Roy Stewart well enough by now and it's the regular Roy. Support — Good. Production — Average. Photography — Excellent. Anywhere that they like Westerns this ought to be a , good bill, for it has an original plot, with all of the customary stuff that makes a Western go. 4» 4* 4* The Painted Lily — (Five Reels) — June 30 — Featuring Alma Rubens. Gambling house melodrama. Mary Fanjoy is a poor girl and is dazzled by the flashy Cecil Grey. She marries him and discovers he is a gambler. Grey forces his wife to act as a decoy, under threat of casting her off, claiming that their marriage was a fake. The daughter of a wealthy blind woman is shot and the gambler forces Mary to pretend she is the girl, to get money from the woman. Mary falls in love with a young engineer who has been fleeced by Grey and who becomes the manager of the blind woman's farm. Grey takes pity on Mary and gets himself killed, first telling her that their marriage was not a fake after, all. Then she marries the young engineer. Director — Thomas *N. Heffron. Cameraman — C. H. Wales. General effect — Just an ordinary "movie" of life as