Moving Picture World (July-Dec 1909)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 729 Stories of the Films. BIOGRAPH COMPANY. TWO WOMEN AND A MAN It is not man's nature to be fickle, and if at times be changes his allegiance it is not through a fickle nature, but rather an aberrance induced by subtle forces. Frequent are these occasions during life, which occur to all to strengthen our will power, but there are times when in a state of unrest, our natures are more receptive of a change, and we yield in opposition to ethics. Hence we should ever be on our guard, for once astray from the moral road, we may never regain its path. Off that path we are as the mariner without his compass, buffeted by the sea, and each shining beacon we steer for only lures us upon a shoal on which many other poor unfortunates have foundered. This Biograph story evinces the above most forcibly, for John Randolph was truly a happy man when he brought Molly as his wife to the humble little home in the village. John was a bright, ambitious young man, who sought to improve their condition in life. It is true he worked hard, but it grieved him to see his wife toiling at her arduous household duties. His fondest dream was to have his dear wife mistress of her home, with those around her to do the labors. At length his dream is realized. Having studied the stock market, he becomes successful therein, and they remove to New York, where they occupy a palatial home. Alas, how much better off would they have been in their simple country house. But one never can tell. It i3 the old story, earned success brings happiness, easy money, woe. In New York success attends his every move, and he is soon a very rich man, and a power in the stock market. It is now that domesticity chafes and he seeks recreation outside his own home, mingling with a set in which his wife would be entirely out of place. While at a Bohemian gathering, he becomes smitten with a music hall singer. After this it is all for her, and neglect for his wife. He showers bouquets and presents upon her. the most costly being a magnificent diamond and pearl collar. This neglect is felt by the wife and a separation and divorce is the outcome, with a settlement on his discarded wife. Free from further obligations in' that direction, he marries the singer. This step is ominous for he at once reaches the turning point. Beaten in the market, his friends turn from him. His only chance is to secure his second wife's jewels, all his presents, with which to start anew. Would she yield them ? Would she make one tithe the sacrifice poor Molly made? Not much. She deserts him coldly. What a lesson is here depicted. Ruined, friendless, he wanders back to the old village home, which is as he left it. and finds rest again, where he found rest before, in the oldfashioned rocker. In conclusion we can only add that this subject in staging, acting and photography is excellent. A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE.— "The golden sun was sinking in the West, as it was wont to do. at the dying of an Autumn day, bathing the silent landscape in a ruddy glow. There was a suppression that seemed on the verge of bursting, when the distant patter of horsehoofs was heard. Was this the mere simulation of the property man, or was it a reality? This thought held Lucile in breathless suspense as she stood awaiting him. Her fears were soon dispelled, as a moment later the gallant Knight Armand rode up on caparisoned steed — he despised trolley cars. With a leap he was at her side, and — " This was the line of slush that Mercedes' brain was sopping up from a novel by Clara Jean Dippy, when her beau Frank called. Mercedes was a confirmed disciple of the aforesaid Clara, and would be wooed by a gallant Knight of "ye olden tyme," and as Frank looked as much like a gallant Knight as a mouse resembled a rhinoceros, he stands a poor show. However, she is reasonable and gives him a chance to do something daring and audacious. > He is required to enter the home of a friend of Mercedes and surreptitiously secure a photograph of herself. As hp does not know the family, the act is indeed an adventure. Disguised as a robber, he enters the house, secures the picture, and is about to decamp when caught by Miss Eleanor. Mercedes1 friend, who, thinking him a hold bad burglar, hands him over to Sergeant Reginald Vandyke Worthington. the society guardian of the pence (meaning copV The situation is precarious for Frank, and it looks for a time that he will enjoy a season of quietude in the "cooler." However, on the way to the detention camp, a friend is met. explanations are listened to. and Frank is released. Taking to Mercedes the result of his daring, he hands her the photograph and then shakes a "day-day." She is so delighted that she doesn't notice his last move, and prepares to return to Eleanor the pilfered portrait, only to arrive there in time to see Eleanor enfolded In the arms of Fearless Frank. for though he stole the photograph she stole his ' heart. Mercedes, ejaculating that classical expression "stung" falls fainting Into a Morris chair. SWEET REVENGE.— Revenge is sweet, but like many sweet things if often leaves a bad taste. How many wreak vengeance only to be heartily sorry after Its commission? How many are there who would give anything to undo deeds done, that they at the time of perpetration felt justified? Sweet revenge — It is a bitter sweet. In this Biograph subject Is shown an exemplification of the theory, with rather belter results than is usually attendant upon vengeful moves. The young man jilts his first sweetheart to marry another. He apprises her of this by leaving a newspaper containing the notice of his approaching marriage. She Mies into a frenzy of rage, and for revenge dispatches a messenger boy to the bride-elect with a package of his love letters and a joint photograph of themselves. The boy departs and she follows with her mind's eye this bearer of her malice, when suddenly her hand falls upon one of his gloves on the table. This is like a shock, for she now realizes the woe she has apparently caused. What would she not do to recall the messenger, but fate has intervened, for the boy has accidenly dropped the package from a bridge into the river. EDISON MFG. CO. THE IMP OF THE BOTTLE,— The fable of some article like Aladdin's Lamp or the Wild Ass' Skin possessing magic properties that will enable It to fulfill almost every human wish, yet with penalties attached to offset this advantage, is as old as time itself. In the present picture the wonders are worked by a terrible little imp who has his residence in an oddly shaped bottle. He has the power to grant every wish that the owner of the bottle can frame, except that for a long life, and the penalty attached is that any one who dies with the. bottle in his possesslno goes straight through to perdition and eternal punishment. Consequently whoever owns this wonderful bottle is anxious to get all he can as speedily as possible and then get rid of the bottle; but here another hard condition appears— the bottle can be sold only for less than it cost. This sounds very simple until the price, reduced from purchaser to purchaser, reaches the two-pence mark, at which point the story of the film begins. A young sailor's rapt admiration for the King's daughter attracts the attention of an old magician who owns this wonderful bottle. Being, like every other purchaser, anxious to get rid of it. the magician seizes the sailor's love as a possible means to an end. He takes the young man to his own house, shows him the wonders of the bottle and offers it to him for the small sum of two pence. The sailor is only too glad to close the bargain, but after testing the properties of the bottle by wishing for a sum of money, he incautiously desires to see the imp himself, and the sight is so terrible that he would gladly call the bargain off — only the thought of the beautiful Princess makes him wish to still retain the bottle. We see him stand upon the hillside and wish for a house worthy of her. and we see the house appear In the thin air. We see him wish for the Princess, and she stands before him; and then we see the start of his troubles when the real heart story begins. The knowledge that no one will buy the fatal bottle for one penny when aware of the fact that it might be impossible to sell it for less, weighs upon the now prosperous young sailor, until the Princess notes it and asks the cause of his depression. When she learns it. like the wonderful little woman that she is. she resolves to lose her own soul to save that of her sailor lover. She bribes an old beggar to buy the hottle from her for one penny. Relieved of it. the sailor's joy is unbounded, but curiosity makes him follow the beggar, and by so doing he learns of the selfsacrifice of his Princess wife. He now faces the alternative of seeing her a lost soul or of finding some way of getting the bottle himself. The thought of the half pennv comes to him and he gets a drunken sailor companion of former days to buy> the hottle from the Princess for a half penny, knowing that by so doing it will come back to his possession, and this time irretrievably. The drunken sailor comes from the magnificent house carrying the mystic bottle, and noting its emptiness, wishes that it were full that he might have another drink. The wish, of course, is Instantly granted and the hottle overflows with liquor. The reprobate is delighted and resolves not to complete the bargain, but to keep the hottle for his own. Though warned what its possession means to him, he decides that it is worth the price, and we see the bottle disnppear from the lives of the now happy young people. The story Is clearly and happily told by the Edison players, and the bottle's magic properties are taken full advantage of. The costuming and scenic environments make the picture one of the most pleasing to the eye that the company has ever turned out. A WINTER'S TALE. -Jack Frost certainly did play havoc with the Smiths one cold Winter's day. and the little iciclcd elf is not in the habit of doing things lightly when once he sets out to play pranks. At such times he is sure to leave a trail of trouble behind him, of which the Smiths certainly got their full share and a great deal besides. It all started in the kitchen. No one knew just when or how. but it started there. Now, food Is a very essential thing for man, and the Smiths are no exception to the rest of the human family who generally wake up pretty hungry for breakfast. Nine o'clock Is a very respectable hour for breakfast, too, but Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith and the two miniature Smiths, seated at the family table, waited In vain for it to materialize. As she paid no heed to their frantic ringing of thp bell, shouting and whistling, they decided that I lie cools was neglecting her duties. So the entire Smith family started to Investigate the cause or delay. They were in a particular hurry that day, too, for the Browns were coming to dinner at four, and they could not understand why cook had not risen to the spirit of the occasion. The law of cause and effect was very evident upon their arrival at the altar of good things — the kitchen. They discovered Mary Ann afloat In a wushtub, with a miniature Atlantic Ocean around her, holding ber symbol of work, the broom, tightly against the water boiler, which Jack Frost had tapped lightly during the night and from which was now gushing a veritable geyser of Ice water. Then the Smith's troubles began. One thing after another followed quickly to add to thp woes of the wet, hungry and shivering family. After what seemed to be hours of telephoning and waiting, during which interval they made frantic but ineffectual efforts to stem the flool that was threatening the inundation of the entire house, the plumber and a particularly tired assistant arrived on the scene. The philosophical way in which they surveyed the situation and the calm, deliberate manner in which they set about to relieve It were aggravating enough, but the limit of endurance was reached when they tore out half the side of the house and exposed the almost frozen family to a ten-belowzero temperature. That isn't half what they did, either; nor have we even attempted to recount the many comicalities that added to the Smiths' discomfiture on that memorable day. We'll let the film do that, with the assurance on our part that this "-Winter's Tale" Is full of more genuinely funny and more varied situations than are generally to be found In a short comedy film. ESSANAY FILM MFG. CO. THE PERSONAL CONDUCT OF HENRY.— When Mrs. Henry Lee decides to spend a few days with her mother In a neighboring town, she gives her husband a brief, business college sort of a training in the art of housekeeping and makes her departure. Henry, to his surprise, finds that a woman's work is not such a cinch as he had imagined, and after a few vain efforts to follow accurately his wife's instructions regarding dish-washing, sweeping, etc., he gives the thing up as a bad job. The night before Mrs. Jones returns Henry invites a number of his men friends up to have a good time. When they leave, Henry, too weary to clean up the mess of cigar stubs, champagne bottles, etc., goes to bed, resolved to arise early and get things cleaned up before Mrs. Lee's return. A short time after he has fallen asleep he hears a noise at the front door, the sound of iron filing, then the front door creaking on its hinges. "Burglars," says Henry. Taking his revolver Henry creeps stealthily down the stairs to the hallway and covers the intruders with his revolver, just as they enter. He is about to call the police when a happy thought comes to him. Why not make the burglars clean up the house ? Providing the astonished duo with brooms and cloths, Henry drives them through room after room, leaving cleanliness and order in their wake. When he is through with them, he thanks them, shoves a box of cigars and a few bottles of wine at them and turns them out. The burglars, however, are unappreciatlve of nenry's sense of humor and plan revenge. The next morning when Henry goes to the station to meet his wife they steal certain feminine apparel from a neighboring clothesline, enter the house again and litter the table with the mess of the night before. Henry and wife returns. Henry is jubilant In the belief that Mrs. Lee's estimate of his character will be raised fully 100 per cent. But no! The littered table, women's stockings and lingerie, conspicuously arrayed about the room, dispel his dreams. Vainly he tries to calm his enraged spouse. to explain things. But the evidence of his guilt Is only too convincing, and with the air of a martyr, Henry is dragged to the kitchen, where those implements of torture, the rolling pn and flat iron, await him. A MISLAID BABY.— Mr. and Mrs. William Brown, proud parents of William Brown, Jr.. aged six months, start out to purchase a baby carriage. A suitable perambulator, at a very reasonable price. Is on display in front of a furniture store, and Mrs. Brown, turning William. Jr.. over to her husband, enters t ho store to ask the clerk about it. While she endeavors to drive a bargain with the proprietor of the store. Brown grows weary of waiting, and placing the baby in the coveted carriage scats himself on a bench and becomes absorbed In his paper. Mrs. Smith, also on the lookout for a baby carriage, is attracted by the beauty of the carriaee in which William Brown, Jr., is renosing, hastily calls a clerk, pays him instantly he names the price and wheels it away, entirely unaware that the vehicle has an occupant. Brown continues to read his paper. Mrs. Smith arrives home, leaves the carriage outside, and sends the maid with her infant out to inspect the new carriage. The maid hurriedly enters again, with William Brown, Jr.. In her arms. In the meantime. Mrs. Brown, unable to strike a bargain with the furniture man. leaves the store, when the discovery of the kidnapping is made known. After a tedious search they find Mrs. Smith and