The Moving Picture Weekly (1920-1921)

12 THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY 3. Farrell McDonald us the fiddler in "Hitchin' Posts," starring Frank Mayo. of New S •yHE magic fiddle of Joe Alabam', rivei' outcast, had saved hotblooded Jefferson Todd from his raging temper in innumerable crises, but there came a time when the latter struggled on the brink of a cliff with his life time enemy. Then Joe Alabam' smashed his fiddle and was content. A gambler, a fiddler and a dog wander from hitchin' post t<> hitchin' post in the South in the seventies, and the story leads from the Mississippi to the oil fields of the Far West. So there is plenty of application for the title "Hitchin' Posts." It is a story of a man in equal parts good and bad, and ews OT iNew >3pecia WANTED-A SWEETHEART FOR CARMEL *'JS there always a thrill connected with being made love to by a nice, strong, hand.some man? Is there ever a lime v/hen a pair of strong arms about you, two lips tilted near, tantalizingly near one's ov\ti, fail to transport one to the seventh heaven? Some folks with dreams of romance might ■;ay, 'Breathes theie a womaii with soul so dead' who does not respond to 'the lime, the place and the man?' and I would blithely answer 'there does.' " Such were the words of Carrnel l\Iyers, youthful star of the stage and screen, who is at present shedding her brilliance ir. Universal films after an absence of an entire year behind the Broadway footlights. Her fir.st vehicle since her return is "In Folly's Trail," to be followed by "The Gilded Dream." "I have played in motion pictures and on the stage,'" continued Carniel. "I have be<n held in the arms of the matinee idol of a million hearts and have li.stened to the whi.spered, passionate words of his ardor, while my eyes, from the close proximity of the Kliegs have felt like bails of fire instead of glistening orbs of love. I have been pursued by ci'uel fate till hope .seemed useless and rescued at the psychological moment in his manly arms, just as the last inch of film turned, and then I had to be pursued and rescued all over again. I have worked all night till early the next morning, and have ended the grueling strain with a beautiful scene and culminating kiss meant to convey the wonderful joy of living. "And yet," said Miss Myers frapkly, "I have never been in love — never had a leally, truly .sweetheart, and all my romance, so far, has been makebelieve." WHY THEY CALL IT "HITCHIN' POSTS" therefore human ; of another man all bad, and therefore unhuman. And there is a girl. That's "Hitchin' Posts," the Universal film made from the story by H. M. Shumate. Frank Mayo is the .star in a Frai.k Keenan characterization, but J. Farrell McDonald comes close to the star in the bid for popularity in "Hitchin' Posts" as a down-trodden fiddler whose soothing melodies save the gambler-hero from himself at several crises, but who smashes his fiddle rather than ilissuade Mayo from meting out final punishment to the scoundrel of the story. Beatrice Bumham, Jos. Harris, Mark Fenton, Dagmar Godowsky, C. E. Anderson, Duke Lee and M. Biddulph are all seen to advantage in this picture produced by Jack Ford. The scenic beauty of the production and the exquisite photography require special mention. Hari'y Carey and the members of the "Blue Streak McCoy" company on location. Reaves Eason directing; ValPaul, who is going to direct Carey in "Sundotvn Slim," standing at left.