The Moving Picture Weekly (1920-1921)

Vol. 13, No. 19 The Moving Picture Weekly 3 Youngest Screen Flapper in "Sliort Skirts ' THE history of the screen does not reveal a more brilliant record of achievement by a star than is credited to Gladys Walton, the little Universal favorite who has just celebrated her eighteenth birthday and who, in the short space of a year, has introduced herself safely in the hearts of the theatre-goers of America. A year ago the name of Gladys Walton was unknown to the great public, although Universal directors had their eyes on her for some months. After giving her several important parts to test their judgment they decided that Gladys was ripe for starring honors, and she was presented in "Pink Tights," the appealing story of the little circus girl. Her success was emphatic. Within a few weeks she was firmly established. Theatre patrons began calling for more of Gladys Walton, and exhibitors, in turn, called on Universal for more features starring this newly made star. Since then the record of Gladys Walton shows one success after another. She was adorable as the little rich girl in "Risky Business" who shot craps with the boys and then risked her life to save her sister from dishonor; she was a revelation in the dual role in "Rich Girl, Poor Girl," in which she played two extremely opposite characters; as the little shop girl in "All Dolled Up," she was simply irresistible; in "Desperate Youth" she gave an artistic performance of a little mountain waif; in "The Man Tamer" she again appeared as a circus girl, thrilling not only by her great dramatic talent, but by her fearless work in a cageful of lions. From all accounts, however, Miss Walton is said to have achieved her greatest success in her most recent feature, "Short Skirts," from the Saturday Evening Post story by Alice L. Tildesley. Not the least interesting of this photoplay is the artistic prologue which Gladys Walton Scores Another Dramatic Success precedes the main story on the screen. "Short Skirts" is a picture with a message. It is not a story told for the sake of a moral nor does it drag in a lesson by its heels; but in asubtle way it points to the tendency of the modern feminine youngster to miss the joys of budding womanhood and to make the transition from childhood to maturity with a single bound. This, the story points, is due in a great measure to the examples set young girls by their elders and to the lack of restraint in the average American home. As the story is from the pen of Alice L. Tildesley, one of the most brilliant of women writers, and first appeared in "The Saturday Evening Post," there is every assurance that the subject is cleverly treated. In order to get the audience in the proper frame of mind for the story, the producer has opened his picture with a prologue which shows the evolution of the modern "flapper" and the influence of the grandmothers on the girls of to-day. The various fashions are shown, beginning with the frocks worn in Colonial days down to the very latest Parisian decree. The various types of mothers are also shown, and in connection with this part of the prologue is reproduced an animated model of Whistler's masterpiece, "Mother." Florence Lee, a stately old lady and an actress of skill and charm, was selected by Director Harry B. Harris to pose as the figure of the famous painting, first shown in a frame, and then coming to life. . Almost every woman has experienced that period in her early life when she is anxious to put up her hair, lengthen her skirts and escape the odium of being called "little girl." Miss Walton is just such a girl in "Short Skirts," and her rebellion against the restraint of her widowed mother and her prospective step-father lead her a merry chase. After she has entangled her relatives and friends in a lively mess, stirred up quite a bit of scan \, ^ ..^ :f dal and almost lost her best fiiend ^> the election to the mayoralty, she learns her lesson. HE PASSED UP HIS BEST PICTUREr •<<C'OOLISHLY I booked too many pictures last Fall. For this reason I was not able to take advantage of a lot of pictures that were offered to me, though I was satisfied that they were better than the ones I had booked." — From an Exhibitor,