The Moving Picture Weekly (1916-1917)

•THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY ''The Highway of Fate" Laemmle Drama ^^nnHE HIGH4% I W A Y OF I FATE," a I two-reel soA ciety drama written b y Harry Ditmar and produced by Robert F. Hill, is all that its name suggests. About fate there has been from the earliest reco r d s the greatest speculation, as it is the one element in life that has never been controlled or even influenced by human action. Since the beginning of time people have noticed that things do not happen as they are planned. There is a factor over which man can impose no rule. Some call it luck; others call it chance; others call it fate and some call it Providence. But under whatever name it is always the same, the unknown factor. And on this mystery of the unknowable every religion is built. There is no such thing as order in nature. All nature is strange, weird, yes, and sometimes unnatural. Director Bob Hill has succeeded in giving the whole play a mysterious atmosphere. Gypsies, for instance, have a certain mystery about them anyway, but Bob has increased this mystery and produced from it an excellent drama, though it may not conform to the usual rules. The cast includes Sydney Bracy, Sydell Bowling and Paul Panzer, all of whom have striven hard to add characterization and atmosphere to the production. The plot in brief follows: Roxanne is a Gypsy girl who has been wronged by a man of ruthless character. When he tired of her he cast his plajrthing aside and forgot. The girl did not forget. She cared for her child and brooded over her grievance. Jack Underwood is in the last stages of consumption and the doctor tells him that he has two months to live. His wife, he sees, is hampered by his presence, so he decides to clear out. He meets Roxanne and they tell each other their stories. The Gypsy girl induces Jack to join the band, telling him that the open air will cure his heartache. A couple of years later the band of wanderers comes again to the same INDIAN WISHES TO HAZARD SELF WITH UNIVERSAL, Vishwanath Chintaman Bhide Ambitious To Become a Moving Picture Star. ' p|ASHAMURA Roxanne sees the reconciliation over the doctor's body. LAEMMLE Two -Reel Society Drama, written by Harry Ditmar and produced by Robert F. Hill. Gypsy and consumptive find solace for broken hearts in a wandering life. CAST. Roxanne Sydell Dowling Zed .loseph Smiley Jack Underwood Sidney Bracey The Doctor Paul Panzer region. Jack and Roxanne have come to care for each other. But one day Jack reads that his wife has married the doctor. At first he is angry, but finally he realizes that it is the best way out. In the meanwhile Roxanne's rancor is reawakened by being in the vicinity where she met with her misfortune. At last she can stand it no longer and decides to have vengeance. The man who had deserted her was none other than the doctor. She seeks him out and plunges a dagger in his back. Jack has decided that he wants to see his wife once more. He finds her and they are reconciled as the picture fades out. TOGO, Irwin's Jap schoolboy, has a rivid in Vishwanath Chintaman Bhide. who is anxious to become a Universal moving picture star. Bhide lives at 166 Budhawar Peth, P o o n a City, Bombay Presidency, India, and having seen Francis Ford and Grace Cunard in Universal serials in India he has come to the conclusion that he, too, would like to "hazard himself" in the films. V i s h w anath's letter follows: "I humbly and respectfully beg to lay before you the following few lines for favorable consideration, and I hope you will not neglect to go through it. I, Vishwanath Chintaman Bhide, high class Indian, wishing to join your company as actor for your films, may be kindly admitted by you in your actors' staff. I am very much anxious to hazard myself in coming over there and act in your European as well as in the Indian films. Taking into consideration all the above circumstances I hope you will not make me disaj). pointed in this affair. "As to my qualifications, I know English very well and I think it is sufficient for me to be able to act in the films. I have got a good number of certificates with me from many respectable persons for my acting. I venture to ask you what pay you will give me if you allow me to come over there and join your company? Hoping that you will send all your detailed particulars necessary for my information and guidance. "I shall be very much obliged and thankful if you will not hesitate in giving me the chance asked for. Hoping that you will send a favorable and encouraging reply to me by return of post without fail. ' "Thanking you in anticipation, Vishwanath Chintaman Bhide, "P. S. — I am also willing to go through your necessary training which suits to your actors."