Moving Picture World (April 1912 - June 1912)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 41 he's found he's lost his money, and he's forty times more funny when he's mad. "THE GYPSY SINGER" (Eclipse), March 20.— A picture with many highly artistic scenes and one that is acted by noted French players very well, indeed, at least in the parts of it that are consistently human. Its only weakness comes from the fact that it shows us a most heartlessly thoughtless act on the part of the picture's heroine, the Gypsy singer. It was inhuman ingratitude in her; she destroyed the masterpiece of an artist to whom she owed everything and merely because her pride revolted at its continual reminder to her and to the world that she had once been only a ragged Gypsy. Her old benefactor was driven almost crazy. Repentance came later, but it didn't, couldn't atone. The situation is competently handled, but the scenario doesn't permit us to be sympathetic with the girl, in spite of all that art could do, and the picture fails to get across powerfully. Yet many, nearly all of the scenes are lovely. 'THE TWO PENITENTS" (Vitagraph), March 20.— A strong, effective picture by the Vitagraph Western company, in which a wronged employee, for revenge, steals from his employer. Emma Goldman advocates this theoretically and Pittsburg Joe puts it in practice, but we never remember seeing it before in the pictures. The picture's point of highest interest comes several years after the "appropriation." The ernployer has failed and has become a bandit. The employee has repented and has sent his daughter with a letter and a large sum of money, more than he stole, as restitution. The bandit, with his gang, holds up the girl's stage. They take what money there is and the girl, too. It is an ugly situation (we don't intimate that this part of the picture isn't praiseworthy; it is), and one that gets over a hundred per cent almost. It is very effective. Some latent spark of manhood brings to the bandit a touch of revulsion when he sees the treatment the girl is receiving and he turns upon his confederates. He then finds the letter to himself and becomes repentant. After freeing the girl he repents still more and brings back the money to its sender and there's a short final scene, just enough to close the picture. It is a very good feature picture from the exhibitor's viewpoint, well photographed, tense and human. "HOT STUFF" (Biograph), March 21. — A farce comedy, fairly entertaining throughout and affording one or two good laughs near its end. "Hot Stuff" is tobasco sauce, and a jilted lover who wasn't invited to the candy pull put it in the candy, cooling on the dry goods box under the window. His hated rival had made the fudge. "A VOICE FROM THE DEEP" (Biograph), March 21.— This farce comedy on the same reel is even better than the former one; it is full of laughter. In a peevish mood our old comedy friend pushes his chum off the dock. They both are in bathing suits and the chum swims under the dock so that the man above thinks he is drowned. The photography of both reels is excellent and the release is desirable. "THTi ONES WHO SUFFER" (Selig). March 2!.— It is the wives and children of course, and it is clearly set forth in this picture of an escaped convict who has been returned to prison after he had married and become a father. The picture is truly effective, but the whole drift of the story doesn't come out clearly until rather late in the film. This is not necessarily a weakness. There are two characters which, although barely outlined, are interesting studies. Doth contributed to the tragedy. One is the sentimental old man who helped the convict and the other is the grasping man in fashionable clothes who betrayed him to the police for the reward. It is a good picture; but it will be admired more than liked. We call it a feature. Some of the photographs are lovely. "THE TROUBLES OF THE NL OUTFIT" (Melies), March 21.— A farce comedy that kept the house laughing. A pretty trained nurse was called when one of the NL boys was injured. The fun in the picture comes from its showing of the efforts of the boys to keep her on the ranch. One man was willing to blow off his toe with a gun in order to make work for her. He missed, and that with its results was one of the picture's best laughs. The photography was not very good; yet clear enough. A good farce. "THE DEFEAT OF THE BREWERY GANG" (Kalem), March 20.— A very well pictured political story with a brand new sensation. The story is good; it interests while we are in doubt as to the outcome, but it does not convince. The photographs are very good, many of the scenes are pretty. It will make a good filler. 'THE PRICE OF GRATITUDE" (Pathe), March 20— An interesting but conventional story of the West. Roughly outlined it is this: The bad man saves the sheriff's daughter from the Indians and also keeps his very pretty wife from stabbing her. The wife, through jealousy, brings the sheriff to the hut and there he finds evidence that makes him arrest the bad man. Later he is set free by the sheriff's daughter who hands over the keys to the wife. The sheriff loses his job. The backgrounds in which this story is told are often very beautiful. The acting is nothing special in any scene and in some scenes it is poor. The photographs are fair, in one or two instances very good. It is a good filler. "CUPID'S LEAP YEAR PRANKS" (Essanay), March 21.— A truly delightful farce comedy contained in the dream of a tramp. The kind spinster was getting the marriage license and the minister. While she was gone the tramp fell asleep under a theatrical poster and dreamed a very well acted and laughable love story, in which he and a very pretty actress figure as the principals. This burlesque of theatrical life is rich. Acting, mechanical work, sets, costumes, and photographs are all excellent. It is a very good tarce feature. "THE HOUSE WITH THE TALL PORCH" (Edison), March 22.— A dignified picture with distinguished settings and beautiful backgrounds (perhaps in Bermuda), which tells of the love of a lonely old man for his turbulent, unruly son whom he has driven from his presence, because of the boy's violent love for the young wife of a neighbor, his best friend. Toward the picture's close, the old gentleman is sick and the son returns. There are happenings in the margin of the story that are left obscure and at times, because of this, the main thread even seems broken. The acting of the chief players is good. The photographs are not up to Edison standard in all the scenes. It is a filler. •INCIDENTS OF THE DURBAR AT DELHI" (Edison), March 23.— This is a collection of very interesting views of this great gathering in India and is well worth seeing. The two on this reel together make a good, desirable filler. "TOMMY'S GEOGRAPHY LESSON" (Edison). March 23.— On the same reel with the above. We hoped that it was going to show in Tommy's dream an ideal and pleasant way of teaching geography; but it turned out to be a farce. Tommy dreams that he changes places with his father and makes his father study. There are one or two laughs in it. "THE RIVAL CONSTABLES" (Pathe), March 23.— A rural comic character farce that a large audience found very laughable. The rival constables are a man and a woman. They are shown as out for chicken thieves. The scenes are mostly around the country store and around the coop from which the chickens were being stolen. The man cop puts red pepper on the chickens to make the thieves sneeze. The woman cop sees foot prims in the snow and measures them. She has the man cop, or thinks she has. just where she wants him and attempts to make an arrest. The man cop rolls down a bank to escape her and comes upon the real thieves. He gets one, and the woman the other. The audience seemed to enjoy it very much. It is well acted and well photographed, and will make a good, desirable filler. "KARLBERG" I C. G. P. C), March 23. — A very short film showing mostly the setting up exercises in use at the Karlberg War School in Sweden. The men are very expert at their work. The photographs are fine. "THE DEPUTY'S LOVE AFFAIRS" (Essanay), March 23— In this picture Mr. Anderson, with very competent support, plays a freshly interesting four-cornered story of love and jealousy. Beside himself as the deputy, there is the American sweetheart in sunbonnet and gingham dress, the senorita in Mexican costume and "Pedro." The senorita is the jealous one and excites Pedro to make the deputy think the sweetheart is untrue. We do not know who the lady is who plays this Mexican girl; but she is a very skillful actress in the heavy work that her part demanded. The photographs are poor; they seem muddy. The release is a good filler. "PRESIDENT TAFT AND HIS CABINET" (Vitagraph), March 23.— The photographs are fair, but might have been better. We were glad of the chance to see the picture. "HER FORGOTTEN DANCING SHOES" (Vitagraph), March 23 — A farce that shows many incidents quite impossible in real life. For the most part, the audience watched without any general laughter. In truth. it seemed to fall pretty flat. The first number on the reel, however, makes it a good and substantial release. Because of it, we call it a feature. "THE GODDESS OF SAGEBUSH GULCH" (Biograph). March 25.— A good, interesting story, commendably sensational. It serves to contrast the characters of two sisters. The dark one, who comes on a visit to the sagebush, steals the sweetheart away from the light haired one, the "goddess of Sagebush." It was acted by all pretty well. The goddess is especially pleasing in this part. She is unique among picture players in the possession of hair that in the sunshine looks like a nimbus. Her acting also seems to be very popular. The story of the picture doesn't drag at all; the photographs are good enough and, although there are one or two minor points that might be called weaknesses, we call it a good feature picture. "THE PRICE OF SILENCE" (Vitagraph), March 25.— A picture of a bad man and his mother, but one that is well made, extremely well acted and emotional. The mother is played by Mrs. Turner, mother of the Vitagraph Girl (Florence Turner) and there is a marked resemblance between them. The photography is good and the story is simple, direct and impressive. It is a good feature picture. "HER UNCLE JOHN" (Lubin), March 25.— A farce in which a man who can make funny tumbles "makes up" as the Western uncle of a girl with whom he has fallen in love. He gets found out and then kicked out. It made the spectators laugh. "HOODOOED" (Lub;n), March 25.— Mr. Brown breaks a mirror and tries to get the hoodoo off on somebody else, succeeding at length with a Chinaman. We wish he had not tried it on a baby. The spectators laughed heartily and often. "SONS OF THE NORTH WOODS" (Selig), March 23— A. winter picture with log cabin and backwoods store, dog sleds and snowdrifts. It tells a love storv that is kept from being commonplace by pretty good acting and by interesting backgrounds. The action is very slow, except at moments; it is almost sleepy in parts. The photographs of snow scenes are bright, but fail to show faces clearly; the interiors are distinct but a bit misty. Its picture tells a human, acceptable story and can be rated as a fair filler. "PATHE'S WEEKLY NO. 13" (March 25).— This weekly topical has a very large number of items and they cover a wide interest. There is a picture of Col. Roosevelt at Mineola when the counsel of a railroad recently challenged him as a juror; a striking miners' parade in Belgium; three or four steamship wrecks; the wreck of the 20th Century Limited near Poughkeepsie, N. Y. ; scenes at El Paso, Tex., opposite to the much troubled Mexican city of Juarez; the delegates of the Lawrence, Mass. strikers at Washington and an impressive picture of a Greek Church ceremony before the monument erected near Moscow, Russia, to Napoleon's soldiers who died there. There are present several of the city councilmen of Paris. "THE WRONG BRIDE" (Pathe), March 21. — A Mexican story in interesting backgrounds (park scenes in California) and with a stately marriage ceremony. The groom is seen going to the church with a cavalcade of his friends; the bride, in pretty wedding dress and veil, walks accompanied by her relatives and friends. The woman whom the groom-to-be had jilted lies in wait to stab the bride as she passes. She fails. The bride and her father hear her story and have her dress up and be married as the chosen one (under the veil). The chosen girl, after the ceremony, persuades the groom to accept his new wife. It is a pleasing picture, not a work of rigorous art. It is fairly well acted and pictured. We call it a feature, though with some doubt. "THE JUNIOR OFFICER" (Selig), March 22. — A melodramatic love story with many pleasing scenes and some very good photographs. It is a story set for the most part on a steamship and is not very convincing. Mr. H'obart Bosworth plays the hero's part as the junior officer of the ship. He had loved the heroine, now married to a nobleman who is about to elope with an adventuress also on board. The junior officer saves the situation and