Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1914)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 275 "On the Lazy Line." An Edison Comedy Hit. Reviewed by Louis Reeves Harrison. WHY is it bound to make a hit with all classes of people in the motion picture audience? Because the author, Epes \Vinthrop Sargent, disdained all conventions in contriving a story that makes us laugh without knowing why? Because Director C. Jay Williams was in his happiest mood? Because William Wadsworth and .\rthur Housman are veritable "screams" in their roles? Because of their admirable support and settings that are beyond improvement? Probably because of all these in exceptional combination. I will try to explain why I laughed, but Bannon, who helped constitute an audience of two at the private showing, remarked that the photoplay was "naturally funny." That defines it truly, if vaguely. I may be permitted to explain, en passant, that Ban *^-^ m Scene from "On the Lazy Line" (Edison). non, the new Edison publicity manager, has not been long enough at it to become an accomplished liar. I also laughed, though the average screen comedy seems about as gay to me as a boil on the neck, or a performer who is dying to tell me all about his "act." The mortgage on mother's home must be paid by 6 o'clock to-night. Her son, Herbert Pryor, and his wife, Mrs. C. Jay Williams, hasten to the rescue. They hasten by ordinary train to a country station, where they must transfer to the "Lazy Line." They find a two-car train, that is a joke in itself, hitched to one of those old-fashioned wood engines with a funnel smokestack, and the engineer and conductor deep in a game of cards Scene from "On the Lazy Line" (Edison). on the cow-catcher. "What's your hurry?" Conductor Wadsworth asks with an aggrieved air — he has been losing money — "It's only forty minutes after our regular starting time." This opening phrase — one of the sure signs of a well-constructed screen story — sounds the entire theme. The train stops for fuel, and the conductor hands the engineer chips until the anxious passenger who is hurrying to pay the mortgage on mother's house does all the "wooding up" on his own account. There is another stop to deliver an express package, a graceful act of the conductor enlivened with refreshments at the point of delivery. The engineer is snoring on the track in front of the cow-catcher, and the conductor, on his return, begs, "Poor fellow ! He is tired out. Let him sleep !" The train gets under way once more, but, while it is running at top speed, the engineer chats from his cab with Alice Washburn, while she strolls along by the track. The inanimate object, the train itself, seems imbued with comedy— the engine sends forth great clouds of smoke and steam during the entire performance, and the situation grows more and more ludicrous, until anxious Pryor and his wife get out and walk. The smoking train is seen in the far distance when they reach their station. There are many humorous situations on the trip, but the idea behind them is what starts one laughing. The clumsiness, laziness and awkwardness of engineer and conductor, the latter's inane attitude at each stop, what is manifestly far below the level of action on modern railroad lines, the deviation from what we have become accustomed as normal, all these become ludicrous in their solemnity. From our point of view of tremendous energy and activity, a superior point of view, this glimpse of innocent incapacity excites our sense of the ridiculous very much, as does vain pretence among our fellow creatures in the moving picture business. The comedy is "naturally funny," and it is bound to please all who see it. "For the Queen's Honor." Reviewed by W. Stephen Bush. THIS feature, a three-part Ambrosio, deals with a very strong story, which might possibly have been rendered more strongly. Here and there were evident traces of haste. The characterization was not always up to Ambrosio standards. With these reservations, the feature is deserving of great praise. The settings are superb ; the movements of the large bodies of soldiers are rendered with remarkable distinctness, and the plot is full of power. The action takes place in one of those mythical modern kingdoms which Anthony Hope has made so popular with writers of fiction. A young oflScer is in love with the queen of the realm. The queen ardently reciprocates his affection. They are in danger of forgetting their duties when the lover discovers a conspiracy against the king set on foot by the officers of the army. His soldierly sense of loyalty asserts itself, and, forgetting all Scene from "For the Queen's Honor" (Ambrosio). else, he runs to the palace to warn the king. The latter, a worthless sort of monarch takes flight and saves himself, taking his wife, the queen, with him. In due course of time the king's faction in the mythical monarchy regains its power and the king is called back to the throne of his fathers. The night before the formal ascension of the throne the queen and her lover are bidding each other farewell in one of the secret chambers of the queen's suite. So engrossed are they with their sorrow and their unhappy love that they do not notice the fire which has broken out until the very flames are upon them. The situation is one of extreme distress and peril. If the young officer is found in the company of the queen it means dishonor to the queen. Rather than imperil the good name of his queen the officer plunges into the flames, while the queen is rescued in the nick of time by the firemen. The noble self-sacrifice of the young officer is brought out with the most tragic effect. It is needless to add in an .\mbrosio that the photography was perfection itself.