Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1914)

288 ■I THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD Comments on the Fil ms Licensed *'THE STOLEN HEART" (Selig), December 30.— Human fun depends on things that are really human. Certain situations may be savage or barbarous (more or less elemental) and still be human. They will amuse; for in every one of us there is still some of the bygone past. In this picture we find a situation that has more that repels than appeals. It is aimed at the fin-de-siecle consciousness and at the same time outrages it — the author, Ralph Delmore, missed his mark when he offered that bedroom scene as comedy. The picture has a very charming leading actress whose playing nearly saved the scene and the photography is beautiful. To the players and the producer all the credit for this picture's good things are due. It has some lovelv scenes. "WnHEN LOVE IS 'YOUNG" (Essanay). December 31.— Natural embarrassment of youngsters before the camera goes a good way to match the real acting of their elders in making this idyllic comedy pleasing. Three of the chief players are in the very early teens and enact a love story — conventional it would have been for older people — in comedy vein. It is a success, although better photography would have helped. You can*t see ,the faces in some of the scenes. The backgrounds are rural, but seem'' a bit cramped. "BY THE TWO OAK TREES" (Patheplay), December 3J.7An elemental story of the West. The players (George Gebhart. Madeline West. Red Wing) are about as skillful as any we know for this sort of thing and, although the situation is not really dramatic, get as much as is possible out of it. "ANDY GETS A JOB" (Edison). December 31.— The good quality of the playing on the part of Andy Clark, who is an appealing little comedian, and of Jessie Stevens, as the washerwoman, his mother, make the early scenes of this offering delightfully human and convincing. As the story progresses and Andy goes out to look for a job to keep his mother from being dispossessed, it drops into some very trite situations and loses by them. The author, Alice Williams, could have done better with this material. Charles H. France, the producer, has handled those kitchen scenes well; but both author and producer were hampered by the thousand feet requirement. "THE: EDUCATION OF AUNT GEORGIAN A" (Vitagraph), December 31.— Here was a situation fit for a little masterpiece and would have been one, if the author, W. A. Tremayne, had taken time to make it convincing. The players (Kate Price, Mary Charleson, Maurice Costello) have caught the right spirit; but by suggesting the possibilities serve to keep ns reminded that the script is hack work and not, as a whole, inspired by imagination. There are plenty of good things in it; for as we have said, the players are very amusing and the author also shows that he knows his business. It is good; but it might have been much better. The production was under the care of Maurice Costello and of Robert GaiUord. Backgrounds, sets and photography are all that one could desire. "FATHER'S DAY" (Selig). December 31.— It is seldom that we find the production spoiling the script, but it seems to have in this case. The idea here and also the story are fine, but the players, excellent workers In many roles, were most unfortunately chosen for these. The son, played by William Stowell. is full of counter suggestions. It repels us to see a man with his character of physiognomy acting as this son acts. Then Hilda (Adele Lane) put comedy into her part, a quality that should have been as far removed from it as the poles. The story by Gilson Willetts should have been as impressive as a Bible parable. That giving away of the fruit, taking the old man. to a show, giving him many cigars (all these things probably the author's carelessness) really outraged the old man in his sorrow. In truth, it is heart-breaking to see the possibilities going to waste here. One can't call this a good offering. "A MOTORCYCLE ELOPEMENT" (Biograph), January i.— A finely photographed bit of comedy in which figures a motorcycle the trade name of which is somewhat conspicuous. *'SKELLEY'S SKELETON" (Biograph), January i.— On the same reel as the foregoing is this comedy, which will make a lot more than the ordinary amount of amusement. Mr. Murray is the funmaker in chief, and he is ably assisted by the portrayer of Dr. Drugs, who buys his skeleton. It is real farce-comedy — as good as the best. **TEMPLES OF JAPAN" (Melies), January i.— A whole reel is here given over to showing different temples. There is much of interest in the picture, but the reviewer would have enjoyed it more had it been cut in two. It is an unusual scenic of travelogue that can hold up attention for a thousand feet. "THROUGH TRACKLESS SANDS" (Essanay), January i.— In the opening scenes of this picture there is a good and near thrilling rescue of a child that has fallen over a cliff. Later on there is a series of views of a sure-enough desert that will interest. The story may be described as an average Westerner. It is of a ranchman who tries to win another man's wife by sending the husband on a false errand out on a desert, and •when later he learns that the man he has sent to destruction has previously saved the life of his little daughter he relents and goes out and rescues the traveler. "THE SECRET OF THE BLTLB" (Vitagraph), January i.— A child takes a ring from a tray and loses it in a pot where a bulb has just been planted. The nurse, in love with the son of the household, is accused by her mistress of theft and discharged. She goes without visible protest, an altogether unnatural attitude. Later, when the plant emerges to the surface, the ring is found. When the son goes to a detective agency for assistance in finding the nurse he is accidentally shot. Of course, it is forcing a situation to bring about the discovery of the nurse, where the natural mode of procedure would have been in looking for a nurse to inquire at the hospitals. "GOOD RESOLUTIONS" (Selig). January i.— William Duncan writes and produces this story. Also he plays the role of Captain Ellsmere, a former British officer fallen on evil days. It will cause wonder on the part of some why the mine owner, when he believed his daughter to be imprisoned in a burning mine, did not himself go to her rescue instead of appealing to an employee. The story is well acted. Especially worthy of praise is Florence Dye, in the role of a waitress. Myrtle Stedman as the mine owner's daughter is wholesome, convincing. There is a distinct literary flavor to the letter sent by the waitress to the captain telling him she is already married. Effective also is the last scene taken on the rear platform of an observation car. These two bits constitute real punches. "MISADVENTURES OF A MIGHTY MONARCH" (Vitagraph), January 2. — This reel is reminiscent of the Mardi Gras at Coney Island at the close of the season in September. A tale of domestic trouble has been woven around the scenes of the festivities; it is a story of wife Flora's jealousy — unfounded, be it understood — of Queen Lillian. Husband King John, on one of the mornings after, still all fussed up as he was the day and evening before, is shut out of his home and falls afoul of Tramp Bill Shea, who with the aid of an enormous pistol robs the Hng of his robes. The king gets the pistol with the cast-off attire, but when he examines it more closely discovers and withdraws a fan from the innocent if murderous looking muzzle All interested parties meet later in the station house, where matters are straightened out. A good release. "BILL'S BOARD BILL" (Kalem). January 2.— Ruth Roland makes a corking boarding house mistress and shows how a vnie doing this sort of work is entitled to "put it over" on her husband. John Brennan is the boarder. There are some good laughs in the picture. "CAMBRIDGESHIRE RACE MEET" (Kalem). January 2.— On the same reel as the foregoing are these topical views in Great Britain and one in Paris. We see pictures of the damage done by a real cyclone in a Welsh town. "A CORNER IN POPULARITY" (Lubin), January 2.— Rather slight seashore comedy. "THE MISSING DIAMOND" (Lubin), January 2.^This is a Jewish burlesque on the same reel as the foregoing, which starts rather slow, but which makes considerable fun toward the end. "THE ABANDONED WELL" (Biograph), January 3.— A none too original story of a foster father who hides his wealth at the bottom of an abandoned well. The son, going into the well to steal the money, finds the little girl has fallen inside. He overcomes his desire for the money and takes the child home. His foster father then gives him money on which to marry. Well pictured, but not very strong as to plot. "STANTON'S LAST FLING" (Edison), January 3.— This film story, from. "The Interlude." by H. B. Marriott Watson, develops well. It carries the atmosphere of the continent convincingly. The hero succeeds in rescuing Lady Angela from the Chevalier, who is a fortune hunter and kidnapper combined. Charles Vernon, Miriam Nesbitt and William Leonard have the leads and present the rather difficult scenes convincingly. The photography is smooth and pleasing. "A DREAM OF THE WILD" (Kalem). January 3.— The dream into which Tom falls after reading some Indian stories takes him into the midst of a series of Western adventures. The Indian girl, played by Mona Darkfeather, assists him after his injuries, and when the time comes for parting both regretit very much. Nothing exceptionally new in this, but some agreeable scenes and pleasing photography help the interest along. "THE CIRCLE'S END" (Lubin), January 3.— A desert story which holds the interest successfully. Romaine Fielding and Mary Ryan appear. The plot is a little slow in developing, but gets hold after a time and is aided by some unique camera work. The love story is a pretty one; the acting intense and the photography strikingly vivid. "THE REDEMPTION OF BRONCHO BILLY" (Essanay). January 3. — This reel follows rather too closely in the manner of its numerous predecessors, so far as plot is concerned. Broncho Billy has the usual struggle between right and wrong, but comes out victorious in the end. In settings and general motive the story is good, but it lacks action and fresh situations. "HER BOY" f Lubin), December 29. — The story of a gambler and his son with a situation very much like one in a very recent picture by Lubin, called "A Son of His Father," but by a different author. It is a stock situation, but Wilbert Melville, author and producer of this picture, has gained what may be called a commercial freshness by the new grouping