Moving Picture World (Jan-Mar 1914)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 289 of his stock properties. The players do fairly and it is fairly interesting. It is very hard to find anything special to say about such an offering. "HER FACE WAS HER FORTUNE" (Edison). December 29.— The object of this picture is to tell a joke elaborately. There is too little action init for the film used and, though all the scenes are artistic pictures, and though there is fair acting for this farcical sort of story, it drags in places. The author, Mark Swan, doesn't deserve great credit. C. J. Williams produced it. "PATHE'^> WEEKLY. No. 80." — There is no item of special importance this week; but all are of fair interest. "HER HUSBAND'S FRIEND" (Vitagraph), December 29.— The story of the pretty girl with a drunken husband and of the husband's friend who loves her. Myrtle Gonzales, both by her acting and by her personality, provides the quality necessary to win sympathy. The author, W. A. Tremayne, has not thought it necessary to work up to the happy ending logically. He has developed the high points and skillfully left it emotionally convincing without the logic. Hardee Kirkland produced it. "THE MYSTERY OF THE D0\T:R EXPRESS" fEdison), December 30.— A mystery story in which a very clever detective outwits a diamond thief, but not until he has killed the diamond merchant's messenger and also the conductor on the train. The picture's special cleverness lies in the fact that the spectator is deceived as well as the police by the expedient of using a disguise. This is to help the messenger get to his destination without being known to the thieves. The crook kills him in a park, takes the disguise and passes as the messenger. Then when he has killed the conductor he dresses himself between scenes in the same disguise and again we are deceived. Thomas Hanshew is the author of the script and George Lessey is the producer. "THE GHOST OF SELF" (Essanay), December 30.— It is hard to believe that a cruel man would be likely to see a ghost of himself and be cured of his hardness by it. The trouble with the story of this offering is that there is very little in it that is believable. It is well acted; but makes no strong appeal. Take one instance, there is one face among those who came to stand behind the ghost, wraiths of those men and women he had ground down, and that one face is so pugnacious and so capable of taking care of himself that the whole scene is spoiled. "BEFORE THE LAST LEAVES FALL" (Lubin), December 30.— A freshly pleasing story suggested, it seems certain, by one of picturedom's semi-classics of the same name and especially interesting, if so, through its showing how a truly wideawake photoplay writer can utilize suggestions in other pictures and get freshness by giving an entirely different meaning to any action simply by the addition or subtraction of human motives. We commend Emmett Campbell Hall's work in this picture wholly. It is a quite new story and has a touch of the sentimentality that goes well with the majority. Edgar Jones has produced it in scenes full of pleasing suggestions and pictorial charm. There is a thunderstorm that we take pleasure in claiming as the best any producer has yet done. Maybe he took these bedroom scenes during a real lightning storm; they look so. "HIS SECOND WIFE" (Vitagraph), December 30.— Not a very pleasant story and produced in a rather unconvincing way, especially as to small things. The weakest part of it is the suburban atmosphere in the backgrounds which should have been woody. There is a well suggested snowstorm among forest trees and a perfect night scene looking toward a lighted window. The interiors are excellent. But, going back to the story, the willingness of the man to marry the school teacher after she has weakly let him entice her to his hunting lodge where the storm makes them stay all night, fails to get over strongly. Eliza Harrel is the author and Ralph Ince produced it, "THE SNEAKTHIEF" (Patheplay), December 30.— A pet dog's propensity for taking things — jewelry, corsets — anything he finds lying around gets a youth, staying at the hotel, accused of theft. There is a love story, of course. The picture is made in good comedy spirit, and though very slight is acceptable entertainment. It was taken at a big hotel near the beach. "THE MYSTERY OF THE MILK" CBiograph). January 5.— A gather and chase farce which has some laughable situations. It amused the audience. "THE JANITOR'S REVENGE" (Biograph), January 5.— Janitor is keeping warm while tending the furnace, an oil stove beside him. There is a knockabout farce going on upstairs. There are some witty things in it and it made a reasonable amount of laughter. "PATHE'S WEEKLY NO. 2." January 5!— Admiral Dewey's portrait is given and receives the warmest greeting everywhere. A royal-ecclesiastic Russian ceremony with the Czar and his family, then other items make a very fair number. -THE STORY THE GATE TOLD" (Lubin), January 5.— An old Colonial legend made into a motion picture. It furnishes some very pretty scenes, but was not eflfectively written as a story. There is nothing brilliant in the acting and no sense of finality in the costuming. One accident, carelessly left in, will kill the offering for any audience. It happens when one of the players is alighting from her horse. One of these incidents that would pass among cultivated people unnoticed, where we saw it, it brought out such a comment from some fool down in the pit that the manager had to put hira out to save his face. "FRANCINE" (Vitagraph), January 5. — There is much true humanity behind the action of this picture, written by M, L. Goetchins, but it makes one feel that a great deal of it fails to get over. The acting is always pleasant to look at and at times shows skill, but it is not wholly effective in convincing us that the players are what they want to seem. The failure of the picture is not at the door of the players. The producer, Ulysses Davis, has filled every requirement up to the point where the bare statement of fact fails to carry all the spirit the story needs, but from that point he is not sure enough. The story is, or ought to be, full of subtile sentiment and is probably a case where two reels were needed to make a strong development. The lovers from France and simple souls do not understand the atmosphere of American life, but try to conform. An upto-date boarding house girl makes mischief and then they fly away to France and happiness. "THE GIRL IN THE MIDDY" (Edison). January 5.— A pretty little comedy, slight but amusing. Its charm is mostly due to the acting of Mabel Trunnelle who, as a young woman of twenty-two, makes a romance for herself by a prank, dressing in the clothes of her little sister and pretending that she is only thirteen — we may add that the pretense gets over. She has an adventure, meets a man who takes her for a child' and later meets him unexpectedly while helping her mother entertain. It is a commendable piece of picture work, was written by Mark Swan and produced by C. Jay Williams. Licensed Specials "THE UNWELCOME THRONE" (Selig), December 29.— An offering in three reels of which to-day but two are presented. It was a compliment to the picture as entertainment that we heard at its close from a woman, viz.: "Well, I don't like that." The woman was interested enough in it to dislike being left in the air, as it were, with the story unfinished. In fact, it is the only story of multiple reel quality among the special offerings to-day. That wild animals are used in it does not harm it; because the story is never made (so far) to depend upon them. Its best quality comes from the story's frankly romantic and adventurous spirit, which offers a good escape from the realities of life in making an American girl inherit under compulsion a throne in India. The rest of it was still to come. The costumes are rich and appropriate. One or two scenes from the actual Orient are introduced and help a good deal. The acting is fair, Kathlyn Williams has the leading role, with Lafayette McKee as her father; Charles CJlary as the Indian prince who conspires to force her to take the throne and then to marry him; and with Miss Sackville as the girl's sister. The scripf was written by Gilson Willets and F. J. Grandon produced it at the Selig Zoo in Los Angeles. "A MODERN JEKYLL AND HYDE" (Kalem), December 29.— A tworeel offering that makes no pretense of living up to its title, for it i» frankly melodramatic and in no sense a psychological study. The father of a pretty girl is a crook and burglar; but he has never let her suspect it and he dies (killed by one of his own gang) in the odor of respectability. The girl and her sweetheart never know the truth. This story is too slight to bo very effective, especially with two reels of film. The picture has some pretty backgrounds and good sets; is fairly acted and has excellent photography throughout. The producer's work was good; all of tke scenes were handled to get the best out of the material. Robert Broderick plays the crook; Irene Boyle, his daughter, and Robert Ellis, her sweetheart. William R. Dunn plays the one of the crook's gang who is obstreperous and who kills him in a pistol fight alone in a darkened room — the flashes showing when a gun is fired. "THE WEDDING GOWN" (Biograph), December 29.— A good love story not too sentimental, but with a touch of sugaring now and then, especially in the posei of its leading player, Gertrude Robinson. Her acting is mors in her early manner than in the manner of her best work. We feel sure that her producer sacrificed what was better in this picture for what was merely sweet. It is the story of a country girl engaged to » young farmer. She has a taste of the broader life in the city and comesnear marrying a city man. There is much in the scenes that is not o£ vital importance to getting the story over to us and this makes it drag;: but the scenes, taken separately, seem natural and truthful. The story holds; but not with the dramatic vigor that it might have had if told io one reel. Some of the players picture real characters; but even in them there is nothing forceful in the picture. "WTIXN A WOMAN WILLS" (Cines), December 30.— A two-part offering that we have noticed at length in another issue — see page 1258 of December 13, 1913. "WHEN STRONG WILLS CLASH" (Patheplay), January 1.— The best picture of the day by far. These two reels are made in the Paris studio. They tell a human story that grips from beginning to end. The wills that clash are those of a son and a mother who has objected to the former, a painter, choosing his model for his wife. There are four principals in the cast — the son, the mother, the model and a nurse. Their work is compelling, artistic and lifelike. It is a pretty story, with a delightful ending. The whole production is most praiseworthy. "THE INSPECTOR'S STORY" (Lubin). January i.— Clay M. Greene is credited with the arrangement of this story from his own poem. We are bound to say that the story is much better done than was the poem. The use of the verses to indicate the action instead of depending on straight leaders is responsible for using up out of 1,700 probably 300 feet — that was one exhibitor's estimate — in titles. The best of poetry is questionable material for indicating action — that is, unless it is very short. Robert Drouet is strong and sympathetic as the inspector. Little Eleanor Dunn as the daughter of the man sent to jail does splendid work. She shows a grasp of situations that is unusual in a child. The picture is humanly acted. The pardon of the governor was granted on somewhat scant premises, on the plea of a child and the word of a police inspector. The script overlooks the fact that in New York, where the story is located, it is customary to consult the district attorney and the sentencing judge in cases of pardon. At the end of the second reel is a 300-foot industrial, "Manufacturing Pearl Buttons," which will interest. "THE AWAKENING AT SNAKEVILLE" (Essanay). January 2.— A review of this two-part subject will be found on page 1390 in the issue of December 20. "THE STREET SINGERS" (Vitagraph), January 3.— This two-reel number is apparently intended for serious comedy-drama, but it hovers on the edge of burlesque much of the time. It was hard to imagine Lillian Walker as the daughter of an Italian musician and more difficult to imagine Wally Van a young clubman willing to marry her under all the circumstances. Yet the scenes are well pictured and the principals throw sufS* cient spirit into the acting to make the production attractive, even though it lacked conviction. A New Year's celebration is a pleasing feature toward the close, and this is followed by interior views at the Vitagraph studio. "THE RESURRECTION" (Patheplay). January 3. — A two-reel number with Irving Cummings as the hero and Mildred Oakes and Pearl Sindelar