Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1917)

44 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD The Unopened Letter Two-Reel Edison Feature. Released Through General Film Company. Reviewed by Louis Reeves Harrison. THE incidents of this story are contrived to lead up to an interesting situation and one of large dramatic possibilities. The situation is that of a father, an attorney of large practice, acting for defendants in a case where his own daughter, of whose existence he is unaware, is the plaintiff. He married when in college and was obliged to keep the wedding a secret because his own father had put a ban upon any such serious step until the boy had qualified in business. Having proved his ability and Scene from "The Unopened Letter" (Edison). been taken into the firm, he returns to the home of his young wife only to be informed that she is dead and buried. He thereafter devotes himself to the profession of law, and twenty years elapse before it comes to his knowledge in a highly dramatic way that he has a child, plaintiff in a case he is defending. This makes an interesting story — the author is Bliss Milford — and one that holds in spite of the treatment rather than on account of it. In many cases the way a scenario is handled brings out effects superior to the playwright's conception. In this case Scene from "The Unopened Letter" (Edison). the director handles his settings with good taste and his actors as if afraid they would transcend it. With a bright company, headed by Bessie Learn, composed of Edward Earle, Margaret McWade, Charles Sutton, M. C. Mack, Marjorie Ellison, Harry Beaumont, Edwin Clark, William West, Harry Eytinge and William Bechtel, pretty close to a star cast, and plenty of chance for these interpreters to exercise their artistry, their movements are directed in a way that obscures when it should clarify. This is not an auditory art but a visual one. That the father was unaware of his child came about partly through the fact that a letter he wrote to his wife shortly after her death was returned by her sister unopened. He goes to see what is wrong and the surviving sister, believing that he has caused his young wife's death, tells him of that but not of the child. We are willing to accept the premise that a keen lawyer would not make any further inquiry about the woman he loved and married — that is possible, though not in accord with human experience — but it was not made clear to me why a young wife would not or could not let her husband know that a child was expected and failed to notify him when the child was born. Great pains should be taken in making immediately plausible the ultimate event upon which the entire plot depends. This could have been easily done by one of many well-known expedients, sympathy aroused by the young wife's inability to let her husband know of the great event and the whole play given the strength and dignity necessary in serious drama. The whole trend of Edison releases is away from theatrical artificiality and toward such stories of human life as shall be credibly within the cognizance of the audience. The characters must do as human beings ordinarily would under the circumstances. This is in response to the popular demand for more logic of cause and effect. "The Unopened Letter" will please because it is a good story, but its value is partially submerged by handling that clouds it at moments and that does not give full vent to what the interpreters could accomplish. Do not be afraid of intense acting for screen purposes. What may appear too intense under the powerful studio lamps becomes greatly modified when seen from a back seat in a big picture show. Pearl Sindelar. MISS SINDELAR, leading lady of the Pathe Company, is considered one of the most finished and capable photoplay artistes appearing in this country. Her magnetism is marvelous. She has gained a multitudinous following, attested to by the patronage enjoyed by the theaters where the pictures in which she appears are exhibited. She is designated as "The Lavender Lady," on account of her fondness for the color "of old memories." John Temple McCarthy, one of the real "Fortyniners," who founded the Phi Gamma Delta, now one of the strongest college fraternities in existence is her grandfather. When a dramatic star she was entertained, while en tour in every city where the fraternity existed. The writer called at her studio, 253 West Forty-second Street, and was graciously welcomed. It was lunch hour and he was invited to bite a few chunks out of the col Pearl Sindelar. 4 lation. There was no indication that lunch c"Duld be served in the exquisitely furnished apartment, but in the twinkling of an eye a little East Indian maid had a dainty lunch served for four people who were present. While entertaining her guests a brief outline of her professional life was expounded on request, and she confessed to having been engaged in theatrical work since she was ten years old, not so many years ago, at that, playing in stock, east and west, with almost all the prominent companies. She also starred in a vaudeville offering on the Keith circuit, entitled, "The Price of a Hat." Miss Sindelar possesses a sweet voice and wonderful magnetism, as mentioned above. Her success in the silent drama has created a popularity throughout the country that has obtained for her almost a personal acquaintance, and she will be greatly welcomed in speaking parts again. A hint (almost confirmed) was dropped that she is to star in a Broadway production next season under the management of A. H. Woods, who is to be congratulated on his selection, and he evidently was guided by experience, as Miss Sindelar was under his management very recently, playing the lead in the "Girl in the Taxi." Miss Sindelar has a "repository" corner in her studio where she hordes the many letters she receives from all over the world from admirers of her work, especially from young girls and children.