Moving Picture World (Jan-Feb 1927)

(through the Box-Office cMnctow J c Reviewers' Views On feature tyilms 6ditedL by C.S. Sewell “The Third Degree” Dolores Costello is Star of Screen Version of Charles Klein’s Stirring Stage Melodrama CHARLES KLEIN’S STIRRING melodrama of police methods, which scored a big success on the stage several seasons ago, has been adapted to the screen as a starring vehicle for Dolores ‘Costello and is presented with an excellent supporting cast, including Rockliffe Fellowes, Kate Price, Tom Satnschi, Louise Dresser and David Torrence. The gist of the idea is the arraignment of the so-called “third degree” used by the police to force a confession of crime. The story while involved and depending upon a series of coincidences that have been greatly stretched, bringing together after many years, several of the principals under entirely different conditions and involving many cross threads, when it reaches the climax succeeds in establishing a situation with ample material for the speedy conviction of an innocent man. There is an established motive, convincing circumstantial evidence Adolph Zukor and Jesse Lasky Present Pola Negri in •‘Hotel Imperial” With James Hall and George Seigmann Based on story by Lajos Biro Directed by Mauritz Stiller CAST: Anna Sedlak Pola Negri Paul Almasy James Hall General George Seigmann Elias Max Davidson Petroff Michael Vavitch Anton Otto Fries Baron Nicholas Sonssanin Major General ...Golden Wadams Length — 7,091 Feet An Austrian lieutenant caught within the the lines is befriended by Anna, a maid in the Hotel Imperial, who passes him off as a waiter and saves his life at the cost of her reputation and almost her honor, but a shift of front permits a natural and happy ending. Excellent melodrama showing Pola Negri at her best. FOR THE FIRST TIME since “Passion,” Pola Negri makes good her claims to recognition as a tragic actress. In “Hotel Imperial,” she once more shows the reserved power and artistic feeling of her initial success. The overacting which has marked some of her American productions has been forgotten and once more she becomes the subtle, restrained player of her original success. Whether this is due to a change of directors or to a change of heart is uncertain, but Negri certainly has “gone to work” at last. and finally the “third degree” confession. While melodramatic in its manipulation of circumstances and rather improbable from the standpoint of real life, the climax is stirring drama even though the audience knows the solution. Director Michael Curtiz has utilized too much footage in planting the different threads and getting down to the meat of the story and the earlier sequences, while interesting and containing thrills, can be cut to advantage, for instance the thrill scene in the ride of death in the circus is held too long. He has injected some excellent and skillful camera work as when Dolores Costello is shown as a high wire artist with the audience as a background and has made very extended use of the kaleidiscopic shots utilized in “Variety” and “The Waltz Dream,” showing several scenes in a patchwork on the screen at the same time, and rapid flashes from one to another scene to depict the mental processes of the characters. In fact, there is such a repetition of this device that its effect is materially curtailed. Dolores Costello and the supporting players give creditable accounts of themselves, As the maid in the almost deserted Hotel Imperial in an Austrian village just within the Russian lines, she finds a congenial role and she plays it with a certainty of touch that is seldom marred by an artistic misstep and never spoiled by blatant over-action. To borrow a phrase from the school of acting in which she recently included herself, she is no longer biting the scenery to express her intense emotions. She once more expresses volumes in a glance. “Hotel Imperial” is not a war play within the accepted meaning of the term. It is a story of 1915, but the war serves as a background for intimate melodrama; the story of an Austrian officer caught within the Russian lines and saved from detection by the patriotic Anna Almasy and the semi-comic figure of the Jewish concierge played by Max Davidson so well that he can intrude upon the tragic scenes without spoiling them with a laugh. Paul kills a Russian spy, who carries information that might result in vast harm to the Austrians. He stands ready to take the consequences, but Anna extricates him from his position by declaring that he was in her room when the murder evidently was perpetrated. As she has been vamping and evading the Russian General, the consequences to her are fraught with danger but she thinks only of her hero and fortunately the General is disgusted rather th_an incensed, so she is spared to share Paul’s although Louise Dresser, whose work is usually excellent and restrained, overacts apparently due to over-direction. “The Third Degree” is stirring melodrama and convincingly establishes the point of the fallacy of the “Third Degree” methods of the police, but considerable cutting would strengthen its audience value. Warner Brothers Present Dolores Costello in “The Third Degree” Based on play by Charles Klein Directed by Michael Curtiz CAST: Annie Dolores Costello Alicia Daly Louise Dresser Underwood Rockliffe Fellowes Jeffries, Jr .Jason Robnrds Mrs. Chubb Kate Price Daly Tom Santchi Chubb , . _ Harry Todd Jeffries David Torrence Length— 7,647 Feet Jeffries, Sr., resents his son’s marriage to a circus girl and Underwood, hired to compromise her, is killed. Young Jeffries is forced by third degree methods to confess, but it develops that Jeffries’ wife, in reality the girl’s mother, is guilty. Stirring melodrama. triumph when he reappears with his own forces. It is drama which does not rise to sublime heights: suspense which never overstrains the nerves, but it is sound drama, well sustained and thoroughly plausible. James Hall is as dashing as his dragoon role requires and George Siegmann is unusually good, even for him, in a character part. Michael Vavitch, as the Russian Spy, contributes another important character sketch. The direction of Maurits Stiller, supervised by Eric Pommer, is the outstanding feature. He keeps a positive grip on the development of the story while introducing a number of novel features. There is a fine sequence at the opening, a skirmish battle in the grey dawn, and his cinematics in a dream scene, in which Paul’s dream merges into the reality of the Russian invasion is not only well handled, but it belongs to the situation. He does not indulge in trick shooting merely to inject novelty. He uses it to give greater effect to the scenes. In a word “Hotel Imperial” is one of the best rounded productions of the current catalogue. Its acceptance in the smaller towns may be problematical. Its artistic value is undeniable. “Hotel Imperial” Pola Negri Achieves an Artistic Triumph in Finely Directed Drama of the Eastern Front