Moving Picture World (Nov-Dec 1927)

22 MOVING PICTURE WORLD November 5, 1927 Humorous Episodes Seem to Find Greatest Popular Favor “The Wise Wife” Crowds at “Cameo” Attest Popularity Of Pathe “Three Star” Photoplay Farce William C. DeMille Presents “The Wise Wife” With Phyllis Haver, Tom Moore, Jacqueline Logan and Joseph Striker Story by Arthur S. Roche Directed by E. Mason Hopper Produced by DeMille Pictures Corp. Distributed by Pathe CAST: Helen Blaisdell Phyllis Haver John Blaisdell Tom Moore Helen's father Fred Walton Jenny Lou Jacqueline Logan Carter Fairfax Joseph Striker Jason, the butler Robert Bolder Length — 5,629 Feet Married ten years, John Blaisdell wonders if he loves his wife, a quiet, good woman and home maker. Jenny, a flapper, visits them. Jenny vamps John, and feigning uncon sciousness on the links she is kissed, and carried to the club house by John. Helen witnessed the scene. She insists that Jenny remain her guest, despite criticism of gossips. Then Helen “steps out,’’ with freshly bobbed hair, a new wardrobe, etc. Carries on an affair with Fairfax. Meanwhile, Jenny has been cooking John’s meals, etc., for Helen won't give up John unless she knows Jenny makes the grade as a housekeeper. John finds Helen vamping Fairfax, and explodes. Fairfax loved Jenny, but fell for Helen. In the end, the couples get straightened out, 'and the wise wife retains her husband. A LTHOUGH “A Harp In Hock” suggests comedy, if for no other reason than the punning title, this combination of Rudolph Schildkraut and Junior Coghlan is a serious and sympathetic story, not far remote from earlier stories, yet sufficiently new to make an appeal' to patrons who do not demand high art. It may not score strongly in first runs, but it will be a dependable box office prop to the smaller houses and probably clean up more money than a highbrow offering. This is merely another version of the pawn broker who adopts a child. In this instance he has advanced the money to bring Tommy Shannon from Ireland, and Tommy arrives just as his mother dies, so it is up to Isaac to care for the youngster. He gives the child all the pent-up love of a big heart. But the npHIS farce, with a wise wife triumphant A over a flapper who attempts husband-theft, is full of laughable situations and good gags. If is a thoroughly enjoyable picture, with a special pull for women because of subject and title. Then also there is the “three star” cast — Haver, Logan and Moore, without counting young Striker who is not without value following recent creditable characterizations. All in all, it looks up to any program standard from a box-office viewpoint. Wives will appreciate sequences where it is proven that there is far more to marriage than romance, and that darned sox, sewed on buttons, and accessible house slippers are more staple articles of connubial diet than moongazing, spiced with cloying kisses. And husbands will get a grin at the intimate revelations of a fair lady decked out in facial beauty clay, hair curlers, and similar boudoir paraphenalia. Not forgetting a bit of a kick in placing themselves in Tom Moore’s shoes during the more hectic moments of his flirtation with “Jacky” Logan, adorned in film flimsiness. There is a bit of gentle kidding of “southern “A Harp neighbors cause the youngster to be put into an asylum and when Tommy runs away he nearly precipitates a riot, quelled only when Isaac is legally permitted to adopt the child. This main story travels with a tenuous thread of love interest between a settlement worker and a young physician, but this is not worked out to the point of sufficient interest always to justify its intrusion. Schildkraut is much more than the story, and he gives new life to the old plot by a sincere effort to make an unreal character convincing. He plays the role smooth faced and without the usual grotesqueries that are supposed to be essential to a Jewish impersonation. Coghlan is clever and plausible as the boy, and May Robson gives a small character bit that should have been enlarged. Bessie Love and Joseph Striker complete the essential cast. Schildkraut’s name is the chief exploitation appeal. There are not many stunt possibilities. This Harp Should be Music to the Smaller Box Office. gentlemen,” but it is not likely that this will offend, unless some real “fire-eaters” happen to compromise a portion of the audience below the Mason-Dixon line. Naturally, the action allows Phyllis Haver to effect a transition from a “sensibly” attired wife, to a sumptuously clad creature whose blonde pulchritude causes the wavering husband to wonder why he ever strayed. And although the picture is farcical, there is sufficient truth in it to strike home to every customer. The title and cast are the best bets in exploitation. Tie-ups with shops should be easy on the title. Go after the women. Advertise a sure method of preventing divorce or domestic infelicity. Feature the ending, which is a full screen of Phyllis Haver, the triumphant wise wife, smiling and winking at all the wives in the world. “The Wise Wife” Looks Like a Wise Buy if you Want Good Farce. in Hock” DeMille Pictures Corp. Presents “A Harp in Hook” AVitli Rudolph Schildkraut and Junior Coghlan From Story by Evelyn Campbell A Renaud Hoffman Production Distributed by Pathe CAST: Isaac Abrams Rudolph Schildkraut Tommy Shannon Junior Coghlan Mrs. Banks May Robson Nora Banks Bessie Love Nick Louis Natheaui Mrs. Shannon Elsie Bartlett The Clock Woman Mrs. Charles Mack Dr. Franz Mueller Joseph Striker Investigator Adele Watson Sourfnce Lillian Harmen Plainclothes Man Clarence Burton Snipe Banks Bobby Mack Length — 5,996 Feet ' Isaac Abrams, a pawnbroker, takes Tommy, following the death of the boy’s mother, and “brings him up.” After a fight with “Snipe” Banks, a Ghetto tough kid. Tommy is taken from Abrams, and sent to an orphanage, later to be sent to a couple out in Iowa. Mrs. Banks, the landlady, informs the police when Tommy runs away, and returns to Abrams. In the riot that follows the police visit to the pawnshop. Dr. Mueller straightens matters out and marries Xora Banks. Abrams adopts the boy. Sympathetic Pathe Film-Tale Told on “Broadway” Screen Has B. 0. Pull Rudolph Schildkraut in New Type of Characterization