Moving Picture World (Jul-Sep 1911)

194 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD On a Tramp Steamer A Vitagraph Portrayal Strong in Action. There is much that is interesting and much more that is ordinary in life and we accept them as matters of fact. We hanker for the unusual something with force and power in it that stirs our red blood and makes us feel the necessity of doing things. This picture possesses all of these qualities and points out manls ingratitude to man, showing how a fellow in distress is helped by a friend and repays him with the most perfidious and base thanklessness that it is within the power of human meanness to invent. Jim, the hero of this portrayal, is the antithesis of Joe, the villain. Jim's generous and philanthropic spirit is not easily quenched, but only serves to arouse the instinctive yellow streak in Joe, who tries to make trouble between his benefactor and his sweetheart, Meg. Joe's ignominy comes to a climax on a tramp steamer where Jim secures a position for Joe as his assistant stoker. A disparaging remark starts a fight between the two, and a duel with shovels ensues, until Jim drown the two men, now waist deep in swirling water. Jim, with the generous impulse of his nature, carries his unconscious foe to the deck, where he places him in a life boat with the rest of the crew. Duel with Shovels in the Fire Room. silences his antagonist with a blow. While the struggle is going on the ship strikes a rock, water is fast pouring into the hole and flooding the boiler room until it threatens to The boat is swept away from the w r e ck e d steamer, leaving Jim on board to escape as best he can. Joe and the crew are picked up by a passing vessel and in the course of time he finds himself back in the home where he first met Meg, and tells her that Jim perished on the ill-fated seamer. But Jim, after drifting about on a raft in mid-ocean, was picked up by a passing craft, arrives home just in time to foil the villain in his treachery. All the situations described in this animated portrayal are vividly depicted in every scene and is altogether a satisfactory fulfillment of the triumph of right over wrong, forcibly emphasized in its happy ending. As an example of what the picture maker can accomplish in the way of realistic effects, this subject challenges admiration. It is not the privilege of everyone to descend to the stoke-hole of a steamship; those who will quickly recognize the place by the representation, so real is it. tt She Came; She Saw; She Conquered. A Happy Vitagraph Portrayal of School Days. 99 This picture takes us back to our school days and we live them over again. It puts us in sympathy and in touch with the young, and brings us into associations that keep us young. Mark Twain's "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" never did funnier things, and 'there is much in this picture that reminds us of just such boys, their laughable pranks, and irrepressible spirits bubble in every scene. We step right into the old "deestrict" school and take our places at the jack-knifed, initialed desks frought with the fond recollections which are brought to our view. Three male teachers have been unable to subdue the scholars in their disposition to run the school to suit themselves, and it seems as if they were in high mutiny when Miss Rose Leigh, a charming young lady, comes to take charge and accomplish what her mascu.line predecessors had failed to do. Of course, she has her own trials and tribulations before she is successful. She has to bring the boys to terms by kindness and firmness even to the suppressing of their conspiracy to lick one of the boys whom she has taken particular pains to assist in his studies. She gains their respect, shows them that she is an equal match for them and they all fall in love with her. The beauty .of this portrayal is that everything and everybody is real, all the boys are perfectly natural and show it by popping Si Perkins and Hiram Green, the school trustees, with spit balls and beans, when they come to vigit the school to compliment the teacher and the scholars for their proficiency. She jias conquered the school and is looked upon as a fixture very much to the satisfaction of the trustees, pupils and parents. They are congratulating themselves on their good fortune, not looking for a surprise that is sprung upon all hands by the appearance of a young man whom the teacher introduces as her fiance, at the same time handing in her resignation, to take a position in the school of matrimony. It is some time before the people of the district can recover from their astonishment, but with good grace they express their regrets and show their appreciation, with many gifts and a rousing "three cheers," when Rose and her intended husband leave on the departing train.