The Moving picture world (May 1922)

92 MOVING PICTURE WORLD May 6, 1922 Newest Reviews and .Comments "Across the Continent" The Dramatization of an Automobile Makes an Amusing Comedy With Some Excitement — Paramount Real ease. Reviewed by Fritz Tidden. In "Across the Continent," the theme of the superiority of a cheap American automobile over its more expensive competitors has received amusing treatment. And the author and director have sagaciously seen fit to inject an amount of excitement, which takes place during a free for all race across this spritually and literally dry country. The combination makes for a feature that should have a wide appeal, and it is based upon a popular subject. Wallace Reid is scheduled as the star of the production, but it seems that the chief role is played by a Dent car, which is thinly disguised from a certain well-known real make of automobile. However, Theodore Roberts and Reid, as the father and son car makers, are not meant to represent the Henry and Edsel father and son builders of inexpensive and popular carryalls. Reid is not called upon for much acting, but he will please his followers as the spirited and heroic driver of his father's laughed-at but proven-to-be-sturdy car. Theodore Roberts enacts another wowish old gentleman with his extreme ability, and his famous cigar again does yoeman's service. Mary MacLaren is attractive as the father's secretary, who becomes the fiancee of the son after he wins the race "Across the Continent." Walter Long gets as much as possible out of his nefarious villain role. The other members of the cast are adequate. The production has been expertly directed and the continuity is smooth. All in all a very good light entertainment. The Cast Jimmy Dent Wallace Reid Louise Fowler. Mary MacLaren John Dent Theodore Roberts Lorraine Tyler Betty Francisco Dutton Tyler Walter Long Scott Tyler Lucien Llttlefleld Art Roget Jack Herbert Irishman Guy Oliver Tom Brice Sidney D'Albrook Story and Scenario by Byron Morgan. Directed by Philip E. Rosen. The Story The son of the "flivver" manufacturer despises the cheap car which carries the family name. Dent. He prefers the expensive car, to the very evident disgust of his father. When the order is issued that every Dent employee must drive a Dent car, the youth protests and is discharged. The discovery that his sweetheart's father has ditched a Dent car in a race, arouses his fighting spirit and he posts a big sum for a transcontinental race. He enters a fast car himself, but. discovering that the driver of the Dent is in league with the crooked manufacturer, he hops Into the Dent seat with his mechanic and starts in a most exciting race. For a good part of the race the Dent car is miles behind, but rain and mountains soon eliminate most of the contestants and the villain is made to realize that his powerful machine and a well-laid piece of villainy cannot defeat the "flivver" it the driver has nerve, and at the end of the route a pretty girl to win as well as the race. Exploitation Angrles: Tell them that this is Wallace Reid driving a Ford and they will flock in to see if you are telling the truth. Then sail in and work the Ford agencies and accessories dealers to death to help you put it over. Offer a prize for the car with the greatest number of advertised accessories attached to present itself at your theatre at a specifled time. This will be a new and really amusing contest. "For the Defense" Ethel Clayton in Murder Mystery Story of Average Appeal, Distributed by Paramount. Reviewed by C. S. Sewell. Mystery as to who really killed Dr. Kasimer, is the dominating element of "For the Defense, ' a Paramount picture starring Ethel Clayton, and for those who are willing to overlook incongruities in the story, it will prove a satisfactory attraction. It is not one of this star's best pictures; she has frequently been provided with more congenial roles. The story has been handled in such a manner as to build up the action culminating in the coat room scene, and retain until the last the identity of the actual murderer by the device of fastening suspicion on a third party. There are several points that are not fully cleared up in the denouement. The story lacks conviction and depends very largely on coincidence, as for example the presence of three different persons who for varied reasons were present in the doctor's office on the night of the murder, and the manner in which the girl learns of the murder and returns just as the trial is going on. The production is handsomely mounted and well photographed and the star has been provided with a competent supporting cast. The Cast Anne Woodstock Ethel Clayton Christopher Armstrong Vernon Steel Jennie Dunn Za Su Pitts Dr. Kasimer Bertram Grassby "Smith" Mayme Kelso Cousin Selma Mabel Van Buren The Story Anna Woodstock, a singer, loses her voice and goes to a hypnotist who succeeds in restoring it. Her fiance, the district attorney, learns of this, and knowing the shady character of the hypnotist. Dr. Kasimer, makes her promise to keep away from him. Piqued at her fiance's failure to keep a dinner appointment because of rush of business, Anna goes to the hypnotist to bid him goodbye before she sails for Europe. He hypnotizes her, intending to take her to South America. Several hours later she comes to and finds she has been brought home by a little waif she has befriended. Later, in Europe, she learns that the hypnotist has been murdered and the waif charged with the crime. She rushes back to New York, takes the crime on her own shoulders as a pin she was wearing was found in the dead man's hand. She is saved, however, by the confession of a third woman, the doctor's assistant, who murdered him in a fit of jealousy. Prograjn and Exploitation Catchllnea: Absorbing Mystery Story Revolving Around the Murder of a Hypnotist of Shady Reputation. Ethel Clayton in a Story of Thrills and Mystery, Showing the Pitfalls Into Which a Thoughtless Woman May Fall. Urban Movie Chats No. 13 Many different subjects are covered in this review, and spectators will find something interesting in each. What will probably carry a particular appeal for feminine "fans" are pictures which illustrate different angles of etiquette, such as the proper way to receive a guest, the way to be seated, the proper manner in which to arise from a chair and other incidentals which are the stamp of good breeding. Particularly timely at the present moment of the coal strike, and the textile strike are pictures of Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, and captions containing some of his statements. There are also other films of diversified interest. — T. S. daP. "In Self Defense" Eiiic Acting and Compelling Theme in Drama Presented by George H. Hamilton. Reviewed by Mary Kelly. Especially interesting because it touches on the revolutionary condition in Russia without laying enough stress on it to be harrowing or morbid at any time, "In Self Defense" is different enough from the ordinary run of features to be striking. The foreign atmosphere registers because it actually is foreign and carries realism to a remarkable degree. Based upon a theme that because of its intense humanness will be universally appreciated, this production made by the Swedish Biograph Company should prove a decided success. The individual performances are exceptionally fine. They have a breadth and sincerity that would lend dignity to any theme. A new star, Jenny Hasselquist, takes the foremost part, and promises to attract wide attention. She has much of the abandon and intensity of Nazimova, combined with a profound simplicity at times when this is most effective, that marks her as an artist. Her role calls for one vivid scene after another. The scene of the dance in the cafe is one of her best, but, by far the most compelling is the trial scene in which she meets the test of emotional skill, triumphantly. Lars Hanson is another true note, and Karin Swanstrom, as the girl's mother, realizes every mood of her exacting part. Materially, the production is more sumptuous than this company's features frequently are. The cafe set is one of the most attractive. During this scene the work of subordinate members of the cast, all of whom are excellent types, is very effective. There are a number of impressive shots, none more so than the hordes of Bolshevist fugitives drifting across the snow. The Cast Sonia Makaroft Jenny Hasselquist Prince Ivan Makaroft Carl Nisson Princess Marie Karln Swanstrom Gregory Turgenoff Lars Hanson Peter Andreyeff Ivan Hedquist Story, Scenario and Direction by Maurltz Stiller. Length, 4,900 Feet. The Story The Princess Sonia aids Gregory Turgenoflt in fleeing from the Bolshevists and he has a chance later to repay her by driving her parents and her to safety during a raid of the revolutionists. For this act his life Is endangered and he leaves Russia. The Princess is pestered by the attentions of Andreyeff, a crooked financier, who is lending money to her father. Sonia does not know this but when she learns of It, gives Andreyeff many of her Jewels to pay the debt and be rid of him. He Is infatuated with her, however, and refuses to be repulsed, claiming that the Jewels are inadequate to cancel the debt. She calls upon him one night and is about to kill him for threatening her, when he is shot. She Is sentenced to trial, and Gregory pleas tor her acquittal. He Is successful, but their romance Is not completed because of his banishment from the country. Sonia promises to wait tor him. Pro«rram and Exploitation Catchllnea t The Love Story of a Russian Princess and a Poor Law Student — the Thrills of the Bolshevist Revolution and the Experiences of the Girl Ending In a Sensational Murder Combine to Keep You Entertained. Exploitation Anslea: Play up the Bolshevist angle to the story and sell It as a departure from the usual thing. Sell It Intensively and you will put It over In spite of the foreign origin or rather because of It.