The Moving picture world (May 1922)

May 20, 1922 MOVING PICTURE WORLD 275 ''Manslaughter" Cecil B. DeMille's Greatest Production Cecil B. De Mille's production, "Manslaughter," will prove one of the most elaborate ever planned by him and is certain to prove a bigger drawing card than "Male and Female," "Anatol" or "Fool's Paradise." There is a tremendous box-office punch in the title alone, and add to this the application of the genius of DeMille to a most fascinating and thrilling story, and one has the guarantee of one of the greatest money pictures ever produced. This will be the first Cecil B. De Mille production to be released in nine months. The producer laid his plans most painstakingly— in fact, he spent more time on the preparation of this work than any other he has ever produced. Jeanie Macpherson wrote the scenario — in itself assurance of the artistic merit of the piece, for she has been responsible, either as authoress or scenario writer, for nearly all of the Cecil B. De Mille productions. "Manslaughter" is the dramatic story of the taming of a wealthy young woman who knew no law other than her own will. It created a sensation as one of Alice Duer Miller's stories in "The Saturday Evening Post." There is nothing insipid about this work; it is a clash of unbending personalities. It touches the absorbing modern topic of how far wealth and influence can go to ward the consequences of reck less disregard of the rights of others. There is spectacular action from the start, when Lydia Thorne, orphan society girl, brushes the admonitions of her former tutor and present companion one side and defies the conventions. Then comes the time when she swerves her art into the path of the pursuing policeman and kills him. Her nerves are shaken, but no thought of further consequences enters her mind until the district attorney, a man who has previously won her respect and almost her love pushes her conviction for manslaughter and has her sent to prison for two years. Bitter hatred grows in her heart toward him, but her will is weakened when she is released. She has learned something of discipline. Revenge is in her heart until the final moment when she summons him to her home to tell him how she has blocked his chances to become a partner in a great law firm. Then she melts. Some wonderful prison drama is introduced, the exteriors being photographed at the famous Tombs prison in New York and the Auburn State Prison. The interiors are exact reproductions of these penal institutions, and in order that real prison atmosphere might be secured Jeanie Macpherson disguised herself as a crook, committed a petty crime in Detroit, was sentenced to the city prison and served three days. Again the flaming color and romance of Spain, another novel of Vicente Blasco Ibanez, has gone on the screen with Rodolph Valentino in the leading role. This time it is "Blood and Sand," a super-production by Fred Niblo, which will rival "The Four Horsemen." It is the romance of a bull-fighter's life — the rise from poverty, the plaudits of a nation, the turning from a youthful love to intrigue with an aristocratic beauty. It is a succession of thrills with striking backgrounds. No expense has been spared in the mak Valentino in '*Blood and Sand'* A Fred Niblo Production ing of this picture. Mr. Niblo spent months touring the original scenes of the novel, gathering authentic costumes and securing experts to aid him in staging startling reproductions of the real bullfights without the features to which American audiences object. Immense arenas were constructed on the Lasky ranch in California for these. This is one of the big pictures of the year. Lila Lee will appear as the quiet beauty whom the bullfighter marries when he first attains fame. Nita Naldi will portray the aristocratic Spanish woman who lures him on with her whims. Walter Long will be a Spanish bandit and Charles Belcher will be in the cast. The scenario has been done by June Mathis who so successfully adapted "The Four Horsemen." There are two colorful Spanish cafe scenes, inMadird and Seville, which provide splendid color. The Seville sene, especially presents the star in a Spanish dance which will recall his tango triumph in "The Four Horsemen." Built Village An entire Spanish interior has been built for the home of Gallardo, with its patio, well, private chapel, grated windows. Equally colorful is a country hom'e with its old crones cooking at an open hearth, its rural people in their picturesque costumes. All the wealth of gorgeous costumes which it is possible to put into the portrayal of a successful stage favorite and the contrasting emotions of her public and private life have been combined in the Sam Wood production, "Her Gilded Cage," starring Gloria Swanson. This is a gripping heart-interest story with a refinement of detail upon which Mr. Wood has excelled himself. The scenes shift swiftly from street to cabaret, dance hall and luxurious home interiors, with the action revolving about Miss Swanson. "Her Gilded Cage" Gloria Swanson in Sam Wood Production The story is based upon a successful Broadway producer's belief that publicity alone will make a famous star, even without ability to back it up. His experiment begins when his automobile strikes the sister of Suzanne Ornoff. While attending to the wants of the sister he is struck by the beauty of the Russian girl. He takes her from her poverty and trains her secretly, suddenly springing her on the New York public as a European sensation with a vivid past. A wealthy New Yorker bets a friend $1,000 he can induce the great star to dine in his apartment and enlists the aid of the producer. A charming love story is woven in from this point. This man's brother, a famous physician, is shocked and denounces the star, but finally falls in love with her himself. It is a story that takes the au dience back-stage in somewhat the same way that "Footlights" did. The photoplay was suggested by Ann Nichols' play and adapted by Elmer Harris. Mr. Wood did the rest and surpasses even the successes he made of "Beyond the Rocks," "The Great Moment" and "Her Husband's Trademark." Miss Swanson had the leading roles in all of these, fixing her place in the minds oi the American public as one of the leading film stars of the day. The cast is exceptionally strong. In it are David Powell, Anne Cornwall, Charles Stevenson, Walter Hiers and Harrison Ford. "The Young Rajah" presents an entirely new theme for a motion picture. It is a play of fascinating contrasts between the psychic mysticism of India and the matter-of-fact, practicality of New England, with Rodolph Valentino cast in the role of an Indian prince who has been brought up in America with no knowledge of his regal origin. It is an effective vehicle for a new display of his genius. Mr. Valentino has thrilled the world as the dashing South American in "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," he has performed feats of daring as the toreador in "Blood and Sand" and now he comes as the interesting seer, with Oriental ancestry, but with the ways of an American. It is really a dual role that puts him before the public in a way to test his versatility. The story from which "The Young Rajah" is adapted is the ''The Young Rajah " Starring Rodolph Valentino novel, "Amos Judd," by John Ames Mitchell, former editor of Life. It was adapted for the screen by June Mathis. The scenes open in the New England village of Daleford where Josiah Judd is residing and wondering what has happened to his brother who went to India years before. Two men arrive from India unexpectedly with a very young boy and confide him to the care of Josiah with instructions that many lives depend upon his keeping the secret of the boy's identity. They suggest that he let it be known that the boy is the adopted child of his brother. A large quantity of money and jewels is left with him. At the age of seven the boy shows a remarkable ability to forsee events of the future. He goes to college later and leads a wild life, throwing a classmate out of a window and killing him during an orgy. In his visions he foresees his own death in the library of a home with a beautiful woman leaning over him. The calendar hanging in the room is torn off at November 4. There is a dramatic moment when he meets the girl of his vision and falls in love with her. Tense situations also develop when he discovers, in searching through some old papers, that he is the son of a rajah. Later he saves the life of the girl when they both are pursued by a bull. The climax comes on their honeymoon while he is writing a letter and hears his wife scream in an adjoining room. He dashes in to find her struggling with a burglar. He kills him, only to be attacked by another. Both fire, the burglar dropping dead and the Young Rajah sinking back onto a couch mortally wounded, with his bride leaning over him — just as he had pictured it in his vision. Arrow Lists "Broken Silence" Arrow's newest Curwood release, "The Broken Silence," is scheduled for release in the key centers on June 1. Prints have been forwarded to all the Arrow franchise holders and will be available shortly. "The Broken Silence" is a typical Curwood snow picture and is the finest of the Arrow-Pine Tree series. It was directed by Dell Henderson and the cast includes Zena Keefe, J. Barney Sherry and Gypsy O'Brien.