The Moving picture world (January 1924-February 1924)

674 MOVING PICTURE WORLD February 23, 1924 Big Pathe Schedule Sixth "Chronicle" and Other Subjects for February 24 Heading Pathe's program for February 24 is "Peter Stuyvesant" the sixth of the "Chronicles of America" series. Also of especial interest in this list is a Sennett two-reeler "The Half-Back of Notre Dame" and a Spat Family comedy "Political Pull." In addition to these the list includes a single reel Sportlight "Olympic Mermaids" containing remarkable under water shots of celebrated women champion swimmers in action ; a Charles Chase comedy "A Perfect Lady," the sixth episode of the serial "The Way of a Man" an Aesop's Fable "Captain Kidder" and Pathe Review No. 3 containing a diversity of interesting subjects. Included in this list are also one issue of Topics of the Day and two of Pathe News. Four on Broadway Pathe was represented by four comedy offerings on Broadway during the past week. "Tire Trouble" and "Our Gang" comedy was at the Strand; Will Rogers in "Two Wagons, Both Covered," at the Rial to; "Picking Peaches," Mack Sennett's newest, introducing Harry Langdon at the Central, and "Just a Minute," starring Charlie Chase, at the New York, following a two weeks' engagement at the Rivoli. "Two Wagons, Both Covered," has also been booked by the Brooklyn Strand for current week. Witwer Praises Series H. C. Witwer, after viewing the work of Mai St. Clair in directing his "Telephone Girl" series for F. B. 0., pronounced them a perfect reproduction of his stories, stating that never before had he seen such flawless characterization on the screen. Mr. Witwer also said the note of romance had been splendidly maintained and the story values are sound throughout. Universal's new serial, "The Riddle Rider," co-starring William Desmond and Eileen Sedwick, has been completed, and it is described as an unusually elaborate western chapterplay. It is a story dealing with the invasion of the lands of the cattlemen by men representing oil Short Wins as Headliner An excellent example of playing up a short subject was the action of the Capitol in Vancouver, B. C, which made the Lloyd Hamilton comedy, "My Friend," the headliner of the bill, giving it predominance in the newspaper advertising in the Sunday papers in what is claimed to be the biggest newspaper advertising display ever given a short subject in Canada. So successful did it prove that the Monday "ads" contained the challenge "Try and Get In." SHORTS" REVIEWED IN THIS ISSUE Captain Kidder (Pathe) Easy Work (Universal) Half-Back of Notre Dame, The (Pathe) Oh! Captain (Educational) Olympic Mermaids (Pathe) Perfect Lady, A (Pathe) Plastigrams (Educational) Political Pull (Pathe) Quit Kidding (Universal) Rock-Bound Brittany (Fox) Telephone Girl, The (F. B. O.) Tough Tenderfoot, A (Universal) Wide Open (Educational) The Telephone Girl" F. B. O. Two-Reel Series Gets Off to Splendid Start with "Julius Sees Her" Reviewed by Sumner Smith If the forthcoming episodes of F. B. O.'s "The Telephone Girl Series" are as thoroughly entertaining and funny as "Julius Sees Her," the first, this series will be eagerly booked by exhibitors. These picturizations, in two reels each, of H. C. Witwer stories, promise to find a place on the screens of theatres of all types. It's good, clean, ribtickling fun in its take-offs on telephone girls and stage folk, with Alberta Vaughn, the featured player, threatening to soon divide screen comedy laurels with that capable miss, Louise Fazenda. Miss Vaughn's burlesque of the 'phone operator can be described by only one word — "rich." She is a lively little person with a facility for twisting her personable countenance into the most amusing grimaces, and she expresse? action from the first flash. Gertrude Short as the other 'phone girl is an able foil tor Alberta. This short subject is particularly well cast, in fact. Douglas Gcrrard as the very Eng interests, and Desmond appears in the title role, a mystery figure like Fra Diavolo in the opera. This picture, directed by William H. Craft, is said to be filled with thrills. The cast, in addition to the stars, includes Helen Holmes, famous in railroad and timberland stories a few years ago, Claude Payton, a recruit from the stage, W. H. Gould, another stage player, Hughie Mack, a character comedian, Yakima Canutt, champion all-round cowboy, Albert J. Smith, a serial favorite, and Margaret Royce, one of the most promising of the newer screen players. The story was written by Arthur Good and scenarized by Wimkian Wing. Alice Day Signed On account of the excellent impression made by Alice Day opposite Harry Langdon in his second Pathe comedy, "Shanghaied Lovers," she has been signed for five years by Mack Sennett to appear in leading roles. lish actor probably has the most chances, next to Alberta, for fun-making, and he does a perfect burlesque at the expense of conceited actors. Mai St. Clair, the director; Darryl Francis Zanuck, scenarist, and whoever wrote the witty titles are entitled to a lot of credit, as is the photographer, Lee Garmes, who surpassed himself in some of the scenes. "Olympic Mermaids" (Pathe— Sportfilm— One Red) All of this series of Grantland Rice's sportlights have been interesting, but this one is by far the best of the lot, not only because of the subject matter, but the way it has been handled. The subject deals with four champion women swimmers, members of the Olympic team — Gertrude Ederle, Aileen Riggin, Helen Meany and Doris O'Meara. They are shown in action, diving and swimming. The biggest punch in the film, however, are the scenes taken by a special device under water, by which the spectator is able to follow their movements below the surface of the ocean. These scenes are remarkable, and the picture should go over big with any audience. — C. S. S. "Plastigrams" (Educational — Stereoscopic — One Reel) This reel distributed by Educational is something entirely new for it introduces the illusion of a third dimension, the pictures apparently having depth. There is no connected story, but a variety of subjects selected to bring out this point. There is a monkey in a swing, traffic going away from and approaching the camera, a man pushes a piece of lumber at you, a boy points a hose in your direction and when he turns on the water you instinctively dodge so perfectly is the illusion. The results achieved are wonderful and in addition to being interesting will bring a lot of laughs from the spectators. A description of these pictures appears elsewhere in this department. — C. S. S. "Political Pull" (Pathe— Comedy— Two Reels) Hal Roach's amusing aggregation, the Spat Family, entertain a stock promoter in this offering, thinking they are entertaining the governor. There are a lot of laughable and very plausible situations, especially those showing the difficulties of the two men in rigging themselves up in evening clothes, and they will appeal especially to the men. As with the others in this series, the laughs are produced by the funny situations and not by means of slapstick. While not as hilarious as some of the others, this comedy should go well with the majority of audiences. — C. S. S. "Wide Open" (Educational — Comedy — Two Reels) "Enough strokes to swim the English channel," as depicted by one of the titles, describes this roaring farce of the twentyfour hour stay of a pair of novices on a golf course. This Jack White production and Mermaid Comedy is an excellent short subject for any program. It will go especially well where a few in the audience have a knowledge of golf. The cast includes : Lige Conley, Otto Fries, George Ovey, Peg O'Neill, Olive Borden, A runaway trolley car which dashes through the business section of a city terminates this two reeler with quick heart action. — T. W. (Additional Reviews on page 686) Universal Finishes Another Serial, "The Riddle Rider"