Moving Picture World (Sep 1916)

September 916 II movini; PICTURE WOK lf>x5 self as punishment Ma] escapes, and Branson, Manning and the captam Impress ■ oompanj of soldiers snd attack thi haunted house, There's a still light i" which many of the "Yellow Menace's" followers are shot Into goodness. Binge, Hong Kong Harry and the slave girl, the beautiful odalisque, escape with Najla and Margaret In a fast motorboat ■hi path the young woman the priest bad been th< iiiiiii.ni oi undoing ii Is an Interpretation marked bj feel Ing, by inii iii' 'ii i .n"i reverential treatment Miss Rldgle) in Rosette, the dancer kidnapped and i irrted "The Honorable Friend' Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuri Aoki Head Cast in Lasky Photoplay of Unusual Quality. Reviewed by Lynde i ■ SESSUK HAYAKAWA and Ms ?erj pretty little wife, Tsurl Acki. make an unusual and decidedly attractive combination In a romance auch as Elisabeth McQaffej wrote under the title of "The Honorable Friend," for the i Company. Pictures Buch as this, acted in tii>' principal roles by Japanese players, are welcome because of their novelty, and the more so when the atory stands up well on Its own account These Bve reels are certain to increase the favor with which the actors from the Orient bave been regarded since their appearance in "The Cheat" and "Alien Souls." The production is strong In characterisation and suggestive details, rather than In stirring drama. For the most part the appeal is to an interest in youthful romance endangered by a crafty schemer determined to separate two lovers, that he may have the young bride for himself. Everything is In his favor. Makino is without money or influence, and his wife is held prisoner in the bouse of Kayosho. Naturally, he resorts to a personal method of retaliation. With murder in his heart lie seeks an entrance to his enemy's home, and that very night Kayosho is strangled, the inference being that the young Japanese has accomplished his purpose. Scenes in this part of the story are so arranged that there is suspense, and the possibility of surprise when it is found that the murderei was not Makino, but Goto, the servant of the dead man, whose deed is accounted for by the predicament of his daughter, whom Kayosho had disgraced and jilted after a promise of marriage. From a dramatic standpoint this concludlns reel is easily the most effective in the picture, but Scene from "The Honorable Friend" (Lasky). that does not mean a lack of attractive qualities in foregoing parts. There is delicacy and charm in the playing of the scenes between Makino and Toki-Ye. the bride brought from Japan to San Francisco with the $600 supplied by Makino's employer. They are married according to American laws, and there is no hint of trouble until the time comes for the Japanese ceremony, and Kayosho claims the girl for himself. In passages of marked appeal, both Hayakawa and Tsuri Aoki convey sincere emotional feeling, whereas Raymon Hatton gives a consistent character sketch as the sinister curio dealer. "The Victory of Conscience" Lou-Tellegen and Cleo Ridgley are Featured in a Lasky Production of Marked Power. Reviewed by George Blaisdell. POWERFUL and compelling is "The Victory of Conscience, written by Margaret Turnbull from stories by Alexandro De Janelli. and released by the Lasky Company on August 31. Frank Reichert has directed this tale of modern France, with Wilfred Buckland as art director. It is a satisfying production in all departments. Lou-Tellegen has the role of Louis, Count de Tavannes. a sinner who turns saint. It is a part that splendidly fits the player — the young spender who turns priest after betraying a simple-hearted dancer. Dramatic quality there is in the pic ture in abundance, the struggle to attain the rfght in spite of temptation and of ridicule, the effort to bring back to the Scene from "The Victory of Conscience" (Lasky). to the city by De Tavannes. Rosette runs away from the count the morning after her arrival; but her childlike faith in God as a power to protect her from harm has been broken. She succeeds as a dancer; she rises In affluence as her fame spreads. She laughs at the attempts of the priest to bring her back to the position in which he found her. There is tragedy in the ending — where the priest discovers he has won the giri for himself but not for religion; and how finally he induces her to enter the cloister. The death of the two on the field of battle — he as a soldier, she as a nurse — makes an ending that is logical and gets away from the irritating, unnatural denouement — that is, to all except the strictest religionists — of loving, living and going their separate ways. '.'The Victory of Conscience" is a picture of which we should hear much. Censors to the contrary, it is a wholesome story for men and women. It holds and it moves — and as to the latter there is no stronger moment in the play than that when the Mary Magdalen comes to the side of the priest as under great stress he -preaches to the outcasts of the Cafe of the Little Toads. It is a picture not to miss. "Youth's Endearing Charm" Five-Reel American, Featuring Beautiful Young Mary Miles Minter. Reviewed by Louis Reeves Harrison. «y OUTH'S Endearing Charm" is very largely that of thb Y really beautiful young girl who plays the leading rol". The story, one of the familiar Cinderella kind, has all the marks of a vehicle for Miss Minter, but it might have been Scene from "Youth's Endearing Charm" (American). raised above that class by a higher regard for the intelligence of modern audiences, for it is replete with theatrical artificiality and inconsistency. Plausibility is wholly disregarded at times, where more pains and careful supervision would hav°