Moving Picture World (Apr 1916)

April 22, 1916 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD 637 Reviews of Current Productions Exclusively by Oar Own Staff "Salvation Joan" Vitagraph V-L-S-E's Seven-Part Story Featuring Edna May Is a Strong Subject and Played by an Unusual Cast. Reviewed by George Blaisdell. THERE is nothing in the work of Edna May in "Salvation Joan," the Vitagraph V-L-S-E seven-part subject, to indicate that it marks the screen debut of the star. She holds her own with a star cast, for "Salvation Joan" might have been written around Harry Morey, L. Rogers Lytton or Dorothy Kelley — not forgetting Donald Hall or little Bobby Connelly. The one-time famous musical comedy artist can act; she plays naturally, without affectation. A decade in the lap Scene from "Salvation Joan" (Vitagraph). of luxury has sharpened her faculty for portrayal; rubbing elbows with culture and wealth has not diminished her sympathy with those less fortunate. It has enhanced it if we may judge her by her performance. Marguerite Bertsch has written a story that gives Miss May splendid opportunity to portray life in surroundings that are not strange to her, that are an every-day matter, and also in an environment of the Lady Bountiful, the one who does good works for the pleasure of doing it. Wilfred North has finely directed the production. Harry Morey has a big part, one that he fits to a t. The revelation of his identity at the closing constitutes one of the surprises of the drama. He is accepted through four-fifths of the story for what he purports to be — a denizen of the un Scene from "Salvation Joan" (Vitagraph). derworld, a companion of crooks, a potential crook himself, one of those men balancing on the thin edge that divides the straightforward from the vicious, one who through slight association with a good woman seems to have been drawn toward the former. L. Rogers Lytton as Ralston, the secret agent or a mythlcl government, adds to his list of successes in similar roles. His Ralston is dominating, masterful, never seemingly more at home than when deep in intrigue whether this be an affair of politics or of the heart — the personificatfon of suavity or of brutality as the exigencies of the moment may require. Dorothy Kelly, the young wife of the diplomat, plays with a strength disproportionate to her youth. It is an emotional part, that of Mrs. Ellison, and she skilfully portrays it. Too much lip rouge, however, kills illusion in close-ups. Donald Hall is the convincing husband who is compelled to go away on government business, leaving his wife to the untender attentions of Ralston, his pride preventing him from warning her of danger. Little Bobby Connelly is great — that's all we've got to say about him. The types are selected with care. With the exception perhaps of one spot, the interest holdB tight. The culminating events of the house party, where Ralston has laid plans to break open the safe and extract therefrom the papers of Ellison, seem extended — there is a feeling of absence of directness. The tension is attenuated. There are many scenes of strength, some that stir, others that move. The riot in the mission, when the thugs set out to break up the agency that is so rapidly depleting the dive downstairs, will thrill. The denouement is real drama. It is the interview between Joan and "Bill," now plain secret service man, following the exciting attack on the safe, the arrest of the strong-arms and the killing of Ralston. It is the big situation of the story, and it is splendidly told. " Peg o' the Ring " Promising First Installment of New Serial by Universal, Featuring Grace Cunard and Francis Ford. Reviewed by Robert C. McElravy. A SCENE occurs in the second reel of the first episode of "Peg o' the Ring," which at once arouses great interest. In the middle of a love scene, the heroine, whose mother was lacerated by an angry leopard before her birth, is seized with a mad impulse to rend and tear everybody and everything in sight. She scratches her lover's face and rushes frantically through the house and gardens attacking all who come in her way. She at length falls in a faint and is rushed on board a passenger train, which the hero pursues in an automobile. The theme of prenatal influence has been used effectively in fiction, perhaps the most notable instance being in "Elsie Scene from "Peg o' the Ring" (Universal) Venner," by Oliver Wendell Holmes. It makes a weird, uncanny motive and one that is certain to hold the interest closely. Grace Cunard appears twice in this number, first as i-& Belle, the unfortunate wild animal queen, and later as the daughter. Francis Ford appears as the hero. He falls in love with Peg, without knowledge of her history. It will be interesting to see how the complications are worked out, as to all present appearances they are children of the same father. La Belle, the girl's mother, was secretly married to the owner of the circus, portrayed by Mark Fenton. After her injuries in the claws of the leopard, the child is born in a hospital and the mother dies. The father fails to divulge his parentage and Peg Is raised by an old clown, a friend of th»