Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1920)

Photoplay Magazine always lurking danger of the offense that might be given sensitive Southerners if the war episodes were carelessly screened. All these problems have been intelligently met and solved, and "The Copperhead"' may safely be listed with the big pictures of the year. It is a better story on the screen, in that it is a more complete and more consistent story, than it was on the stage. Milt Shanks is a spy, but no common screen spy, largely because Augustus Thomas has so written him and partly because Lionel Barrymore, as near the head of our list of character actors as any man I know, not excepting his gifted brother John, plays him simply and truthfully, and with that fine sympathy of which he is master. The cast is excellent. Barrymore's performance is a perfect bit of characterization, both in his portrayal of the young and the old hero. Mrs. Barrymore (Doris Rankin) is beautifully in earnest as the misunderstanding wife, Arthur Rankin is manly as the boy Joey, and M. F. Schroell, picked for his physical likeness to Lincoln, displayed little of an amateur's awkwardness. If the closeups of him had been less sharp they would have been improved, but in the main the Lincoln substitute was entirely successful. The transition of the sleepy Illinois village in 1861 to a bustling town in the early nineties was well pictured. This is the first big picture to be made on the new Long Island territory where so many Eastern studios are being built. It promises much for the possibilities of our favorite residence section as an Eastern Hollywood. "RED HOT DOLLARS"-Ince'Paramount I am one of those to whom Charles Ray is, or has been so far in my movie experiences, a constant source of joy. I the adoring fan, Charles the male Mary Pickford. Once I came near writing him a mash note. Credit him with an engaging personality and you have explained a lot, but not all. Back of that personality is a developed skill in pantomimic byplay, in facial expression, in poise, in all the arts and graces of a natural actor that many an engaging personality fails to acquire. And back of that is the natural, and human, and clean-minded impulse. Granting that "he is always the same" because he kicks the dust, and twists his hat, and turns on his heel to indicate the restlessness of the eager adolescent, his sameness is due rather to the situations in which he is placed than to his histrionic limitations. Playing the type of boys grown up that he plays, he is bound to be limited in his method of expressing their moods and impulses, because they are all of a piece. In "Red Hot Dollars" Charles is his most natural self. "HUCKLEBERRY FINN"— Paramount If I had a son I certainly should take him to see "Huckleberry Finn," the Famous Players-Lasky screening of the Mark Twain classic. Here, also, is a perfect picture for all the boys in the world to take their daddies to see; a wholesome boys' story of adventure as full of fun and atmosphere as the book itself. Fine Twain atmosphere, too, ver>' slightly exaggerated and most wholesomely natural, once the main story is reached. I do not know much of William Taylor's work as a director, but I am going to know more on the strength of his fine showing in this picture. Huck himself tells the story to a finely visioned Mark Twain in the flesh, which is one thing that keeps it so nicely in the spirit of youth. The boys, too, are real boys, Huck being perfectly realized by Lewis Sargent, and Tom by Gordon Griffith. It is largely Sargent's picture, but he is most ably assisted by every member of the supporting cast. "Huckleberry Finn" is much the best boys' picture I have ever seen. The excellent scenario is the work of Julia Crawford Ivers. "THE CUP OF FURY"— Goldwyn The features of "The Cup of Fury" which justify its prominence as the first of Goldwyns' eminent authors' series are not altogether traceable to the influence of Rupert Hughes, the author. They concern more particularly the scenes taken in a shipbuilding yard during the war, and they are vivid and intensely interesting views of this gigantic industry, including an impressive launching and a mob effect or two that are splendidly staged by T. Hayes Hunter, the director. Ans-wering Photoplay's plea for pictures of tte sea, " Behind the Door" is a grim and terrific drama, featuring Hohart Bosworth. "The Lincoln Highwayman," founded on a vaudeville sketch, deals with the trailing of a robber. William Russell is the robber. Alice Lake plays the betrayed-heroine in "Should a Woman Tell? ■with fine feeling for the dramatic episodes of the story.