Photoplay (Jan-Jun 1920)

rhotoplay Magazine ^V deliberate p!ay for the affections of the rich man's daughter, he, Kellogg, will back the enterprise. Nat goes to the small town, abides by the rules laid down by Kellogg, does attract the rich man's daughter, and then discovers himself to be in love with a more attractive poor girl, pretty Jean Paige. The god of the machine smooths the way for the much beloved happy conclusion, in which an old inventor's genius finally is recognized and everybody is made happy. It is, as said, too good a story to spoil, and has excelljent comedy values. Things happen with unexplained suddenness and the tag, in which the lovers stand in a rainstorm unmindful of the drenching they are getting, is weakened by the deliberation with which it is played and the heaviness of the downpour. THE CORSICAN BROTHERS— United I can see no reasonable objection to "The Corsican Brothers" as a costume play. Dustin Farnum is quite as much his handsome self in the velvets of Corsica as he is in the furry chaps of the westerner, and as much interest should attach to his rescue of the flirtatious Emilie de Lesparre from the spider's web of the mischievous Baron Montigron as if she were a rancher's daughter threatened by Frank Campeau. Also the costumes and the old French settings add beauty to the picture, which was directed by Colin Campbell. Dustin does his damdest to make the spectators believe that when he wears a sash and smiles he is Fabien, and when he appears in knickers and a frown he is Louis. Or it may be Louis who affects the pants. It is a weakness of double-exposure pictures that is the real handicap. They center as much interest on the tricks of the camera as upon the story being told. This old-time melodrama, a real thriller in its day, is sanely but rather sketchily treated in its latter half. Farnum does full credit to h-mself and his double. Winifred Kingston plays the too easily won heroine prettily. THE PALISER CASE— Goldwyn There are indications that ever>'body concerned with the making of "The Paliser Case." from William Parke the director and Edfrid Bingham, the scenarioist, to Pauline Frederick the star, was a little tired of the Edgar Saltus story before they started with the picture. And there really is not much to pump up interest. The young girl, with a voice, who is unable to make a living and who agrees to marry the rich villain in order to help the old violinist, her father, is a little frayed about the edges as a harassed heroine. But the Goldwyn staff has done what it could to save the situation, and Miss Frederick jolts the story into life frequently by the force of her own sincerity. Tricked into a false marriage, she leaves Paliser, the flesh hound. A few days later he is murdered in his box at the opera and the good young man of the cast is suspected. So is Cassy. the heroine. And not until the last five hundred feet is the real murderer uncovered. THE THIRTEENTH COMMANDMENT— Paramount No young woman, married or single, can ever hope to get within salting distance of the bluebird's tail so long as she extravagantly spends more than her husband, or her father, can honorably earn. Such is the purposeful theme of "The Thirteenth Commandment." with Ethel Clayton plaving the girl who tried and failed. The full force of Rupert 'Hughes' timely warning does not filter through the screen version of his stor>', but Alice Eyton. who wrote the scenario, and Robert Vignola, who directed it, have preserved at least the spirit of it. Daphne, the heroine, urged on by an extravagant mother, spends enough on her trousseau to about break her poor old pater. Then she discovers the man she is to marrv is comparatively poor, and the shock almost floors her. She breaks with her fiance_ and determines to become self-supporting. Through this experience she comes to realize just how hard it is for men to earn what their womenfolk so lightly spend, and is so thoroughly reformed a parasite in the end that even with her sweetheart returned a rich man, she insists on paying for her half of the wedding ring. Also she refuses to abandon the lingerie shop she has started, and when objection is made that business women can't rear families she replies that, according to her observations, business women are the only ones these days who (Continued on page log) "Tbe Adventurer" presents William Farnum as a dashing, highspirited Italian who enacts all sorts of romantic episodes for the love of a lady. Marshall Neilan, the Irish poet of the directorial profession, used all the familiar conventionalities of the screen in "The Rivers End. ' "The Fortune Hunter" is too fine a story for anyone to spoil and it is fairly well done in the Vitagraph version.