Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1922)

Motion Picture Time and Money PHOTOPLAY'S SELECTION of the SIX BEST PICTURES of the MONTH THE PRISONER OF ZENDA THE GOOD PROVIDER GRANDMA'S BOY ♦ THE PRIMITIVE LOVER SHERLOCK HOLMES • THE BACHELOR DADDY THE GOOD PROVIDER — Cosmopolitan -Paramount TF this picture had beaten "Humoresque" to the screen, *■ it would be listed as one of the half dozen masterpieces of the silversheet. As it is, "Humoresque" has almost choked its chances of immortality. The two pictures are directed by Frank Borzage and in them Dore Davidson and Vera Gordon take the leading roles. This later opus is dedicated to father instead of mother; but it is also a Fannie Hurst story. It seems to us more sincere than "Humoresque." It is such a plain tale, drawing little upon imagined drama and much upon real life. There is no physical punch to knock you from your seat; but there is much to make you think. It concerns a Jewish family, with the magnificent Davidson as the patriarch, Vera Gordon as the mother, and William Collier, Jr. and Vivienne Osborne as the children. The father, a "good provider," makes continual sacrifices for his family. They drag him from his comfortable country home to a gilded hostelry in the city, where he is out of place. They spend his money until, finally, he faces ruin. Just as he is about to make the final sacrifice, and has the audience groping for handkerchiefs, Old Man Happy Ending relieves the tension. There are too many subtitles, but they are so funny or so apt that they never seem overdone. You know these people in the picture, and you want to hear what they're saying, so the captions satisfy your curiosity. Borzage has come back with his direction of this. He is not a Griffith who plays upon your emotions until they shriek for mercy; he has a quieter touch. The acting is immense. THE PRIMITIVE LOVERFirst National pONSTANCE TALMADGE has been under-rated. ^ She's such a nice kid you can't help liking her; and you think how easy it must be to get up there on the screen and just act natural. "Be yourself, Connie," you can hear her directors counselling. "They like you that way; besides, it saves you the trouble of having to act." It seems to us that, no matter how cunning and coy Constance is in private life, if such a popular young person has such a thing, she must have to exercise considerable ingenuity to carry her spontaneous fun into the studios with her. She always acts as if she were doing this sort of thing for a lark. That she succeeds in making you think her comedy is unpremeditated, especially in this rather improbable story, is a good wholesome sign that the younger Talmadge is progressing all the time. If you aren't too old and critical you'll get a good stomach laugh out of this one. You may even thump your neighbor on the back in some of the scenes. Connie is pretty and funny at the same time. Harrison Ford is better than he's ever been; Kenneth Harlan, too. THE BACHELOR DADDY— Paramount SOUNDS irregular, but it's possible with the most perfect propriety. Particularly when a man dies, in the effort to save a friend's life, and leaves said friend with a legacy of five healthy, energetic and exceedingly normal youngsters. That's what happened to Tom Chester (Thomas Meighan) and from the very first moment he had his hands full — to say nothing of his arms and his heart! What they didn't do to his regular bachelor life, to his well ordered home, and to his approaching marriage! Some of the very finest child stuff ever screened — particularly the bit made upon the over night train journey Charming Leatrice Joy lends the love interest. 63