Pictures and the Picturegoer (Jan-Dec 1924)

FEBRUARY 1924 Pictures ar\d Picfvrepuer 17 Hugh Miller and Madge Letters." He has applied all his technical skill to the creation of an illusive fairyland of light and shade. He has gone out of his way to utilise the effects of candlelight and firelight, he has striven for softness of lighting throughout, because only so can he efface the crude, raw edges that arc life. For Love, Life and Laughter, in spite of its title, is an illusion of dreams. He is at his best in the scenes in "Tiptoes' " attic, where she dances behind footlights of home manufacture, and lives her simple little love story with the young poet across the way. This is the very stuff that dreams are made of; the touch of a Barrie is there. Lit and photographed with a beauty to dream of. common sights and things of every day take on a new meaning, and carry one. back to childhood days when even the smallest things and the most trivial had an enormous importance. Love, Life and Laughter, if you can forget a few, a very few, minutes of it, is, in a different way, also a film for the fastidious. A film that must certainly come into our list is Alf's Button. This is a hardy annual from the Hepworth Studios which is re-issued — not for the and Betty Harry Jonas " Love, Life, Balfour in and Laughter." Impromptu footlights in "Love, Life, and Laughter." first time — in the British Film Week. It is a film that no other country in the world could have made. Its humour is British from beginning to end, wholesome, hearty humour, with a laugh at every turn. Its trick photography has been perfectly done, indeed it is amazing that its success has not led to more imitations. Not its least claim to fame is that it featured Leslie Henson. The Picturegoer Critic, for one, will be there to see The Bill of Divorcement when it again appears on our screens. To be honest, he ranks it above the stage play from which it was taken. This is largely due to the bigger scope of the screen version, and the fact that it can tell its story on straightforward lines instead of allowing it to filter inch by inch through the dialogue of the players. But it is due also in no uncertain measure to the acting" of the two women, our own Fay Compton, as the Mother, and Constance Binney, specially brought from America, to play the part of the daughter. Between these two there exists a remarkable family likeness, both in their work and in the manner of their make-up. They play up to each other at every turn and emphasise all the light and shadow of their respective talents. Mother and daughter arc perfect foils to one another, just as the dramatist imagined them to be. But indeed the casting of the film through Gzi'ynnc Herbert, Eileen Ucnnes, and Leslie Henson in " Alf's Button." out is little short of brilliant. It is certain that those who have already seen A Prince of Lovers will want to see it again. For those who have not already seen it there is a treat in store. This romantic life story of Lord Byron has many claims to Honours rank. Foremost amongst them must be the characterisation of the poet himself. Lord Byron is Howard Gaye, and Howard Gaye is Lord Byron. And behind Howard Gaye is Captain Calvert the producer whose direction inspired the actor to do what is probably his finest work. There are people who say that Britain cannot make films. Let our Honours List be the answer. The Picturegoer Critic.