Pictures and the Picturegoer (Jan-Dec 1925)

74 Pictures and PichjreWer JANUARY 1925 the happiness of a pair of youthful lovers. Played bv Ora Carew, Jay Morley, George Webster, Dick la Reno, Hal Stephens and Helen Howell. Blatant mystery romance. Triumphant Youth (Phillips; Jan. 26). A love-romance of the Western plains starring Alleyne Ray as a young society girl who " makes good " on a wild and woolly Texas ranch. Mildred Bright, J. W. Johnston and Robert Frazer head the supporting cast. The Turmoil (European; Jan. 26). Domestic drama about a self made man who tried to mould his family to his own pattern and what happened when his children rebelled. An effective damburst provides a thrill, and the acting is unusually good. Emmett Corrigan, George Hackathorne and Eleanor Boardman are featured, and are capably supported by Winter Hall, Theodore Von Eltz, Edward Hearn, Pauline Garon, Eileen Percy, and Victory Bateman. Good entertainment. The Way of a Man (Pathe; Jan. 12). A super-adventure serial of early Western pioneering days by the author of Hie Covered Wagon. The players are Alleyne Ray, Harold Miller, Florence Lee, Bud Osborne, Kathryn Appleton, "Whitehorse." Lillian Gale, Chet Ryan and Lillian Adrian. We recommend this one. Western Firebrands (Ducal; Jan. 5). Big Boy Williams in a timber-land story containing some thrilling stunts and a romance. J. Conrad Needham, Bill Home, Virginia Adair, Jack Pitcairn and Bert Apling support the star. The Wine of Youth (Jury-Metro-Goldli'yn ; Jan. 26). Adapted from Rachel Crother's play " Mary the Third *' this flapper picture is conventional in development but quite good comedy-drama about an adventurous girl. The cast includes Eleanor Boardman, Pauline Garon, William Haines, Ben Lyon, William Collier Jnr., Robert Agnew, Eulalie Jensen, E. J. Ratcliffe and Gertrude Claire. Laurette Taylor. Women and Diamonds (Ducal; Jan. 12). An Anglo-African tale of revenge and a murder mystery with good South African settings, acting, and action. Victor Maclagen and Madge Stuart head the cast which also includes Florence Turner, Norma Whalley, M. E. Wetherell, Cecil du Gue, Walter Tennyson and Sir Simeon Stuart. Wolves of the Night (Fox Re-issue; Jan. 29). William Farnum in a gripping drama about a miner's plucky fight against human wolves of finance. Louise Lovely opposite the star, also Charles Clary, Irene Rich, Lamar Johnston, G. Raymond Nye, and Al Famont. Good of its class. Venus of the South Seas (Pioneer; Jan. 1). New Zealand's first production featuring Annette Kellerman in a story of pearl fishing containing some fine under-water scenes in which the star and some Maori divers appear. Nolan Purdie, Robert Ramsay and Norman French have the chief supporting roles. Novel entertain'ment. Maria Jacobini in the dual roles of " Katja" and " Yamile" in " Daughters of the Desert" TEMPESTS & TRAGEDIES (Continued from page 15). prerogatives of the Storm Injerventive by killing off villains at critica. moments, but it does not confine its activities wholly to this pastime. Is a man already engaged to a girl when he meets the 'only woman'? Then enter the Storm Eliminative. Fire, water or wind obligingly kill off the poor girl and the poor girl obligingly tells the man to marry the ' only woman ' before her death. But it is surprising how much killing off some of these frail heroines require. In Lucrctia I^ombard, Monte Blue, engaged to Norma Shearer, wanted to marry Irene Rich. Well, it took a forest fire, prowling of terror-stricken wild animals and a burst dam before Norma gave up the ghost, while Irene Rich who had gone through just as much, survived to marry the hero. Sometimes, of course, accidents will happen and I for one, have hardly recovered from seeing the hero of The White Sister dead at the end of the film. Ronald Coleman, who plays this gentleman, is drowned during an eruption of Vesuvius. Drowned during an eruption ! Ye gods ! It reminded me of the gallant soldier who went through the war unscathed and after demobilisation went and broke his leg by stepping on an orange peel. Dut whatever the method the fact remained that he was killed by Nature before the end of the film, while a villain like Alan Hale in The Covered Wagon, after being buried almost to his neck in a quagmire survives that and is shot like any ordinary villain. In Floii'ing Gold it took thunder and lightning, a cloud-burst, and burningoil to bring Anna Q. Nilsson to the arms of Milton Sills and even then the latter had to be half-stunned before he discovered how he loved her. The Storm Retributive shows to advantage in The Ten Commandments. Rod la Rocque having broken all the commandments at least once each, flees from justice in an open motor boat on a raging sea. Of course, his fate is a foregone conclusion, he is dashed against a cliff and — most excellent touch — his body is seen in the calm of next day floating in the water and across his chest is the spar on which is painted the name of his boat, and the name of his boat is ' Defiance.' Perhaps the most popular is the Storm Dramatic. The heroine escapes from the clutches of the villain into the raging night. " more gentle and more kind than he." witness To Have and To Hold, The Spoilers, etcetera, etcetera. It hasn't many variations but we've all seen it. Does the action flag? Let's have a storm. Have we some thousand odd dollars to spend? Let's have a storm. Do the public want a knockout natural spectacle? Let's have a storm. And lo ! there is a storm. William B. Tirner.