Picturegoer (1922)

JANUARY 1922 THE PICTUR&GOE-R fates of an old diver, an .i< I venturer and his female accomplice, and a sunken treasure ship. Good, sound melodrama, it is marvellously reproduced, the diving and submarine scenes, as well as the sea-fog episode, being particularly fine. Grace l>ar niond, whom we also see in one or two other of the months pictures, and whose serial, The Hope Diamond, lias just completed its final episodes, makes a very fascinating " vamp." '"Phe first of the films made by the 1 British-Famous-Players at thenLondon studio is something of a disappointment. Picturegoers had been hoping that this much-hailed combination of American methods and British talent would have resulted in screen masterpieces. Instead, the first arrival from Islington, Thi Great Day, is a very ordinary melodrama. The scenes in the big steel oiks ire interesting, and there arc some thrilling moments in a Pans Apache den, 1 he cast includes Arthur Bourchier (to whom the screen is not a sympathetic medium), Bertram Burleigh, Meggit Albanesi, and Marjorie Hume (one oi the most pleasing of our British actresses). I^he Dorothy Dalton picture. A Romantic Idventuress, is rather a disappointment, although admirers of this versatile star are always glad to see their favourite on the screen. In this film she is a dancing girl, not the mining saloon variety of her early caret r, but the daughter of an old dancing professor in New Orleans. This latter character is played with wonderful feeling by Howard Lang, who, in justification to the sterner sex, ought to be starred in a " father " film. There are some beautiful settings, and Dorothy Dalton dances well. The film was directed by Harley K'noles, of Carnival fame, who is again in England making I In Bohemian Girl. Dorothy Dalton has just lately been Tom Terriss, the well-known British screen player and producer directing a street scene in America. Terriss is posing a child before the camera. Lionel Barrymore stands at his elbow. The second, typical of its author, Oscar Wilde, provides both Fay Compton and Milton Kosmer with many highly emotional scenes, to which they do full justice. The story is the old one of a deserted girl and a boy who becomes the enemy of his unknown father. Directed by Denison ('lift, it is full of artistry and dramatic value. T^he third is adapted from Arnold J. Bennett's book, and is also directed by Denison (lift. It is of all-round excellence, and the cast is especially interesting. Florence Turner, whom British picturegoers frankly adored, has come back to the screen over here as one of the sisters, while Karsavina, the Russian dancer, adds her fascination to the production. Denison ('lift — British, but with much American experience — is doing much to raise the standard of technique on this side. He will soon film Mary Queen of Scots, with Fay Compton, who bears a striking resemblance to the tragic queen, in the title-role. Another good British film is Pillars of S<h iety, adapted from an Ibsen story. It is satirical and tragic, but a good many people will appre date its power. Ellen Terry has a small part in it, and, needless to say, givs a finished performance. Having played in so many stories of the sea, Hobart Bosworth must have developed almost an amphibian personality. Killing sharks, and escaping from the tentacles of the octopus, are merely incidents in his life, and only a month or two ago he fought a shark in fifteen feet of water for one of his films, The Cup of Life. True, the shark was harnessed with wires, but no one knew its capacity for escape. This month we see Hobart Bosworth in Below the Surface, which is concerned with the "Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!" •"pHE General FiJm Renting Co. * will release this wonderful Swedish Biograph film this month. Simultaneously, Odhams Press will publish a translation of the book by Dr. Selma Lagerlof, from which the film was made. Before you see the film, you should -ertainly read < 'ie book, and so double your enjoyment. Dr. Lagerlof writes in a style which, even on the printed page, pictures eerie events in a startlingly vivid mannerThe book is illustrated with photographs of the principal characters and events from the film an attractive feature. In brief, the story tells of the strange redemption of a drunkard from a life of misery and crime. During an orgy on New Year's Eve, he is knocked down and becomes unconscious. He hears the wheels of the Deati.-cart approaching. The driver, an old-time acquaintance, throws him into the Deathcart and continues his awesome journey. The drunkard, by devious means, sees the folly of his ways and the sadness he causes others, and eventually shows that, contrary to the terrible things he has done when in the grip of drink, he is a good man at heart. Buy this wonderful book as soon as you can. Obtainable from all booksellers. "Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!' Translated i><>»/ th sh oj I )r. Selma Lagerlof. PRICE 2| Net-t. ODHAMS PRESS. LTD., 89, Long Ac.r, London, W.C. 2.