Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1921 - Feb 1922)

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Right Off the Grill 67 admission to the screen of this country, any number of EngHsh-made subjects, and several Italian productions, I refuse to become excited over the-foreign-tilm invasion. The last of these importations through which I have had to sit and suffer is "Rigoletto," an Italian cinematic conception of Giuseppe Verdi's lyric drama, recently shoAvn at the Ambassador Theater, Los Angeles. The picture is said to follow closely Victor Hugo's play. "Le Roi S 'Amuse" — the amusement of a king — from which the opera was adapted. A king who could gain any amusement from this cinema concoction of worn-out palaces, ruined walls — and women — ancient cities, and raving, ranting actors deserves his job as a superman. The picture is about on a par with the other Italian films which I have seen. It is not any worse than the several score of German pictures clamoring at our doors, and only slightly more stupid than some of the English ones. The invasion of pictures of this caliber needn't frighten any one. Tariff or no tariff, the mediocrity of most film importantions automatically protects American producers and actors from foreign competition. Of the English-sponsored pictures which have reached us, "Carnival" is the only one which has enlisted mild interest. Even our own producers when the} reach Piccadilly seem to lose their way in the maze of London's fogs, and forget the tricks of the trade upon which the popularity of their pictures in the past have been built. "The Road to London," starring Bryant Was'nburn, and the productions made in the London studios of Famous Players-Lasky are conspicuous examples of this fact. The public has yet to pass upon the French productions which have been brought over here. "J'Accuse," the first of these to arrive, was given an elaborate New York presentation several months ago to a specially invited audience at the Ritz, but no one seems in a hurry to release it. Considerable to-do has been made by the Goldwyn organization over the Italian pictures which the president of this company brought back with him from his last trip abroad. The first of these to be shown this fall will be "Theodora," founded on Victorien Sardou's drama of the same title, in which Bernhardt won great renown. Rita Jolivet, of Litsitania fame, who will also be remembered as a Metro star at one time, pla}-s the title role. The production was made by the producers of "Cabiria," now being reissued with rather doubtful success. Among the sensations for which the Goldwyn press department has prepared us is the fact that the sets for the production were designed by the A'atican architect and required six months to build ; that the production itself was two years in the making, and ^H^^^^ Since many have taken Hollvwood homes Clara Kimball Youn'r has that thirty thousand — count them — persons were employed in picturizing it. "The Ship," the second cf jMr. Goldwyn's Italian purchases, is a picturization of a story by Italy's fighting poet, Gabriele D'Annunzio. Be\'ond the fact that its leading role is in the hands of Ida Rubenstein, a Russian dancer of considerable reputation on the Continent, and that it is equally as awe-inspiring in size as "Theodora," little has yet been said aI)out it. Then, if C. C. Pettijohn, formerlv associated with Mr. Selz Chauncey Depew, at eighty, thought he ivas too young to play golf, but Jackie Coogan. at six, intends to master the game. robberies place in fortified herself against such danscer. nick, can find a distributor Danish version of "Hamlet," which he recently acquired, we are to have a taste of Shakespeare, a la the conception of the melancholy prince by the ^ artists of his native heath. Lastly, First National is to give us a celluloid vista of the inferno as the immortal Dante dreamed it to be. This ?L;o, I believe, is of Italian orig i n , but one can never be sure of such things any more with the constant din of anti-European propaganda which abounds on Broadway and Hollywood Boulevard these days. You will note that all of the forthcoming foreign pictures of which announcement has been made," as well as those already released, are spectacular in character. That's where the essential continental director shines. But watch out when he attempts to touch a modern story. No distributor in this country has yet summoned sufficient courage to release one of their pictures dealing with a present-day theme. I have seen some of these, hovv'ever, and I assure you that it is unfortunate that you have not shared the exp,erience with me. So far as I can rememl)er, Weber & Fields never staged an opera l)oufl'e any funnier, from an American point of view. Platitudinous and plebeian as we contmue to be, in spite of the many efforts of Europe to reform us, we still prefer the simple, human story that sticks close to the ground. Although written nearly a half a century ago, "Silver Threads Among the Gold" earns the heirs of its author an average of five tliousand dollars a year in royalties. '•Lightnin' " is our greatest stage success, and " 'Way Down East" our biggest screen attraction. Lntil our foreign friends learn to touch our hearts and give us life as we know it. without pomp and pageantry, their pictures will never make 'a dent in our allegiance to Hollywood, disappointing as some of its productions are.