Picture Play Magazine (Sep 1925 - Feb 1926)

55 in Review of recent releases. Benson John Decker and spoil them for every one. It won't hurt much to say that the picture has a beautiful ending. The ball is just over the line and the line is firmly embedded on Harold Lloyd's face. He gets the job. Even if you play indoor tennis, you will like this picture. What more can I say? Jazz and More Jazz. Usually when a picture bears a name like "Night Life in New York," I get all ready to see scenes in cabarets the size of circus tents, filled with people in their very fullest dress, wearing paper caps, throwing confetti at one another, and dancing on tables. I doubt very much if dancing on the tables takes place anywhere in New York any more. Those old memories must be put away in lavender. Sliding quietly under may still happen now and then, but one of Singer's midgets couldn't get on any table that I have ever crowded with an elbow. "Night Life in New York," however, is an authentic enough version of night clubs, electric lights, traffic, and other jams. "Texas'' Guinan and her El Fey Club get a large part of the film. The story is amusing. A restless Iowan comes to New York because things are too dull at home. He falls in love with a telephone operator, gets too much gayety, and goes home happy. Rod La Rocque makes a very good "sap from the West." I always knew he had it in him. Dorothy Gish is pert and pretty as the telephone operator. Ernest Torrence, Helen Lee Worthing, Arthur Housman, and George Hackathorne are all fine. This picture ought to keep the young folks out of the home, nights. The fun of night life is all in it, and you won't have to worry about what name to give the desk sergeant in the morning. "Pretty -Ladies" also manages to jazz things up a bit for the folks back home. This picture, as far as I can make out, was made to glorifv Flo Ziegfeld and his "Follies." The story itself isn't much and shows that all that glitters is not gold. It shows a lot of other things, too. The entire "Follies" works its way in. There, is Ann Pennington and her famous knees, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Gallagher and Shean, our old friend Frances White, and Lilyan Tashman. Zasu Pitts is the only pretty lady who isn't pretty, so naturally she has to be pathetic. In the end she marries the theater drummer, and you are asked to believe that she finds happiness that way. Happiness and a drummer in a small apartment ! Even drummers must practice, I presume. This is the first time I have seen Zasu Pitts since I saw her in "Greed." She gives a good performance. Tom Moore is the perfectly splendid young drummer. Raymond Griffith is at his best in "Paths to Paradise. " Betty Compson plays opposite him. There is a large and well-known cast, including Norma Shearer, Conrad Nagel, Helen D'Algy, Dorothy Seastrom, and many more. Monta Bell is the director. Metro-Goldwyn evidently told him to go ahead and send the bill to papa. Even then I bet they were surprised when the first of the month came round. Some Jolly Crooks. Raymond Griffith is getting so good that something should be done about it. Hardly a month goes by that he doesn't make one of the best comedies I have ever seen. At least that's what I think every time I see him. This time the picture is about some pleasant crooks. At first they try to outwit one another, and then they join hands and decide to steal a diamond pendant. Two detectives are their unwilling aids, and the theft is prolonged pleasantly throughout the picture. In the end they reform, but not seriously. All Mr. Griffith's pictures are so nicely timed. The comedy is set at a certain pace and holds to it, and "Paths to Paradise" is no exception. Betty Compson is the lady crook. I don't quite see why her name should be in the same type on the program as Mr. Griffith's. Richard Dix and an Automobile. This is the first automobile picture I have seen in quite a while, and it is a good one. It is called "The Lucky Devil," and it ought to be perfect entertainment for all Richard Dix fans. There is a lot of Mr. Dix in it. Mind you, I'm not complaining. I'm giving the picture a kind word. He is a young department-store salesman who wins a racing car in a raffle. He starts off for the big open spaces and at the very first tourist camp loses his heart to a young lady in a Ford. The young lady has an aunt, and she and several other things complicate matters. At the end there is an exciting road race that looked