Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1926)

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The Screen in Review 69 I should advise you to see Miss Daniel and Mr. Hamilton in "The Splendid Crime." Valentino in Evening Clothes. There is nothing more to be seen in "Cobra" than Mr. Valentino's apparently endless wardrobe. He is evidently of the school of actors who believe that if you are all dressed up you must be restrained, and like a little boy in his Sunday clothes, he seems afraid to move a muscle. "Cobra" is an adaptation of Martin Brown's melodrama, but the picture cannot be compared with the play. In the first place, the play calls for a woman lead, and I cannot understand why Mr. Valentino chose this picture for himself. Nita Naldi, as the bad serpent of a woman, has been tamed and hypnotized into an almost dormant state in order to allow the impeccably dressed Mr. Valentino to open doors slowly and walk like a little gentleman. And with the hypnosis of Miss Naldi, the story catches some of her lethargy. The end of the picture is a little ludicrous. Miss Naldi is burned to a crisp in a hotel fire, where, needless to say, she should not have been in the first place. Casson Ferguson, although he wins both the women of the films, wins them, so to speak, by default. He is not a very engaging person. Eileen Percy has a small part, and Gertrude Olmstead is a stenographer devoted solely to business, who nevertheless, by her "meachin' " ways, wins both men. Stage Royalty. "The Only Thing" is based on a story by Elinor Glyn. It is a hodgepodge film of impossible royalty, too stagy to be real, and too earthy to join the "Prince and Princess" class. Eleanor Boardman, as a princess, has seen fit to don a most imposing blond wig, in which she strikes attitudes and has her picture taken. Conrad Nagel is unbelievably handsome as an English duke, almost handsome enough to make the picture worth seeing, and those of you who believe the saying, "If eyes are made for seeing, then beauty is its own excuse," can go and feast your eyes on Mr. Nagel in uniform, and Miss Boardman with golden locks. Personally, I prefer more to a meal than the liors d'ccuvrcs. The commoners rise up against the aristocrats, so we are told, and nobility is chained hand to hand with the criminal element and shipped out into the sea on leaky barges. These scenes, even though unconvincing, are unnecessarily sadistic. The close-ups of the deformed royal family are also uncalled for. I believe that more money is made in making people laugh than in " making them shudder. Musical Comedy Without the Music. "Sally, Irene, and Mary," those three popular young ladies, have found their way to moving pictures. This is a light, amusing comedy, full of hokum, but so pleasantly done that you will be ready to admit the hokum, and even like it. Constance Bennett, Joan Crawford, and Sally O'Neill, in the title roles, play with grace and naturalness. Miss O'Neill is before the camera more than either Miss vvi^^ Bennett or Miss Crawford, and for a newcomer in ^^^^ pictures, she seems to have a finish that is almost TfljJ 1^ The story is principally concerned with the evils ^S^^ and dangers of Broadway. Sally is a level-headed little Irish girl from New York's East Side, whose head is not unbalanced by dancing and light wines. Irene and Mary do not fare so well. There is a railroad wreck, a little Irish comedy, and a large slice of Broadway after dark, with Constance Bennett looking completely lovely all through the picture, Joan Crawford acting very natural, and Sally O'Neill capturing the complete essence of youth. This is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film. Continued on page 74 Seven Sinners." The Splendid Crime. " "Skinner's Dress Suit." "The Unchastened Wor I