Picture-Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1926)

58 A Confidential Guide to Current Releases WHAT EVERY FAN SHOULD SEE. "Ben=Hur"— Metro-Goldwyn. A beautiful and inspiring picture, directed with skill and originality. Ramon Novarro, in title role, gives earnest and spirited performance ; Francis X. Bushman excellent as Messala; May McAvoy, Betty Bronson, Kathleen Key, and Carmel Myers all handle their roles well. "Big Parade, The" — Metro-Goldwyn. Most realistic war picture ever made. Story of three tired, dirty doughboys, one of whom is John Gilbert, who falls in love with a French girl, played remarkably well by Renee Adoree. "Don Q"— United Artists. Douglas Fairbanks, back in the Zorro type of role, is more magnetic and entertaining than he has been in years. His playing of an adventurous young Spaniard is a delight. Warner Oland and Donald Crisp contribute clever performances, while Mary Astor is lovely as the girl. "Freshman, The"— Pathe. Harold Lloyd's "latest and best." College football from an uproarious angle. "Gold Rush, The"— United Artists. Charlie Chaplin in his new "dramatic comedy," is in spots superbly comic, but on the whole too pathetic. Film not nearly so funny as his previous pictures. "Kiss Me Again" — Warner. Ernst Lubitsch turns out another domestic comedy that is sophisticated and very funny. " Monte Blue, Marie Prevost, Clara Bow, and John Roche give excellent performances. "La Boheme" — Metro-Goldwyn. A classic skillfully screened. Lillian Gish poignantly appealing as the little seamstress of the Paris Latin Quarter who sacrifices all for her playwright lover, spiritedly played by John Gilbert. "Little Annie Rooney" — United Artists. Mary Pickford a child again. Delightful film of New York's lower East Side, full of humor, with just enough drama to make a good plot. William Haines makes attractive hero. "Mare Nostrum" — Metro-Goldwyn. Beautifully photographed version of Ibahez's tale of a Spanish sea captain who, during World War, comes under the disastrous spell of the Germans,' through his love for a beautiful Austrian spy. Antonio Moreno and Alice Terry admirable in leading roles. "Merry Widow, The"— Metro-Goldwyn. Skillful screen version of the popular old musical comedy in which Mae Murray gives one of the best performances of her career, with John Gilbert ably supporting her. A credit to its director, Von Stroheim. "Pony Express, The" — Paramount*. Stirring Western picture of the days just preceding Civil War, with effective riding scenes, plenty of excitement, and a splendid cast, including Ricardo Cortez, Betty Compson, Ernest Torrence, and Wallace Beery. "Sea Beast, The"— Warner. John Barrymore gives one of his typical portrayals as a young harpooner who grows old and bitter seeking vengeance on a whale that has bitten off his leg and thereby indirectly deprived him of the girl he was to marry. Dolores Costello appealing as the girl. "Shore Leave" — Inspiration. Richard Barthelmess is very funny as a gob romancing with a village dressmaker. Dorothy Mackaill as the girl helps make this great entertainment. "Siegfried" — Ufa. The beautiful and famous legend of the last pagan, gorgeously produced by the German company. It is a fantastic and lo\ely picture, which you shouldn't miss. "Stella Dallas"— United Artists. A picture in a thousand, telling with many pathetically humorous touches the heartrending story of a mother and daughter. Belle Bennett, in title role of mother, does one of finest bits of acting ever seen on screen. Lois Moran, charming as young daughter; Ronald Colman, satisfactory as father. "Three Faces East" — Producers Distributing. Splendid mystery melodrama about World War spies, with Jetta Goudal, Clive Brook, and Robert Ames. "Vanishing American, The" — Paramount. Beautiful and authentic picture of the history of the American Indian, ending with a perfectly ordinary modern Western story. Richard Dix excellent as an Indian. Lois Wilson and Malcolm MacGregor also in cast. FOR SECOND CHOICE. "Ancient Highway, The" — Paramount. Jack Holt and Billie Dove in a decidedly pleasing picture full of action and gorgeous scenery. "Beautiful City, The"— First National. Richard Barthelmess as an Italian boy in a melodrama of New York's East Side. Dorothy Gish, delightful as his Irish sweetheart. "Behind the Front" — Paramount. Hilarious bit of slapstick, with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton both sublimely ridiculous as doughboys. Mary Brian is the girl. "Black Bird, The"— Metro-Goldwyn. Good melodrama of London's Limehouse district, with Lon Chaney playing double role of a thug and a bishop. Renee Adoree charming as French dancer; Owen Moore a gentleman crook. "Bobbed Hair"— Warner. Thoroughly funny, fast-moving comedy, one of the best. Marie Prevost excellent in lead, Louise Fazenda a lady crook, and Kenneth Harlan a young man with money and a car. "California Straight Ahead" — Universal. One of Reginald Denny's fastmoving comedies. He loses his girl on the eve of his wedding day, and has to win her all over again in his own unique way. "Cave Man, The"— Warner. Marie Prevost and Matt Moore make funny the rather thin story of a bored young heiress who tries to elevate a coal heaver to society. "Classified"— First National. Corinne Griffith both funny and beautiful as a poor working girl in a thoroughly delightful comedy. Jack Mulhall engaging as a young mechanic. "Clothes Make the Pirate"— First National. An entertaining film of a henpecked tailor of Colonial days who unwittingly becomes a pirate chief overnight. Leon Errol's unique comedy gifts given full play; Dorothy Gish is the shrewish wife. "Dancing Mothers" — Paramount. Conventional story about • fast-living younger generation, with Alice Joyce, Clara Bow, and Norman Trevor. "Dark Angel, The"— First National. Old story of blinded soldier. Ronald Colman at his best. Vilma Banky makes first appearance on American screen — a very beautiful woman and fine actress. "Eagle, The"— United Artists. Rudolph Valentino, as Russian lieutenant who turns bandit, gives a better performance than he has in a long while. Pleasant picture with complicated plot ; Vilma Banky beautiful and natural as heroine. "Exchange of Wives" — Metro-Goldwyn; Light, amusing comedy in which two young married couples become involved with one another, trying an exchange of husbands and wives for two weeks. Made very funny by Eleanor Boardman, Renee Adoree, Creighton Hale, and Lew Cody. "Golden Cocoon, The" — Warner. Helene Chadwick very charming and human as wife of a man whose political career is almost ruined by a trivial but misconstrued incident in her past. "Go West"— Metro-Goldwyn. Buster Keaton and a Jersey cow called Brown Eyes, who follows him like a dog, are the center of attraction in an amusing comedy of the Western plains. "Grand Duchess and the Waiter, The" — Paramount. Perfectly delightful comedy, with Adolphe Menjou at his very best, and Florence Vidor quite fascinating in the sophisticated role of the Duchess. "Graustark" — First National. Norma Talmadge in film of George Barr McCutcheon's novel. Great box-office hit, but may be disappointing to any one inclined to be critical. "Hands Up" — Paramount. Farcical romance of the Civil War, starring the inimitable Raymond Griffith as a Confederate spy. Not quite so funny as some of his pictures. "Her Sister from Paris"— First National. A mildly amusing domestic farce, with locale supposedly in Vienna. Constance Talmadge in dual role. Ronald Colman not so good as husband. George K. Arthur also in cast. Continued on pafje 117