Picture Play Magazine (Mar-Aug 1927)

A Confidential Guide to Current Releases WHAT EVERY FAN SHOULD SEE. "Beau Qeste" — Paramount. A .gripping film production of this unusual mystery melodrama of the French Foreign Legion. Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, and Ralph Forbes score individual hits as the three devoted brothers. Entire cast excellent. "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. "Better 'Ole, The"— Warner. Don't miss it. Syd Chaplin gives you the laugh of your life in the famous role of Old Bill, veteran Tommy who doesn't take the war too seriously. "Big Parade, The"— Metro-Goldwyn. Grippingly realistic war picture. 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. "Black Pirate, The"— United Artists. Doug Fairbanks' latest, exquisitely filmed entirely in color. Bloodcurdling pirate tale, with Mr. Fairbanks as active as usual. Billie Dove the heroine. "Don Juan" — Warner. Beauty, action, and excitement are combined to make a splendid film version of this old tale. John Barrymore gives skilled performance. Mary Astor, Estelle Taylor, and entire cast well chosen. "Faust" — Metro-Goldwyn. Beautiful film. Superbly directed and convincingly acted. Well-chosen cast, with Emil Jannings making a robust but malignant Mephisto. "Fire Brigade, The"— Metro-Goldwyn. A real thriller about firemen and fires. Don't miss it. Charlie Ray is his old, lovable self as a boy fireman in love with a millionaire's daughter — May McAvoy. "Kid Brother, The" — Paramount. Another big hit for Harold Lloyd. Ingenious comedy of browbeaten younger brother who turns out to be the hero of the village, and wins the girl, Jobyna Ralston. "Les Miserables" — Universal. A clear and graphic film presentation of this great novel, with moments of beautiful acting by its very good cast of French players. "Old Ironsides" — Paramount. Magnificent historical film featuring the frigate Constitution and many sea battles. Esther Ralston and Charles Farrell furnish the love interest, Wallace Beery and George Bancroft the comedy. "Scarlet Letter, The"— Metro-Goldwyn. Outstanding for the surprisingly fine performance of Lillian Gish and the magnetism of Lars Hanson. A sympathetic and dignified, though not entirely faithful, treatment of Hawthorne's novel. "Variety" — Paramount. The muchheralded German picture dealing with the triangular relations between three trapeze performers — a girl and two men. Terrifically gripping. Emil Jannings, Lya de Putti and Warwick Ward give inspired performances. "We're in the Navy Now" — Paramount. Uproarious comedy, with Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton as a couple of rookies in the navy by accident. "What Price Glory" — Fox. Swift, engrossing film version of the unusual war play. Racy story of the rivalry between a captain and a sergeant over a French girl. Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, and Dolores del Rio. FOR SECOND CHOICE. "Bardelys the Magnificent" — MetroGoldwyn. John Gilbert in the ardent, acrobatic, and adventurous role of a dare-devil French cavalier. Eleanor Boardman is the girl he wagers he'll win. "Battling Butler" — Metro-Goldwyn. Good picture, with Buster _ Keaton really funny as a rich and timid youngman who tries to masquerade as a prize fighter. Sally O'Neil is the mountain-maid heroine. "Blonde or Brunette" — Paramount. Sly farce at its best. Adolphe Menjou as a jaded Parisian bachelor who becomes involved between a blonde and a brunette. Greta Nissen and Arlette Marchal. "Blonde Saint, The"— First National. Doris Kenyon and Lewis Stone in an entertaining film of a cynical author who abducts a lady to Sicily and meets with plenty of melodrama. ' "Canadian, The" — Paramount. Thomas Meighan is a man of the soil in his best role in some time. Slow-moving but interesting film of gingham dresses and khaki shirts. "Cat's Pajamas, The"— Paramount. A slight but very pleasant picture, sparkling with satire and humor. The romance of a little seamstress and a tenor. Betty Bronson and Ricardo Cortez. "Corporal Kate" — Producers Distributing. Vera Reynolds and Julia Faye, an Irish and a Jewish manicurist, join the war as entertainers. Comedy and tragedy mixed. "Duchess of Buffalo, The"— First National. Constance Talmadge in another gay comedy of the Continent.' An American dancing girl poses as a Russian grand duchess, with entertaining results. "Eagle of the Sea, The"— Paramount. Ricardo Cortez as a gallant pirate in a picturesque costume film laid in New Orleans in 1815. Florence Vidor is the lovely rescued heroine. "Everybody's Acting" — Paramount. Pleasant story of the romance between a young, actress and a wealthy young man whose mother opposes the match. Betty Bronson and Lawrence Gray. "Fine Manners" — Paramount. Made interesting by Gloria Swanson's expert performance as a hoydenish chorus girl who tries to become a lady. Eugene O'Brien is the necessary rich man. "Flaming Forest, The"— Metro-Goldwyn. Stirring story of the Mounted Police in the lawless western Canada of 1850. Antonio Moreno and Renee Adoree. "Flesh and the Devil"— Metro-Goldwyn. John Gilbert, Greta Garbo, and Lars Hanson in a striking film of two lifelong friends who are incited against each other by a scheming, unscrupulous siren. "For Wives Only" — Producers Distributing. Marie Prevost in a giddy light comedy of a young Viennese wife who skates on thin ice. Victor Varconi is the husband. "Gigolo" — Producers Distributing. Best acting of Rod La Rocque's career. Tragic experiences of a young man who, after being battered up in the war, becomes a scorned gigolo in a Paris cafe. Jobyna Ralston and Louise Dresser. "Great Gatsby, The" — Paramount. Excellent acting in a none-too-pleasant story of society intrigues on Long Island. Warner Baxter, Lois Wilson, Neil Hamilton, and Georgia Hale. "Her Man=o'=War" — Producers Distributing. Jetta Goudal's starring picture. Entertaining, but not entirely suited to her. Tale of Alsatian peasant girl and American doughboy — William Boyd. "Hold That Lion" — Paramount. Douglas MacLean in a diverting comedy of a young man who pursues a girl around the world, and is unwittingly inveigled into a lion hunt. "Jim the Conqueror" — Producers Distributing. Featuring a feud between the cattlemen and the sheepmen, with William Boyd and Elinor Fair aligned against each other. "Kid Boots" — Paramount. Eddie Cantor's screen debut. Sometimes funny, sometimes not. Thrilling climax. Clara Bow, Billie Dove, and Lawrence Gray. "Kosher Kitty Kelly"— F. B. O. Really entertaining. Another case of entanglements between' the Jews and the Irish. Viola Dana, Tom Forman, Vera Gordon, and Nat Carr. "Ladies at Play" — First National. Riotous escapades of a girl who, to inherit a fortune, must marry in three days a man who won't have her. Doris Kenyon, Lloyd Hughes, and Louise Fazenda. "Lady of the Harem, The" — Paramount. Gorgeous Oriental spectacle, featuring Greta Nissen, in a glamorous, seductive role, and William Collier, Jr. "Little Journey, A" — Metro-Goldwyn. A Pullman-car romance between a boy and girl who meet on a trip to California. William Haines and Claire Windsor. Continued on page 117