Picture-Play Magazine (Sep 1928 - Feb 1929)

70 The Screen in Review "Forgotten Faces. itualistic "fan," given to seances and the ouija board. Her make-up is subtly funny, and one waits for her voice with suspense. All the voices are clear and distinct, and every one in the cast gives a good, if not memorable, performance. Besides Miss Fazenda, the players are May McAvoy, Edward Everett Horton, Alec Francis, Mathew Betz, Holmes Herbert. John Mil j an, Otto Hoffman, Joseph Girard, and Frank Austin just lots to talk about. Every one has The South Seas As They Really Are. At least "White Shadows in the South Seas" is authentic for the picture was photographed on the natural locations, with the ancient, native tribes of the Marquesas Island, save for the three principal players from Culver City — 'Monte Blue, Raquel Torres, and Robert Anderson. The sound effects that have been added in a frantic effort to give the picture additional drawing power are not of the South Seas, but of the studio with, it is suspected, the aid of the ukulele players always on tap. It goes without saying the picture is beautiful— riotously so. The lush vegetation, the tall, feathery palms, the vistas of sea and sky are all pictorial poems. What there is of story constitutes a. rather poignant tract, rather than a narrative steadily mounting to a climax. In fact, to many the most interesting part of the picture is its introduction before any story is discernible. This includes episodes of pearl diving, its perils and the toll of human life exacted in return for little or nothing, for the natives are ignorant of the value of the pearls they retrieve from the deep. Slight though the story is, its motive is strong. Purporting to show the corrupting influence of the white man, it begins when Sebastian, a villainous storekeeper, trades a dollar watch for a magnificent pearl, and urges the diver to get more of them. Doctor Lloyd, a drink-sodden derelict, upbraids Sebastian and eventually is fashed to the steering wheel of a vessel by the storekeeper, who expects never again to see the disturber. A typhoon wrecks the ship, and Doctor Lloyd is cast upon the shore of a distant island inhabited by a virgin tribe. When he is about to wed the chief's daughter, Sebastian reappears, bent on exploiting these natives as he has the others. Against the entreaties of Doctor Lloyd, Sebastian and his crew are allowed to land, and in the ensuing melee Lloyd is killed. But Sebastian gains his ends, for the conclusion of the picture shows the innocent natives in the throes of civilization as practiced by the whites. Monte Blue is capable as Lloyd, Robert Anderson is Sebastian, and a newcomer named Raquel Torres makes Fayaway, the chief's daughter, vital, naive, and charming. At Last a Story for Grown-ups! "The Perfect Crime" suffers from no such complaint as is found in most pictures — a feeble, tenuous story. In this case the plot is marvelous, full-bodied, adult. It is somewhat weakened, however, by obvious, moviesque treatment. But even this does not dim the brilliant acting of Clive Brook, 'as Doctor Benson, the detective who, in despair of there ever being a perfect, unsolvable crime, commits one. The result is only one of the most interesting pictures of the month, when a bit of polish would have made it the outstanding gem. But don't let this deter you from seeing it, especially if Clive Brook is a favorite. There's an unwritten law against tipping off mystery stories in detail, so I shall not break it, except in general outline. Doctor Benson has become estranged from his fiancee, because he will not give up his detective work. He resigns from the police force when it is too late to restore Stella to him. Subsequent'events are caused by the madness that overcomes him at the loss of Stella, and the great detective becomes a criminal. The arrest and trial of an innocent man are responsible for a courtroom scene more exciting' than any recent one. This is because it is played with spoken dialogue, which is employed intermittently throughout the film. It is so patently an improvement upon all similar scenes that we have seen before, that it is hoped silent proceedings will hereafter be a thing of the past. "The Mysterious Lady." "Powder My Back 'Forbidden Hours.'