Reel Life (1916-1917)

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MISS JACKIE SAUNDERS IN Pretty Horkheimer star plays two roles in a story about twin sisters JACKIE SAUNDERS, “tomboy of the screen,” as she is affec¬ tionately called by hundreds of her professional friends, has a new-fashioned role in The Check¬ mate,” new Signal-Mutual produc¬ tion of the remarkable photodrama written especially for Miss Saunders by Captain Leslie Peacocke, the famous English writer of motion pic¬ ture drama, whose ideas of dramatic requirements were derived from his long association with Sir Henry Irv¬ ing at the Lyceum Theater, London. In her new play Miss Saunders starts out as “Ye Hoyden,” fighting Filipino cocks in a nice secluded spot on her father’s stock farm, but by this time Miss Jackie is wearing her hair done up for state occasions, and the male species has begun to ob¬ sess her spare moments. She is therefore ripe for adventure when the handsome young villain from New York is entranced by her child¬ ish charms and she succumbs to the temptations of life along the “Grand Canyon of the Manhattan,” as Burns Mantle distinguishes his Broadway. For those who have imagined that Miss Saunders must needs be a riot¬ ous rollicking kid in order to hold her public, “The Checkmate” must necessarily prove a revelation. It displays the clever young actress in far more pretentious artistry than do any of her previous offerings, and affords her opportunity for emotion¬ al work which serves to emphasize her versatility and enhance her pop¬ ularity. Of course it’s the old story of the dashing young city girl friend with swagger clothes, visiting distant rel¬ atives down on the farm in vacation time. The city girl’s fine feathers inflame little Claire Marley’s imagi¬ nation and she begins to long for the bright lights and the night life of which Addie Smith from the city discourses so eloquently. So when Claire is offered a job in the big de¬ partment store with Addie, the girl’s desire for adventure overshadows her affection for home and she is launched on the rough seas of the Rialto. The fact is, of course, that Claire’s meeting with Roy Vangrift, a wealthy New York bachelor, his illtreatment of her and the girl’s slow realization of the fact that Vangrift Here she is, the bright and sunny little Miss Jackie , “ down on the farm” dreaming of love and a hero and all that stuff, but on the next page — has no intention of marrying her as he had promised, are mere variations of a hackneyed theme, but therein lies Miss Saunders’ triumph, because “Tomboy Jackie” has succeeded in decanting an old brew into a new bottle with touches so deft and artistrv so compelling as to convince her sympathetic friends of the nov¬ elty of her position. There is the same atmosphere about this play that assured imper¬ ishable popularity for “Way Down East” and “The Old Homestead.” It is the home atmosphere with the nice clean country girl in the closeup and the wicked city feller making her unhappy after she has trusted him on his highly perishable word of honor. Anyone who knows Jackie Saunders can visualize her in the role and understand that she is at her best. Sherwood MacDonald, who direct Roy Vangrift . Frank Mayo Pa Marley . Daniel Gilfether Ma Marley . Mollie McConnell Dick Cooper . Henry Grey Addie Smith . Margaret Landis Bill Meyer . Cullen Landis Country Minister. . . .Edward Jobson IDA and CLAIRE MARLEY. . . . . ... : . Jackie Saunders ed “The Checkmate” saw Miss Saunders’ opportunity in this story as soon as he laid eyes on it. Mr. MacDonald is one of the best known directors in this country. He is a keen analyst. The best known plays of Mac¬ Donald prior to his entry into the motion picture field in 1913 were “Just in Time,” “The Goal,” and “The Phantom of Happiness.” Since that he has written and produced “Rose Among the Briars,” “IllStarred Bobbie,” “Message From Reno,” “Web of Crime,” “Straws in the Wind,” “Maid of the Wild,” and several other well known photo¬ dramas. Mr. MacDonald was born in New York and he is a graduate of Yale law school. His work in “The Checkmate” is rather better than anything he has ever done for screen — a triumph of stage direction and dramatic grouping. It should be added that photographically and with regard to stage setting “The Checkmate” thoroughly illustrates Mr. MacDonald’s capability. STORY OF “THE CHECKMATE” The story of the play deals with Claire Marley’s innocent delight in her farm home and the animal pets she owns there — her love for her oldfashioned father and mother and for her twin sister, Ida. When the dis¬ tant relative, Addie Smith, a depart¬ ment store clerk in New York, visits the farm, Claire is fascinated by the New Yorker’s clothes and her gen¬ erally fashionable ensemble, so that when Addie offers to get her a job in the same store, Claire longs to go to the city and at last persuades her parents to permit the adventure. Roy Vangrift, a young millionaire . REEL LIFE — Page Four