Screen Opinions (1923-24)

146 SCREEN OPINIONS WEEKLY SERVICE teresting and is especially convincing as portrayed by Mr. Sprotte. Vernon Steele is the typical lover, and June Elvidge plays intelligently the unpleasant role of Lady Clara, unduly enamoured of Phillip and jealous of his pretty Norwegian bride. The cast is good throughout, and we venture to say that “Thelma” will be welcomed in the average neighborhood theatre as a real treat. STORY OF THE PLAY Phillip, a young; Englishman hurries his yacht northward to Norway to avoid being forced into a love affair with Lady Clara, a woman he cannot love. While there he accidentally meets a beautiful Norwegian maid as she is pushing her boat away from the cave, where she goes daily to place flowers on her mother’s tomb. After making overtures to Thelma’s father, Phillip and his friend Lorimer, gain entrance to her home, and Phillip marries Thelma and brings her to England, where Lady Clara succeeds in causing Thelma to believe that her husband is not true to her. Thelma goes back to Norway while Phillip is absent on a secret mission for a friend, and is followed later by Phillip, who persuades her that he really loves her. PROGRAM COPY— “Thelma”— Featuring Jane Novak Here is a fascinating tale of Norway and the descendants of the ancient Vikings combined with the romance of a young Englishman. If you love beautiful sea settings, near tragedy, and, in short, the strangely fascinating atmosphere of the Marie Corelli novels, you will not want to miss “Thelma,” a beautiful production with Jane Novak in the title role. “ANNA ASCENDS”— Class A (Adapted from play of same name) Story: — Lady of Little Italy Reveals Plot — Marries Son of Wealth VALUE Photography — Very Good — Gilbert Warrenton. TYPE OF PICTURE— Fascinating. Moral Standard — Average. Story — Good — Melodrama — Family. Star — Very Good — Alice Brady. Author — Good — Harry Chapman Ford. Direction — Very good — Victor Fleming. Adaptation — Very Good — Margaret Turnbull. Technique — Very Good. Spiritual Influence — Average. CAST Anna Ayyob Howard Fisk The Baron Countess Rostoff Count Rostoff Siad Coury Bessie Fisk Miss Fisk Mr. Fisk Alice Brady Robert Elli9 , . . . David Powell Nita Nalda . .Charles Gerard .Edward Durnad ..Florence Dixon ..Grace Griswold Frederick Burton January 1 to 15, 1923. Producer — Paramount Footage — 5,900 ft. Distributors — Famous Player* Our Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE— None. Careful Staging and Excellent Work of Star and Cast Evident Alice Brady’s portrayal of the Syrian girl, Anna Ayyob in her latest production, “Anna Ascends,” is extremely satisfying. In spite of the fact that the story is an ordinary concoction, the character played by Miss Brady is of an extraordinary calibre that makes it doubly interesting. Her meeting with Howard Fisk, a happening which causes her to pour over the dictionary in an effort to polish up her English, her adventure with Kurban, a crook who she believes she killed in a struggle to reveal his smuggling plot over the phone to Fisk, and her escape and rise to fame as a writer, improbable as it may seem, are all interesting events that lead to a happy climax. This is a picture that will get across with the majority of audiences, and is a first rate program feature. Robert Ellis gives one of the best performances of his career in this picture, and the cast throughout is excellent. STORY OF THE PLAY Anna Ayyob, a Syrian girl living in New York’s Little Italy, kept things lively in the restaurant run by one, Siad Coury, whose coffee shipments often contined jewels and other smuggled articles. When Howard Fisk, son of a newspaper man, got a clue to a good story in the smuggling of the Romanoff jewels, he met Anna and persuaded her to get information as to what a certain shipment, expected on the following day, contained. In her efforts to tell Fisk over the phone what she had learned, she stabs Kurban, leader of the smugglers, and believes she killed him. Later she is discovered as secretary to a prominent man who has published anonymously a book written by her entitled “Anna Ascends,” treating on Americanization. The end of the story finds Anna bringing the police to the Fisk home, where certain of the smugglers, posing as aristocrats, are to be found. Anna and Howard become engaged. PROGRAM COPY — “Anna Ascends” — Featuring Alice Brady Anna Ayyob’s romance started in a restaurant and ended in a mansion. Come and see through what adventures she was forced to pass before she at last grasped the palm of happiness. Alice Brady and a fine cast play the picture. No Advertising Support Accepted!