Screen Opinions (1923-24)

ALL THE “TRUTH” ABOUT PICTURES 217 STORY OF THE PLAY Esteban, an orphan of an Indian raid, is cared for by a kindly squaw and reared to manhood without knowing who he is. A paper proving Esteban’s birth to white parents is stolen by Beaugard, a cousin of Esteban as revealed by the paper, with a view to establishing his claim to property which would later be inherited by Esteban. His hatred of Esteban causes him to interfere in his love affair with Patricia Benton. But in the end Esteban learns tiom the squaw of the paper and its whereabouts, and he and Patricia are made happy. PROGRAM COPY— “Crow’s Nest”— Featuring Jack Hoxie You’ll like the romance of Esteban, who believed himself half Indian. Come and see how the heart of a squaw was touched by youthful sorrow which prompted her to tell the truth. Jack Hoxie is the star of this thrilling western. “MARRIAGE CHANCE”— Class D (Especially prepared for screen) Story: — Girl Faints and Dreams of Being Poisoned by Guardian VALUE Photography — Very good — Dal Clawson. TYPE OF PICTURE— Unwholesome. Moral Standard — Average. Story — Fair — Comedy-melodrama. Cast — Excellent — All-Star. Author — Fair — Hampton Del Ruth. Direction — Fair— Hampton Del Ruth. Adaptation — Fair — Hampton Del Ruth. Technique — Fair. Spiritual Influence — Neutral. Producer — Long Beach Studios CAST Eleanor Douglas Alta Allen William Bradley Milton Sills Dr. Paul Graydon Henry B. Walthall Timothy Lamb Tully Marshall Mary Douglas Irene Rich The Mute Mitchell Lewis Martha Douglas Laura La Varnie Uncle Remus Nick Cogley February 15 to 28, 1923. Distributor — American Releasing Corp. Footage — 6,000 ft. Our Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE— None. Picture Gives Excellent Promise, But Peters Out in Cheap Hoakum It is a pity that the author of “The Marriage Chance” did not give more serious thought to the subject matter of the story, for with a cast such as has been chosen to interpret it a really big production might have been the result. The director has done some excellent work in the opening reels of the picture, and the spectator is led to expect a uniformity of appeal throughout. Having written the play as well as directed it, Hampton Del Ruth seems to be the one responsible for the unwholesome outcome of a promising story. But if the picture accomplishes nothing else it presents to the public one of the most fetching ingenues that has come to the screen in a long time, for Alta Allen is a delight. She is not only beautiful with the freshness of youth but extremely talented, and in her hands Eleanor Douglas, just out of boarding school, becomes the most charmingly artless child-woman. Milton Sills as the lover also gives a fine performance, together with Irene Rich and Laura La Varnie. But why cast Henry B. Walthall as a vivisectionist, or Tully Marshall merely as a type? The reaction to that part of the picture which presents the dream of the bride who, falling in a faint at her wedding, fancies that her guardian has given her poison to drink, is not good. The rush of her relatives with picks and shovels to the graveyard to dig up the body which has presupposedly been buried alive is apt to create an unpleasant sensation, inasmuch as a good deal of film is given to this part of the story without ringing the audience in on the secret that it is a dream. Some good comedy is presented in the opening reels, but from start to finish there is an evident effort toward sensationalism. The picture has wasted a fine group of characters on an insipid plot. STORY OF THE PLAY Eleanor Douglas, just home from boarding school, means to marry the man of her choice, William Bradley, district attorney, in spite of the expected objections of her guardian, Dr. Paul Graydon, a vivisectionist, to whom her sister Mary has been engaged for years. Eleanor’s wedding ceremony is interrupted when she falls in a faint, dreaming that a glass of water brought to her by her guardian previous to the ceremony, contained poison. She also dreams that after her funeral, a cat, drinking from the same glass of water, falls on the floor as though dead, and that its sudden recovery causes the bridegroom and relatives much anguish, in the belief that she has been buried alive. Awakening from her dream just as she has been discovered in the house of her guardian after having been exhumed, she learns that Dr. Graydon is not the enemy she had supposed him to be, but that on the contrary he has doubled the fortune belonging to her and her sister. The story ends happily. (Continued on next page) No Advertising Support Accepted!