Screen Opinions (1923-24)

ALL THE "TRUTH” ABOUT PICTURES 9 Our Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE— None. Has Pleasing Outdoor Atmosphere — Star Beautiful and Talented The latest Nell Shipman picture has much to recommend it for the average audience. Apart from the attraction of a pretty star, snow scenes and dancehall melodrama, a portion of the picture, in fact, the biggest half, is devoted largely to the presentation of wild animals of the northwest in their native haunts. These scenes are deftly worked in with the story, and one wonders how Miss Shipman became so well acquainted with animals, which are usually shy of mankind, such as bear, porcupines, deer, skunks, beavers, badgers, owls, coyotes, raccoons, mountain lions and ducks. Children will enjoy the animals, although the earlier reels of the picture are not such as we would recommend for children to see, for while they might absorb no harm, still the grossness of the dancehall is too well illustrated to prove commendable entertainment for youth. The snow scenes are especially pleasing, and the story develops quite thrillingly in spots. For instance, the scenes that have to do with Faith Diggs’ daring ruse in which she lures her tormentor to a weak ledge that gives way beneath them, have fine suspense and a real thrill. The cast is quite adequate to the occasion. “The Grub-Stake” should prove a good box office attraction for theatres that make a specialty of booking novel and sensational pictures. STORY OF THE PLAY Faith Diggs, supporting an invalid father the best way she can, is persuaded by Mark Leroy, a gambler, to go to Dawson City with a grub-stake, which will help her to make a fresh start. Leroy, unscrupulous and already married, also persuades Faith to go through a marriage ceremony with him, intending to put her father out of the way. Klondike Kate, taking pity on the girl, tells her of Leroy’s real character, and Kate, hurrying home from the dancehall, arrives just in time to prevent a tragedy with an overdose of sleeping drops prepared by Leroy’s Chinese servant. Faith and her father, together with a demented prospector, hurry away over the trail, and later, after a series of adventures, in which Faith is lost in the woods, her troubles are straightened out, with her betrothal to Klondike Kate’s son. PROGRAM COPY — “The Grub-Stake” — Featuring Nell Shipman Here is a picture that you are going to like — a thrilling melodrama in which wild animals are featured, together with a lovely and talented star, Nell Shipman. A story of the Klondike that will hold you at the edge of your seat. “MAD LOVE”— Class A (Especially prepared for screen) Story: — Flirt Meets Tragic End at Hand of Mad Lover VALUE CAST Photography — Very good — Not credited. Liane Pola Negri TYPE OF PICTURE — Tragic. (Names of other playeri omitted) Moral Standard — Fair. Story — Very good — Drama — Adults. Star — Very good — Pola Negri. Author — Very good — Not credited. Direction — Very good — Dimitri Buchowetski. Adaptation — Very good — Not credited. Technique — Very good. . ■ ■ .. — . --—■■■ Spiritual Influence — Neutral. April 1 to 15, 192J. Producer — U. F. A. Footage — 5,518 ft. Distributor — Goldwyn Our Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE— None. Unpleasant Story Entertainingly Presented — Foreign-Made Picture We wonder had some other hand than Dimitri Buchowetski’s fashioned the picture, “Mad Love,” would the effect have been as satisfactory? What could be more gruesome than the details of a story in which an insane lover in padded cell figures? And yet Buchowetski has turned out a picture that is in every way entertaining. This does not mean that “Mad Love” is suitable for all occasions, for it is not. It is distinctly for theatre use and not for the non-theatrical field. But in spite of the fact that Liane, the woman of the story, is not the sort for emulation, there are only one or two rather carefully guarded scenes that are at all suggestive, and in these the director has used his knowledge of the picture art to advantage in establishing an atmosphere of beauty, which, of course, (Continued on next page) No Advertising Support Accepted!