Screen Opinions (1923-24)

110 SCREEN OPINIONS TELLS THE TRUTH her father is only a clerk, so solicitous of her parent’s feelings that she will actually tell falsehoods to prevent his knowing of her unhappiness, and yet so bent on finally winning social recognition that it has become an obsession with her. The pathos of the girl’s position when she persistently resorts to sham methods of winning her point, and is discovered in her deceit by the man she hopes to marry, and to whom she has unconsciously described not) her own home, but the home she hopes to have, is excellently brought out by the director and Miss Vidor’s fine acting. Claude Gillingwater gives a splendid performance as Virgil Adams, the father, who is finally forced into setting up a glue factory on the strength of a formula belonging to his employer, and Margaret McWade gives a convincing portrayal of the nervous, eccentric mother bound up in the happiness of her children and ashamed of what seems to her to be her husband’s lack of capacity to conduct a paying business. Thomas Ricketts makes an excellent J. A. Lamb, Virgil’s kindly employed, and Harold Goodwin is successful in winning the spectator’s contempt for Alice’s irresponsible brother Walter. The lover role is played fascinatingly by Vernon Steels, and Gertrude Astor does well as Mildred Palmer, the snobbish acquaintance of Alice. This is an excellent feature for the neighborhood house. It wins by the very human presentation of the story. STORY OF THE PLAY Alice Adams, daughter of Virgil Adams, a clerk in a glue factory, is unable to win a place in the social set of the town because of her father’s position and owing to the fact that they live in a small, poorly furnished house. Her people are plain people, ana her brother has taken to bad habits, and bad company ; and on an occasion when he has consented to take her to a party, he is found in the check room throwing dice with colored men. Arthur Russell, a young man of good family and wealthy, is attracted by Alice’s beauty, and after sitting on the porch with her several evenings, he is invited to dinner by Alice’s mother, much to her consternation. The days previous to the dinner are spent by her in trying to make her home look as much as possible like what she has described to Russell. The result of what happens at the dinner reveals to him that Alice has been playing shoddy methods. Also while they are at dinner Walter comes home in trouble, followed by a stranger to tell about his disgrace in having confiscated funds from his employer. In the end Alice learns her lesson and realizes that no good can come of misrepresentation, Russell forgives her and asks her to be his wife, and Virgil Adams gives up a glue factory for which he has mortgaged everything he has, to please his wife, and goes back to his old position which his employer has kept for him. PROGRAM COPY — “Alice Adams” — Featuring Florence Vidor If you want to read the soul of the average American girl, come and see Florence Vidor in "Alice Adams.’’ Booth Tarkington’s prize story — a study in girl life that you will never forget. Claude Gillingwater, Vernon Steele, Harold Goodwin, Thomas Ricketts and other wellknown players support the star. “LAW OF THE LAWLESS”— [Class A] 80% (Adapted from story of same name) Story: — Romance of Tartar Maid and Gypsy Chief Who Bought Her VALUE CAST Photography — Very good — George R Meyer. Sahande Dorothy Dalton TYPE OF PICTURE — Unusual — Interesting. Sender Theodore Kosloff Moral Standard — Average. Costa Charles de Roche Ali Mechmet Tully Marshall Story — Very good — Drama — Family. Osman Fred Huntley Star — Very good — Dorothy Dalton. Fanutza Margaret Loomis Author — Very good — Konrad Bercovici. Direction — Very good — Victor Fleming. July IS to 31, 1923. Adaptation — Very good — E. Lloyd Sheldon and Edfrid Bingham. Technique — Very good. Spiritual Influence — Neutral. Producer — Paramount Footage — 6,387 ft. Distributor — Famous Players Our Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE— None. Romantic Gypsy Atmosphere and Effective Staging Characterize Production We are not sure that “The Law of the Lawless” is going to prove a universal success, but we do believe that the better-class audiences will appreciate its artistic values, and also the change of scene and of the type of story that is continually fed to the public by way of the screen. To be sure, “The Law of the Lawless” is a love story; it has a sex appeal; it has the money (Continued on next page) c No Advertising Support Accepted!