Screen Opinions (1923-24)

SCREEN OPINIONS TELLS THE TRUTH 69 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxrtXXXXXXXxxxxxxxKXXiiiiiiiiiitititititiiii^xzxxmtiix^zusstiui^iKimm any locality. It is one of the best comedy-melodramas of the season. Had the cast been less carefully chosen, or the direction less efficient the result might not have been so good. From the moment the picture opens and banker Peyton, his daughter and her fiance board the train for the west, there isn’t a foot of the film that hasn’t its bit of humor or its thrill; and much of the action takes place aboard the train, where an innocent scenario writer with a black handbag becomes an object of suspicion. Walter McGrail’s performance as Sea Bass, a crook, is excellent. His conception of the character is different from the regulation idea, for he smiles his way through most situations, vet is every inch the type. Ruth Stonehouse as “Hairpin” Annie unlocks doors, handbags and in fact deftly picks any kind of a lock with the article for which the character is named. Miss Stonehouse gives a creditable performance. Theodore Von Eltz plays the eccentric scenarist in a finished manner, and Ben Deely is inimitable as “High Shine” Joe, the blood-thirsty crook who is finally handcuffed. It is noticeable that none of the characters has been neglected. Players who have only small parts handle them in such a way as to make them memorable. One of these is Mabel Van Buren, who causes the few scenes in which she appears to stand out as they might not have done without her. The scenes where with “High Shine” Joe doing his best to shoot Egbert because he wrote the story that exposed Joe’s methods on the screen, the lights are suddenly turned out, are quite spectacular, showing only natural color flashes from the pistol shots against a background of darkness. You can bank on “Lights Out” pleasing your audience. STORY OF THE PLAY The same train that carries Peyton, president of a bank that has been robbed, his daughter and her fiance west, also contains Sea Bass and "Hairpin” Annie, and an eccentric scenarist. The scenarist’s black bag, resembling the one in which the bank funds were deposited, causes him to become an object of suspicion even to the crooks, who have been tricked out of the loot by "High Shine” Joe. The discovery that a moving picture scenarist is aboard gives Sea Bass, who is in reality a detective, the idea of getting Joe by having the story of the bank robbery with Joe as the principal manipulator, made into a moving picture. When Joe sees the completed picture his one thought is to get the man who wrote the story. The remainder of the tale has to do with the adventures of the pursuit, with the final arrest of Joe, and with the revelation of the fact that Sea Bass is a detective and not a crook. The scenarist and the bank president’s daughter become engaged. PROGRAM COPY— “Lights Out”— With an All-Star Cast A new and clever way of trapping a crook is the theme of “Lights Out,” one of the peppiest comedy-melodramas on the market. You shouldn’t miss this rapid motion feature played by an A-l cast. “GOING UP”— [Class A] 80% (Adapted from the musical comedy of the same name based on "The Aviator”) Story: — Experience of Author of Book on Aviation When Forced to Prove Up on Driving Skill VALUE CAST Photography — Verv good — Ross Fisher. Robert Street Domrlas McLean TYPE OF PICTURE — Humorous. Hopkinson Brown Hallam Cooley Moral Standard — Average. James Brooks Arthur Stuart Hull " Jules Gaillard Francis McDonald Story — Very good — Comedy — Family. Sam Robinson Hughie Mack Star — Very good — Douglas McLean. John Gordon Wade Boteler Authors — Very good — Jas. H. Montgomery. William Douglas John Steppling Direction — Very good — Lloyd Ingraham. Bellboy Mervyn LeRoy Adaptation — Very good — Raymond Griffith. Grace Douglas Marjorie Daw Technique — Very good. Madeline Manners Edna Murphy Spiritual Influence — Neutral. Mrs. Douglas Lillian Langdon Producer — Associated Exhibitors November 1 to 15, 1923. Footage — 5,899 ft. Distributor — Not given Onr Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE — Misrepresentation Is Hard to Live Up To. Successful Musical Comedy Plot Proves Fine Screen Material — Star and Cast Good The situation in which the hero of “Going Up” finds himself when, after writing a treatise on aviation, a subject known to him only in theory, he is forced to give an exhibition flight, is one of the most amusing possible. The (Continued on next pape) Unbiased and Independent Reviews Only!