Screen Opinions (1923-24)

186 “BOOK THE NEW PERCENTAGE WAY” Cooper, as Travel, and Eddie Phillips, as the “Glad Rags Kid,” are not alone excellent types for these roles, but give intelligent performances. George Cooper gets in some acceptable comedy which is frequently helped along by humorous subtitles. Tom Bates makes good as Sandy an ex-convict. The scenes in prison are inetresting and well staged, and the runaway scene in which horse, girl rider and rescuer are precipitated over a bank, is thrilling. STORY OF THE PLAY Mary McGinn, a popular pupil in a girls’ school, is out riding one day, when her horse becomes frightened and bolts. She is rescued by Boston Blackie, who has just escaped from prison and is being pursued by the prison guards. In return for his bravery, she smuggles him a chauffeur’s suit in which to make his get-away. Mary is shortly afterward shocked by the arrival at the school of a detective who has traced her by a handkerchief she dropped and by his presentation of a paper proving that she is the daughter of la man who died in prison. Mary’s expulsion from school reveals to her what she had not known before, that her mother lives in the heart of the underworld, and makes her living from giving lodging to crooks. The romance of Mary and Blackie progresses, and finally he is led to the straight road for good through Mary’s influence, after a thrilling adventure in burglary framed by Mary to disgust him with this sort of life forever. He gives himself up to the prison authorities and is put on parole for so doing. PROGRAM COPY — “Through the Dark” — Featuring Colleen Moore The romance of Mary McGinn and Boston Blackie is a thrilling affair of prison and the influence of a faithful woman in redeeming the man she loves. Colleen Moore, star of “Flaming Youth,” plays Mary in “Through the Dark,” supported by Forrest Stanley and a good cast. “CAUSE FOR DIVORCE”— [Class D] 40% (Especially prepared for screen) Story: — Wife Deterred From Taking Wrong Road, Instrumental in Patching Up Another’s Happiness VALUE Photography — Average — Victor Milner. TYPE OF PICTURE — Ordinary. Moral Standard — Good. Story — Fair — Drama — Adults. Cast — Good— All-Star. Author — Fair — Thelma Lanier. Direction — Fair— Hugh Dierker. Adaptation — Fair — Not credited. Technique — Fair. Spiritual Influence — Average. CAST Laura Weston Fritzi Brunette Tom Parker David Butler Martin Sheldon Charles Clary Ruth Metcliffe Helene Lynch Floward Metcliffe Pat O’Malley Count Ramon Lorenz Peter Burke Skippy North Cleve Moore Professor Williams James O. Barrow Butler E. M. Kimball George Angier Harmon MacGregor Tommie Parker Junior Coughlan February 15 to 29, 1924. Producer — John S. Woody Footage — 6,900 ft. Distributor — Selznick Our Opinion MORAL O’THE PICTURE — There is Usually a Gold Mine of Happiness at the End of the Straight Road Inartistic Production Prevents Story With Good Moral From Getting Across Except With Cheaper Class Audiences “Cause for Divorce” is one of many productions that have been made recently in which the author has tried to point a lesson on the marriage and divorce question. In the present instance the inartistic way in which the picture has been produced, which is partly due to a poor adaptation of the story, and partly to what we would suppose to be the inexperience of the director, prevents the moral of the play from being taken seriously by high class audiences. However, the picture has a moral, which, if it succeeds in leaving its impress, should make the production worth while in the cheaper class theatre. The subtitles are ineffective, and the picture is considerably padded. The outstanding situation in the story is the fact that a young wife, tempted to leave her husband for a wealthy but morally irresponsible suitor, is guided by reason to a frame of mind in which she decides to follow her husband to the orange farm, where previously she had refused to accompany him. The cast is composed of capable and well-known players, as will be seen at a glance. STORY OF THE PLAY Laura Weston, a college girl, marries Tom Parker, the man she loves, but who is in a business office like a square peg in a round hole. She grows tired of being a poor man’s wife, (Continued on next page) No Advertising Support Accepted!