The Film Renter and Moving Picture News (Jan-Feb 1923)

February 10, 1923. THE FILM RENTER & MOVING PICTURE NEWS. 47 REVIEW_OF NEW_PRODUCTIONS—Continued. . Forget Me Not. A fine heart interest picture that will have a good reception. RELEASED BY JURY. Length, 5,700 feet. Release Date, March 5, 1928. EFLECTION upon this picture, which Jury showed at R the Palace Theatre last week, reveals a few improba bilities—minor ones, it is true—but it is perhaps unjust to put them in the forefront of a review of what is really a most excellent picture. It is well cast, beautifully acted, and telis a story that is full of tenderness that never degenerates into mere sentimentality. Threatened with eviction from their meagre home, and anxious for the future of their little one, Mary Gordon and her husband place her in a foundling asylum, where she grows up—a number rather than a name, and unidentified. Tho parents prosper, and decide to adopt a child from the asylum, the choice of Mary Gordon falling upou Jimmy, a foundling boy and inmate ScENE From ‘‘ Forcer Me Nor.”’ of the asylum, who has a warm affection for the cripple ’ girl who is the Gordons’ daughter. The girl is later adopted by an old musician who turns her into a clever violinist, and one of her engagements is to play at the wedding of Jimmy, whose youthful affection has remained in her memory, and she collapses. But Jimmy’s wife dies in childbirth, and he, demented, wanders around aimlessly, visiting the asylum, and recalling memories of his girl friend. Then he wanders into a concert hall where sho is playing, and recognises her. The mother, too, has gained authentic news of her daughter, and is also in the hall, so that recognition and reconciliation take place between them, too. Some very pretty scenes towards the close bring this picture to a most attractive close. The boy and girl affection between Jimmy and Ann is most beautifully interpreted, and the pathos of their parting tugs ot one’s heart. It is Bessie Love who impresses most, and the quivering Jip and twitching fingers, together with the brave attempt at a smile through her tears, make this scene full of poignancy. Garrett Hughes as the boy, interprets, too, the awkward helplessness of his position, as he twists his cap into all manner of shapes in his ncrvous hands. Later he is not so impressive, as ‘he looks too young for a husband. Irene Hunt shows the grinding anxiety of poverty in the earlier scenes most effectively, but the later scencs do not make so much demand upon her. Otto Lederer as the musician, and his dog, provide some most amusing interludes. There should be no hesitation in booking this picture, which will make an immediate appeal wherever shown. A Motion to Adjourn. . Two good scenes in a rather artless drama of the ‘‘ West.” RELEASED BY PEARL FILMS. Length, Siz Reels. lielease Date, October 15, 1923. ILAS WARNIAR, junior, passed his days in luxurious idleness, Silas Warner, senior, was a wealthy broker, and Archie, his younger son, was secretly gambling in the jnoney. murket. Finding himself practically ruined, he uttempted to steal his father’s valuable securities, but his brother cuught Lim in the act. Their futher appeared, and Silas took the blame to shield his brother. After getting Archie’s promise to go straight, Silas disappeared from home. Penniless, he hid iu a west-bound goods train, in company with a tramp, who stolo most of his clothes. The tramp met his death in a train wreck, and, the clothes being recognised as Warner’s, the latter's death was reported. His father was heartbroken, and Archie, conscience-stricken, confesses his guilt. Silas, junior, reached a Western mining camp. Its sole hotel, tho ‘* Stagger Inn,’? was run by Doe Blecker, head potentate of the Secret Order of ‘‘ The Ornery aud Worthless Men of the World.” The Doc’s pretty daughter, Sally, was immediately attracted by good-humoured Silas, and the newcomer was made a member ol the society. A wealthy old prospector, whom Silas had previously assisted, was shot by claim jumpers, and, dying, left his gold dust to the young man. But the desperadoes followed up their booty and tried to break into the inn. Sally, hearing their moveinents, hurried to Silas’s room late at night to warn him of his danger; but Doc Bleeker, roused by the noise, appeared ou the scenc, and, horrificd at finding his daughter in such a compromising situation, forced Silas at pistol-point to marry her immediately. Directly afterwards the bridegroom took his departure from the place, and a little later Doc Bleeker met his death, ‘he ‘‘ Worthless Men ’’ adopted Sally and sent her to a fashionable finishing school. Here she discovered that her room-mate was really Silas’s sister. While on a visit to the Warner’s home Sally came face to face with the husband she had married under such dramatic circumstances. Silas, his name cleared by his brother’s confession, kappily claimed his pretty wife before his delighted and astonished relations. The foregoing is the synopsis version of a production put out by Pearl Films, and shown last week. It will be noted that it contains a ‘‘ bedroom’ scene. This is one of the two little bits of real drama in’ the whole picture, which otherwise is packed tight with a lot of disconnected and irrelevant incidents, more in keeping with a feebly-improvised charade than a story ScENE From ‘‘ A Morron To ADJOURN.”’