Variety (October 1914)

24 VARIETY Whoa tke Ham Turned. Comedy. Fair laugh getter. Principals need more coaching In comedy werk. Pratneit of Aak. Drama. Good picture. Well chosen cant Hla Mother's Home. Drama. Not Interesting and picture "cheap." DAILY RELEASE REVIEWS Reviews of film floated daily. Picture* of over real are Indicated. Pet of the Petticoat*. Louis Simon In comedy modeled after "The New Coachman." Anything for a laugh. In- cluding china smashing. Tke Tardy Cnnnonball. Dramatic. Cowboy pursues partner who stole hla wire- Suspense sustained by in- genious device with surprise finish. Tkeee Lara Paasra. Comedy. Coarser than usual. Sheriff of Moaeatlaa. Two reela. Cowboy drama. Plenty of ac- tion with a surprise In unexpected develop- ments. Strikingly good scenic features. Ha Never Said a Ward. Comedy. Young man and girl meet In deaf and dumb asylum. Courting In sign language then each finds other Is only visitor. Good obvious comedy. Craal, Crael World. Whooping travesty on old-style melodrama. Plenty of laughs. Condactor TM. Trivial semi-dramatic Philanthropic street car conductor gets money to send Invalid widow and her three children to the moun- tains No story, no love Interest, no action. Dally'a Dellveraaee. Western drama. Consistent with thriller when hero and "greaser" battle In bottom of abandoned well. Taa Wklskey Rannere. Two reels. Western drama. Exteriors throughout. Plenty of riding and shooting. Picture cheap and below par. Taa Tattered Daka. Oood Western comedy. Much hokum. Got laughs. Her Victory Etaraal. Grewsome drama. Unnatural mother love. Rather too strong for ordinary audlenoe. Principals good, especially mother role. Hypaotle Pa war. Comedy. Usual type. Rough house stuff good for laughs. Sterling at his best; others will do. Broaco Billy aad tka Oi Uaual Bronco Billy story, with cowboy ride to rescue. Nothing unusual In picture. Tka Girl At tka Lock. Two reels. Interesting drama. Exceedingly well produced. Loulee Huff, principal. Saada of Fata. Two reels. Desert drama. Badly produced, with principals miscast, and opportunities lost. Aalmatad Weakly. Review. Good assortment war scenes but some look faky. Baaeball players and car- toons good. Hallo Mabel. Comedy. Very poor. Few Laughs. A Law Unto Haraalf. Two reels. Mixed affair between supposedly French people. Leading woman over acta. Medium picture with poor start. BEST REELS OF THE WEEK by Varlety'e reviewers daily, up to Wedaesday, of the beet film oeea.) Hla Fatker'a Boms. Two reels. Western drama. Good story, with Wall street on the side. J. Warren Kerrlgen as young prospector puts film over. Exteriors good with fair studio sets. »n, tka Faatar Metker. Drama, of the waterfront Caat, headed by Anne Schaeffer, handle part* very very well. Mob scenes well directed. Good all around two rosier. Wkea Slippery Slim Mat tka Ckamptosu Comedy. Slapstick prise fight. Principals good. Brought screams. Girl Wke Worn. (2 reels) Splendid comedy plot for single reel, somewhat Injured by being spread too thin over two. Story of man highbrow who seeks to make hla marriage platonlc, and a dear of a bride who won't have It so. Delighted the women with its daring in aplcy scans. Tka Paaatom Llajkt. (2 reels) Indian legend. Well done in all particulars. Thrilling Indian battles and hair- raising horseback riding. Delightful Idyll with poetlo flavor. ..... Tk « *••* ■** *»• Tkerau (2 reels) Mythical drama. Good Interiors. Well directed and good cast One of the beet of the new two feelers. Tka Baad af TTansnnkeed Well directed. Some __ n Tka Baad af Wemaakood. Two reels. Dramatic. Showing family troubles of rich and poor, scenes greatly exaggerated, but picture generally good. A Oloee Call. Juvenile comedy. Haa a thrill and la laughable- Cupid Viator. Comedy-drama. Ordinary. Main idea lacks sufficient strength. Cast good, but photog- raphy off In spots. la Old Vlrajala. Two reels. War drama, with John B. Ince. Mostly exteriors. Two battle scenes. Plenty of action. Ordinary picture. Tka King; of tka Moaey Leaders. Drama. Good single, played by some of the Vlts's better known people. Virtue Ita Owa Reward. Two reels. Drama. Self sacrifice, theme. Interesting and well told. Pauline Bush, prin- cipal. Their Little Drudeje. Fair rural drama, appearing aged. Old Pickford would have been preferred. • Beaat at Bay. Two reels. A Mary Pickford reprint with sn automobile-locomotive chaae. The Real Agatha. Two reels. Comedy drama. Heiress poses as secretary to discourage fortune hunters. Hero falls in love with her. Light entertain- ment. Tka Girl aad tke Stowaway. Two reels. Comedy drama, with Alice Joyce. Scenes on shipboard well taken. Good picture. Greea Eyed Mouater. Dramatic Loose story. Crude melodrama. Sailor loves lighthouse keeper's daughter. Rich lover. Rivals fight. Only virtue pretty marine acenery. Jlmmle the Porter. Lover disguises as negro Pullman porter to be near rich girl sweetheart. Prevents other man's proposal. Strained comedy. Joele'a Fortune. Josle Sadler in amusing comedy. Summer boys desert girls at hotel to court housemaid heiress. "Fortune" turns out myth. Tke One Wko Cared. Rural drama. Leads to excellent climax then kills interest by absurd finish. Oood Idea gone wrong altogether. Jailbirds. Two reels. Drama. Many extertora. Res- taurant scenes poorly arranged. Two leading characters good. Fair film. Our Mutual Girl No. 30. Serial. Poor Installment. Nothing to com- mend. r Mary's Convert. Rural drama. Leading woman character good. Picture very cheap. Mary Green's) Husband dk Monkey Cabaret. Split reel. First half, fair comedv drama. Second part, from vaudeville act Medium. The Mayor's Manicure. Oomedy. Girl reporter gets Interview with mayor by posing as manicure. Exposes plot and wins his lovs. Average. The Anglers. Comedy. Usual roughness. Principals showed no Individual cleverness. Good laugh getter. George Washington Jones. Comedy. Blackface comedian principal character. Fair comedy. Last half of reel, episode of "Buster Brown." has many laughs. Hearat-Sella;. Review. War scenes anu police exhibitions. Good reel. The Galldlaug Fata. Rural drama. Nearly all exteriors. Cheap for a release from this manufacturer. Throagjk Ifiyea of Love. Fair society drama. Male and female leads well handled. The Letter That Never Came Out. Poor political drama with 8ally Crute In leading role. Picture unlntereatlng. Swami Sam. Comedy. Police force and blackface come- dian for laughs. Fair comedy. Neighborly Nelejhbora. Comedy. Rural piece bringing In number of families. Not many laughs. The Diamond of Disaster. Two-reel Eaat ludla picture mads In this country. Good explosion scene. Characters fit, but scenic effects do not harmonise with title. Off Aejala, Oa Aajaln Flulajan. Comedy. Trick photography and funny po- lice force. Qeta over easily. The Warning;. Drama. Directed by Donald Crisp with Dorothy Glsh leading. Unexpected finish. A different picture. Wlaeeme Winnie. Comedy. Oood company. Many laughs, without slap-stick. Very Muck Alive. Comedy. Police force and slapstick. Com- pany not very capable. Medium. Andy and tka B eda kla a. Oood oomedy with Juvenile principal*. Tke Myaterlona Baaaty. Comedy. Tooth pulling and race between two machines and trolley. Fair comedy. Lena and tka G« Old Blograph Pickford reprint. Fair pic- ture. Tka Peacemaker. Ordinary single reel comedy with Van Dyke Brook and Norma Talmadge. Not up to the V's standard. Tka Sauatter. Three reels. Western drama. Scenes and photography good. Principals capable. Good picture. Tke Bad af tka Galley. Two reela. Western drama. Fairly well worked out plot Fair picture. Helale*a Outlnsj. Slapstick comedy. Few laughs. kx tka Sea. Drama. Good love story. Players do well. Good Inexpensive picture. Bad Man Maeea. Drama. Western sittings. Fair acting and fair ploture. MYSTERY OF THeT POISON POOL Cameron, an adventurer in Africa; Dor- othy, a missionary, and Walton, a trooper of the British mounted police, are the principal characters In "The Mystery of the Poison Pool," a five-part dramatic Just released by the Picture Playhouse Film Co. Its highest power thrill Is unluckily placed in the first reel. Nearer the end it would have been an Immense asset, at the beginning it set a pace the rest of the tale could not follow, and cumulative Interest was unbalanced. Cam- eron is captured by cannlbala And rescued by Walton, who hoists him over a tall cliff out of reach. It is here, at the outaet, that the thriller comes. As Cameron mounts hand over hand up the face of the cliff, an enor- mous python uncoils its length Just over his head and threatens him. Walton saves the climber with a timely pistol shot It's a real live 30-foot snake and the very daddy of the breed. Its very appearance gliding through the rocks brings a shudder, and when It reaches for Its victim suspended in midair the spectator of the film gets a real Jolt. The story lapses for a year and Cameron is dis- closed as a rough character prospecting for diamonds In the same country. He meets Dorothy and his love for her works his reformation. But Walton, who does not recog- nise him and whom he does not recognise, appears as his rival. A visitor to the village Is murdered and suspicion falls upon Cam* eron. He flees and Walton goes In pursuit. The trooper Is overpowered by the adventurer, but his life is spared when Cameron, by means of a locket, discovers his rescuer of a year before, and he carries the trooper back to the village. While the trooper lies uncon- srtous Cameron Is condemned to death, but Dorothy discovers the real murderer, and after a wild ride brings back the order of reprieve In time. There Is action a plenty, but for sensationalism that snake episode overshadows all other details, and the great length of the recital at times wearies. Act- ing and scenic qualities are excellent. FEATURE FILM REVIEWS THE TANGLE. A four-part military drama by the Broad- way Star Feature Co., which figures In the new Vitagraph bill. Ths feature la notable among other things for the sane portrayal of ita leading role by Darwin Karr, who la here disclosed as head and shoulders over the average leading man of screen dramatics. As the young lieutenant, Jack Bradley of the 16th U. S. Cavalry, he achievea a really bal- anced, human portrayal. He haa not a single strut nor a single grimace In the whole four acts, but creates a forceful character by the simplest of methods and without the common artifices of the familiar "movie hero." This emphasis on a single part Is not undue. Every silent player should be sent to study Kerr's handling of this role. It Is really a force- did exposition of what can be done in force- ful hut unaffected pantomime playing. The story is one of those absurd affairs baaed on a lovers' misunderstanding, a misunderstand- ing brought about with obvious labor on the part of the scenario writer and one that In ordinary human couduct would have been cleared up by a word. Jack'a sweetheart finds a letter In his pocket In pique she goes off and marriea Col. Everett, and never learns until a year after that the picture wsk that of Jack's sister. Not very Ingenious, is it? When she does learn the truth, of course, she Is another's, but she will go on dragging Jack to dim corners of the conser- vatory and making love to the embarrassed soldier, until the Colonel learns of the affair and Jack'a position Is most unhappy. How- ever, the Colonel comes to know the real situation and when he la killed in battle (the regiment goes to the Spanish war) he forgives Jack and sends him home to marry the woman. Here the scenario writer ap- parently dimly understood that he had per- mitted the wife to conduct herself in s pretty generally unlovely way and balked at the happy reconciliation with the noble Jack. So he put Jack on board a ateamer bound for home and the suffering widow and let It go at that If the story Is crude, it is acted with consummate ability and the staging of the battle scenes is perhapa the best thing of the sort that has been done yet Capt Harry Lambert is named as the producer. Presumably he is an army man. He would do fllmdom a service by organizing a class for film directors for instruction In military procedure. Every move on the part of his actora haa the stamp of authority. The film directors who send their soldier heroes to the ballroom in fatigue uniform and wearing aide arms and spurs, might also accompany ths leading men In their visit to the Vitagraph. The visit would pay them. SPIRIT OF THE POPPY. "The Spirit of the Poppy." described aa "a psychological study of the drug habit" is a six-part feature shown at private exhibition this week by the Klnetophote. For purpose of this record, the question whether there should be a field for so Intimate treatment of a disagreeable subject on the screen may he disregarded. It is enough to say the same arguments may be advanced for and against the exhibition aa applied to Charles Warner's stage production of "Drink." The screen treatment of the drug habit is quite as powerfully done, aa was the Warner play's preachment agalnat drunkeness. The story violatea no rale of so-called literary ethics, for, while virtue does not triumph (because there Is no virtue involved), the evildoers come to final punishment Therein the pro- motors of the feature stand on firm ground in advancing the subject aa a moral lesson. The story reoltes the fall from high estate of Stephen Ford, a brilliant artist; his wife. Ethel, and a host of minor persons, through addiction to cocaine and opium; the artist through the wiles of a woman model, and the wife through a doctor who feeda her mor- phine In treatment of trifling nervous trou- bles. Their course Is traced along the fear- ful descent to the slums, with a vividness and realism that deliver a terrlfflc effect. As they pass from one stags of degradation to another other Innocent victims are drawn Into the net and the dru« r curse spreads in ever widening circles, until the authorities close in on the traffickers in the drugs and death is meted to the drug slaves and their master dealers, one after another with an im- partial hand. The story is remarkably well put together and the Interest sustained with- out lapse to the end. The acting, aside from trifling details, is extremely good and some of the Incidents for raw power of concep- tion and delivery are almost worthy of Zola himself. Dramatist, director, players and camera man have done their work well, but— Merciful Scenario—watching It is gloomy work for an Indian summer afternoon. THE GIRL AT THE LOCK. "The Girl at the Lock" is a Lubln two- reeler that ranks with the best of the half hour films. The picture is well directed and has a cast that handle the parte well. The camera work has all been done outdoors, amid natural scenery well selected. The film Is a love story with enough tanglea to make It Interesting. A simple girl of the lock country Is in love with a man of her own class, when an artist appears. He wins the girl's heart after painting her pic- ture. The painter is engaged to be married to a wealthy girl, and forced to, when he finds himself without money. The country girl goes to the city to see her picture. The man she thought loved her Informs her of his engagement She rushes from the house and meets her country lover. They make a happy pair. A picture well worth seeing.