The Billboard (1920)

-■ •'-■: LvgHSfadST <Mm 44 Mm* i COME ON IN. A comedy, o£ uuiisimBiit before the draft, with truest Truex uud Bbirley Mason starred. There are laugns in the picture aud In the caytioiiB. Mot many, but some of the laughs are real hearty ones. Especially is that so when Mr. Truex is rejected through his size, tie is one-halt inch short, tioft inches In height instead ot 01. Despondent and on the way to the river to destroy himself, he bumps into a German. Angered, the Dutchman hits the little fellow over the head, breaking a bottle. With the bump raised by the' bottle, Truex rushes to another recruiting station, passing, his height raised by the bump to 01 inches. There are other comedy points, mostly extravagant ones, burlesque or grotesque, as you may see them, written into the scenario by John Emerson and Anita Juoo*. The him tells Bow Truex was advanced to a sergeantvy and later to a lieutenancy when he rescued the colonel ol his regiment, who was the uncle of his girl. The colonel had been snared by t> band of German spies, one of whom was in Truex's company and also in love with bis girl. The spy married the girl, but her hus- band was arrested while starting on their honeymoon to Atlantic City. Truex did that, after saving the colonel, it's a comedy film, built to tit Truex and his stature, ft does both and Is mildly amusing., Truex Is called "Eddie" in the picture, but as none of the captions ever say "Very good, Eddie," that may be overlooked. But the captions have a large portion of the tun burden. Were the comedy story more legitimate and less trav- esty, it might have been better. "Come On In" (though a poor title) is a good first try for Truex. He would be a worth while as a him comedian with proper material. "Come On in" merely makes you long for the next one, to see if Truex is really mere or a false alarm, lor there Is no telling which in this feature. Miss Mason doesnt figure. She's Just billed as her importance. Sime. M O VIN G PIC T U THE WHITE LIE. Dorothy Kingsiey Ueasie Barrlscale Mary jane Mary Jane Irving Ooruon mngsiey utfward Coxen Frank Mason Charles Gunn Dorothy Kingsley tells what is termed a white iie wneu she tolls her husband that be is tue lather of a chjiu to which he bears not the slightest raauou&mp. it is some ho. Hut things are not quite • so shocking as might be supposed, i ne name ot tue picture in which Goruon hJugsiey rocks anotner man's child is "lhe Wane Die," and Destiie Darriscale plays iiorouiy Kingsley, the young woman wuo tens tue uaiuu untruth. Drunk Mason cans on i/orothy during her husoand's auseuve, ana troin their conversa- tion it is learned that Mary Jane, tue inxant aauguter, is Masons chad. Kingsley returns home soon alter and teas his wile that he has oroered a man named Frank Mason to draw piaus lor ttteir new home. Dorothy registers guilt so completely that only a blind man coma tall to notice it, Drank comes to aiuuer and both he and Dorothy behaves as if tuey were trying to tell Uuruon the truth in pantomime. The climax comes when Dorotuy sups Frank a note telling him she must see mm, and that she will come at once to his apartment, ane goes, but someone has been there ahead of her. Frank, it seems, is a reiormed crook, and when Borne of his former cronies are caught turning a trick one ot them enters his apartment, thinking he has "squealed," and stabs him in the back. Gordon, suspecting something wrong, follows his wile, arriving beiore her. Detectives had him :• bendiug over the dead man . Then Dorothy arrives, while the others hide in an adjoining room. Fut through the "third de- gree," she hnaiiy tells one ot the men that the dead man had been a school friend, that during her husband's absence In Europe she had round him breaking into her house, that she had reiormed him and helped him and Ills' Wife, and when the latter died she bad adopted the child and passed it on to her husband as her own, as she is unable to have any. She is allowed to go home and b«r husband, quite reconciled, follows when the man who com- mitted the murder is captured aud has con- fessed. •- The characters in the picture are as well played as could be expected, considering how overdrawn and very improbable the whole thing is. As far as popular Interest Is on- cerned "The White Lie" should be a suc- cess, and that is the main thing. THE APPEARANCE OF EVIL Ma Ida Brown June Blvidge Louis Letchworth Frank Mayo Gordon Brown Douglas Redmond, Jr. Harold Brown Oeorge MacQuarrie Miss Spurgeon Nora Cecil Stele Qulmby Inez Marcel In this World feature, shown privately, June Blvidge, the star, is seen to advantage in a congenial part and in a picture that is interesting, original and well told. It Is the story of Maida Brown, who comes to Bayport, a small suburb, with her small son and take* a house. Louis Letchworth pays frequent week-end ■ visits ''torMatdir and "the two make such elab- orate and unending love that the servants and the whole village are scandalized.- From their remarks, In the sub-titles, the spectator knows that the two are married, but the •villagers don't. Maida'i reason for wishing to keep the state of affairs a secret la the face of eo much that Is unpleasant Is for a time Inexplicable. .,jb?!i!5. *?" borrowed, through his lawyer, $100,000 from a mysterious benefactor to promote an aeroplane factory. The scheme Is a huge success and he is soon able to repay the money.. It Is made plain early in the picture that Maida herself loaned the money. If this were not shown quite so soon there would be an opportunity for a stronger denouement to the story. By the terms of her late husband's will Malda will lose her entire Inheritance if she marries again. When asked if she Is mar- ried to Letchworth she denies It. Then her husband's family threaten to take away her child on the ground that she Is unfit to bring him up. So Malda confesses her mar- - rings. But there are no proofs. They were married In Belgium soon after the Invasion and destroyed their certificate for reasons of safety. The only witness was an old sacristan with a beard and a scar on his • face. Louis sketches him from memory.. *k '? known that there are some newly arrived, Belgian refugees In New Tork. Sud- denly Louis' lawyer appears with the very old sacristan. He swears to the marriage and Maida Is given her proper legal status. It appears that she has kept her marriage a secret to draw the money from her late husband's estate to finance ner present hus- band's scheme. But now be Is able to pay that back. Then the lawyer brings In the old witness and slowly pulls off beard, mous- tache and scar. It was all clever make-up, the man being an old time character actor who has never seen Belgium. But nobody Is the wiser. In addition to June Blvidge, Frank Mayo and Clay Clement,. Jr., are good In the prin- cipal male roles, while deserving of special praise Is each and every one of the different types of villagers. The direction Is good, and the whole picture, if far-fetched, decidedly amusing. A feature ot J. Stuart Blackton's picture, "The Common Cause," now being filmed under the auspices of the British-Canadian Recruit- ing Mission for distribution by Vltagrapn, will be the British tank "Britannia." The tank, which will be seen in action in several scenes, was operated for the picture by Capt. Richard Halg of the British Army, who was in service with the "Britannia." W////s*0%&% &% . i ff == ■ e Vg *V, H S BT?ESSL.E1^** 0r\c Motion Picture Indus ism THE Motion Picture Industry has pledged itself to sell One Billion Dol- lars' Worth of Liberty Bonds of the Fourth Issue. Stars, directors, executives, scenario writers, camera men, and all others have done much in making and exploiting pictures advertising the Loan. To me exhibitor comes me greatest opportunity and the greatest honor. His contribution towards the winning of the war can be greater, almost, than that of any other class, except the actual fighting men. Others can only buy Liberty Bonds, but he can sell them. The Industry has been de- clared essential. Here is our chance to prove that it is essential, and to keep it so; Every exhibitor in America is going to help to the utmost. Here is what he must do: Thirty-seven stars have made special motion pictures for the Loan. The names of these pictures and the exchanges at which they can be secured free are listed below. Book one of these pictures for every day during the drive. Secure subscription blanks for Liberty Bonds from your local Federal Reserve Board. Take subscriptions in your theatre. Then—this is essential—report the amount of Bonds sold to the Committee under- sighed, on blanks provided for this purpose and supplied by your exchange. Exery exhibitor must do all these things. It is his patriotic duty to do them. The Industry Depends on Him To Do Them. The Govern- ment Depends on Him To Do Them! Committee on Co-operation with the 3 United States Treasury Department 1 Adolph Zukor, Chairman Walter W. Irwin George K. Spoor :Maraus-Loew ^~-- J. £. Brulatour Al Lichtman, Manager of Distribution John C. FUnn, Director of Publicity 485 Fifth Avenue, New; York' ™wmiintiiiiiingiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiiihiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimmiiiiimiiiiiiimm &ik:l