Variety (April 1920)

•:^-^-^^^'r-^»:H' M MOVING PICTURES r FILM REVIEWS iJS T". 6-: -" W'. !*;= .i'A '•■■ )»«■ ■■■■■ *-■■■■■.' fe-- ^v 1^ at.- w?.. , lOFT EVEE WAERX J9» *6ttwi>i».'.;.'..,.Mii..'.V;;.Mi»tt Mooiw norotu* JVhyan ..,41...;,. ;Wfrjotl* Daw 5?'<"»5L^i""''■:.•.•«..w.-jyTTom (Julsa Mr* JWiyna.. ,. .'.l^.Ad'c'W PartkKton JJf. Djw-.; >. .'..Thoitiaa JMenwii. ■ Jr. St' '^'Cf •■"••*•'••■ (Waymt KeiM 9*H»i« Pow. t.'..t..4.-..i,-..6iU]r Boirton Mjrr» Oiajr.... .........,',. .C»r|sUne Mayo John Sttterly.........:.. .Herbert SUndlng BUI nelAiDv ...»;.;,;,..,..;,.Davis Butler Bell Hop. ■....j.,.k»...We«Ioy IWrry HouM pcit)ecUve.;.k ........Tom WiUon This FU-st National feature is Bcoro .one for th'e abtor, because half ita success is due to the amazingly convincing performance given by Tom Guise as the choleric Colonel Wbynn. The meddling old idiot is always tlireatening to kill some one. but Silr. Guise malces the part seem reaL It would tiave talcen an ex- pert not to have oVerdone the role and made it seem farcical. The suc- cess of tlve picture depended on not doing so,'^nd the picture is a auc- cesa and another rose in the button- bole of Marsliall Neilan, who cer- tainly gets movement into whatever he does. Comedy all "the way througji, if not farce, the chief ipoint against It is Its length. , It could bar* been: shorter to better effect, but the ever chahntng Marjerie }5aw, Matt Moore (a brother of Tom and Owen and a good trooper), the kid actor, Wesley Barry, and an ex- cellent cast keep the Interest keyed up. It should clean up the whole market, for it lias a broad interest which does not hurt even for flrst- clasa houses. At the Strand here it 'went like a bresze. Both the beginning aiid ending are imlqye. The titling in between > . is sharp and pointed and helps. For a starter Mr. Neilan has a sight- seeing bus with a bomedy shouter and a comedy crew of passengers. To drown out the conversation the chauffeur stuffs his.ears with cotton waste, and pretty* soon we reach Colonel Whynn's residence. We've already been told about the Colonel. He^ the kind that likes the amell of warm, gurgly blood, and he's* against the marriage of his daugh- ter to the hero. This is the set for alt the complications which come with a hum and cart in laughs wholesale. The flnal close-up are' kisses screened by a train's dive into and out of a tunnel. heei, A MODERir SALOME. . TiM B07 Billy RtaodW ni« Oirl Jean Merode A Mfdieval Princess '.Cota Mayo Ab Eeyl)Uan Maiden Bstelle HcNeal A Qiva airl Betty Braon A brand new filna star burst forth upon the metropolitan ^public Sun- day at the Broadway in the person of Hox>e Hampton, with a photo- play entitled "A Modem Salome," suggested by Oscar Wilde's "Sa- lome." As a screen vehicle it is un- satisfactory in many respects, but the main interest centers about the personality .of the new *tar. Un- questionably a beautiful young girl, it la stHl undetermined how good an actress she is. "A Modern Sa- lome" gives her no suitable oppor- tunities for the display of any hjs- - trionlc art, pos^bly for the reason tliat the lighting effects or make-up are aWry and the facial expressions are more or less dimmed or indis- tinct. As a story "A Modem Salome" seems to be a home-made product. It is, directed by Leonce Ferret and there is every indication he con? cocted the plot from a number of other photoplay scenarios and blended them into one patchwork. Again the picture is rather Jerkily cut, which makes it difficult, espe- cially in .the early scenes, to get a perfectly clear idea of the story. ■ Once more, it .is a very bad story for the initial presentation of a new star nuiking a bid for public ap- proval, in that it shows her as a cruel, selflsh young woman who sac- rifices the life of a man to save herself from a ticklish situation. She redeems herself in the end, but it, nevertheless, leaves an antago- nistic feeling in the mind of the spectator. As a production it Is a gorgeous ajfair, but the main point to be de- termined for the trade is—how good a screen actress la Miss Hampton? Can Judge better with her next at- tempt, loin. fe': TEE GIFT SUFSEUE. Bradford Vinton..... Bernard Dumtnt; Bllot Vinton...........Melbourne McDowoU Martha Vinton Bugenia Besserer Sylvia Alden.... Seena Owen Irvln«^ Stag; Tully Marshall Memey Stags Lon Chnney Rev. Ebenezor Bo^gs Jack Curtis Dopey Dan Dick Morris Mrs. Wesson Anna DodRe Lalla Graun Claire McDowoU This la a C. R. Macauley produc- tion, adapted from George Allan England's book, directed by Ollle li. Sellers, locally released by Republic Pictures, foreign rights controlled by the Inter-Ocean Film Corporation, at whose projection room the trade press reprosentatlves viewed ' the production. While "old stuff' in the main, without any distinguishing high lights either in production, handling or cast, it is interesting. That bro- mide of a would-be author, finan- cially well fixed but desirous of see- ing the world first hand, eventually falling in love with a pretty mission worker during his quest for "local color^ in the slums has seen service time and again. The closeups and studies of the various types, further •zaggerated for ncUonal values, is sure-fire stuff on the screen. The slums and crookdom are naturally synonomous, and human n&tu^e likes a play or: |itory of the crook genre, \ \\ ''. The productioh l9 in ^six reels and runs a trifle too' longi rlt is pre- sented ;with a special cast number- ing jsuch. artists as Bernard Durning, Seena; .Owen, Tully Marshall and Lon Chat^ey. Sitrnlng is a ."coiKier," and much is expected of him in the near fu- ture. He makes a handsome lead, is of athletic physique and registers well in serious moments. Miss Owen handled the female lead role with quiet restraint and did a con- vincing characterization. Of the character actors Chaney takes all honors with Tully Marshall, of course, doing a small role in excel- lent fashion. The balance of the cast Is acceptable, although the male heavy (McDowell) is too stilted 1j his portrayaL He haS been doing 90 many heavy JowWd banker roles and crooked politician types—^if memory serves aright—that he does not quite fit in' on the loving sire end of it. , "■ . : i, One or t^o little Incongruities crop up in the course of the plot de- velopment. One Is where the husky neighborhood bruiser reforms too easily after being licked by the hero, Another is where the hero's mother is seen sitting indoors all dressed for the street. In fur csp« and hat. etc., when the reformed bruiser comes to tnfoi^- the i>areiits of their son's critical condition in the hospitaL No indication of VSf. Vinton's Intention to go-ont Is shown, her spouse as a matter of fact, being hatless and coatlesfl, eltUng at the table when the noisy fracas with ths butler which pt-eceded the ex-bounce^s en- trance brought them'to their feet 1\i!t title is derived; from the situ- ation wheris oux; heroine, who has been lost slgtit of for the nonce turns up as nurse in the hospital Into which our hero is Removed fol- lowing an attempted assassination by a revengeful ganster. Sylvia does the life-saving stunt in offering her- self for blood transfusion hence the "supreme gift." A FOOL AND HIS UONET. Pictures that prove as banal as "A Fool and His Money" deserve no thanks for their making and only emphasize the weakness oif the in- dustry to a greater degree. Robert £111^ the dhrector, shows poor Judg- ment &nd a inost decided lack of balance and proportion when be pemiits Several thousand fe6t of iilni to unfold and offers no action. No action at all until the clash be- tween bis hero and villain. By that time any audience may be expected to exhaust thefir, patience in expec- tation of cumulative interest. The latter objective, of course, should be the one and only object, if'hbthlbg more, in picture making. , The picture sn it stands shows nothing of the forcefulnesai and characterization of George Barr Mc- Cutcheon's story from -which the feature is adapted in a scenario by Ella Stuart Carson. It Is fallacious to exploit snch pic- tures, because ultimately they do not enhance either the name of the producer—in this instance it is Solzniclc—and it is equally a fal- lacy in foisting them on the un- aware public. "A Fool and His Money," apart from its weaknesses^ is overbalanced by a fitness In a background, such as Interiors and exteriors, that docs much to alter a perennial tcdlousncss. The exteriors ^ were ' taken very probably on this side of the St. Lawrence River and Canada, and the locale' represented is Switzer- land, right across the border. There is a suggestion, highly deceptive, of that same border when a German train, with the imperial eagle im- printed, passed on. The station, too, carries a suggestion of the real Europe, with a sign in German flashing the customary "Bekahtma- chung." The intmors of a castle made in the Selznick Fort Lee stu- dios belle it is Jersey. Its entire situation in plot Is based on a young American author of the best sellers, who, wishing a respite and looking for the quietude of an European castle In the pre-war days, takes over such a resort in the niounUIns. servants et ai coFP oealedjB^,th|;8am* castle Uthall divorcod'Amerlcui wife of a «nJ2*P thrift nobleman Snd thSlr 3-*yS* daughter, whom she has kldrSif the European law granting u,,^?' vorce but giving the custody 0? & chid o its father. He shTeWs h^' helps her to escape over the bawi^ nto Italy, and the finale, naturajP Is the embrace between hero aSI heroine. *"* 1 "VVhere the picture strikes a ewi^ ulnb note of Interest, and, siSSr^K larly enough, Is the only epi3i I that te emotionally sustalnin?"* J curs In the tension between hflflii* S characters .who feel that they wZi I ^^l** ."^^f'x''".* <iox^\.xtA themseltSi % sufficiently to forego any closer Ir^ ' tachment than her permlttlns him \ to caress her left hand with hkii lips. That sort of thing la well dona* i the world over, and that it shoiM I here be a reflection of somethingln] I life emulated as characteristitaiiv"' I warrants commendation. It is vi^«' % Idly enacted ■ between Eukba'^ % O'Brien and Miss Rubye de Rem!*' ^ In directing the villain to sntei i three times round before fallS i after clashing with tire hero, M?i \ Ellis didn't figure on a New York" -^ audience getting a shrieking lauah out of the scene. The feature has a number of sub. ■ordinate parts, that of servants, etc*' i One is Erick F. Erricks. a citlwi' ? of Sweden until' six months ago. He ■ has ability and is worth watch'aig.- fifcp. ', yiiiiiiiiiiii IIIPH^^^^^ Beautiful ^s the dazzling star of HOPE HAMPTON ^ ''A Modem Salome*^ ^ I Broadway ITiOBLtre Broaght the 5. It O, sign onf atB,S,Mou^ - '.I'l, Herti'M wh<A seiMtvi of tkt new$p.apers said: "Hope Hampton's beauty wins her audiene»—It msnlfetted • ganuins interest in this hewn screen luminary. As th* Irlah sayt 'shs has s way with her.'"—The Morning! Telegraph. *'Hopa Hampton ahovrad rmil ehann, imagination and screen magnstiam."— n;. . T. Olobew "Miss Hampton Is not only s|ood to look at, but aha can act as well.''—N, T. Eve. MalL The whole production Is wondorful In its coloring, intentsty interesting in ita atory and powerful in ita ieaaon."—Washington Post. / THE HOPE HAMPTON PRIZE CONTEST ■ yriiiU $3,000.00 in cash prizes wins the public interest. ^. The star and the' picture cement its approval. DIatributad through MeTRO. Miss Hampton's Succeeding Pictures Will Even Exceed "A MODERN SALOME" ',. V,-.\Vl';VJ'>iv ...■;'-«.-«-,.:-,^ "AMiM^Miii^i^^^ ^^ -•^■■;,. iy?^f*iM^ffli^Mir?^Mtf ^