Variety (September 1921)

12 PICTURES IfniMj, jBtptombMT 28, 19ZI LORD FAUNTLEROY a»drlc (Uttto Loff4 FauBttoroy), - IIm7 Plekor« IbarMt (hia mother) Mary Plekf*r4 i«ri Derl5covrt C1a«d« Qrt1l tai <i « «»r B«¥la Coltn KnkBj IlavlahHm Joaepk J. Dowllac Mra. McOlntr Kate Price THeH Pred Ifalatesta Hobba Jamaa A. Maroua * ^. . . ^^j^- Ro — Dtp we Itrv. Mnrdnurt Binmett Kln^ lira. lIlgKiiti Mnte. dc Budamere From the noTal of Franeea Htadaaon Pumett: directed by Jack Plekford and Alfred E, Urocn; pcenarlo by Bernard McConvill'e: photosraphed by ChArlea Rot<hi>r; inujiic by Liouta F. Uottacbalk: pretfentatkin by Juaeph Plunkctt. m Offered oa a high-pricod attractioD at tlio Apollo theatre (Sejwyn's) with Mi^s Piokford and Douglas Fairbanks prej<ent at the oprninsf performance, tliiH intoresling pro(iuction was seen \iuder idoal roiiditionH and in the fu- roro of trriuciiilouH enthusiasm, before a society audience, rolice reserves tore tlH'ir way through crowds on the sidrw.'iik before and after the nhuwins:. iis the htars entered and re- ImiihmI between their automobile and tiic t!<i«>arre. Mary and Doug made fiiMoches. ^^he seemed truly nervous. lud he waR undeniably embarrassed. I'ut. to the picture: Strii)ped of any e^trnneoua and ex- traordinary personal factors. "Little T.oi-d Fauntlcroy" is a perfect Pick- ford picture. It exploits the star in final r(deH, one of them one of the iiuDiortal and classic boy parts of all Mines. Miss IMckford shows a range of versatility between the blue-blooded and sombre mother and the blue- blooded but misrhieToas kid, that is almost startling. 8he meets herself many times in double exposures, and fihe is taller than hervelf and different from herself, and incredibly true to fach. A strange and perhaps predominant fartOT is the inflnence of both Jack Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in the fini.shed product of their sister and wife, respectively. Only .Tock could have introduced the Tvlrinisteal and always amoKing touches ■of raw boyishness in the lighting, Krimaelng. Hcheming, lovable kid that Mary Pickfonl again turns out to be, t>ut this time she is more boy than girl: heretofore her eharm in boy parts has been her gUrions girUab- ne.ss: now it is her genuine youthful Tom Sawyer masculinity, a scrapping, two-fisted kid who tears off bis laces ^nd velvets and goes to it with tht dirty.eared roughnecks. At other times Doug's classic pro- pensities are obviously exhibited. She MMMns off high i>erches onto other boy^ backs. f,he wrestles and does trick jiu-jutsuH. she dodges and climbs and leans and tumbles niM] bnn<l-stan(Li. Fauntleroy could scarcely have made a poor picture for any little star, least of all for Mary Pickford. who couldn't make less than a great r>ict»ire of any ordinary story—any- how, she never has within the obser. vn?ion of this amateur fdm reviewer. In this one she is tran.scendant. While Fauntleroy is not sensational, it is a human and appealing story,* and, whereas it may not be Clary's fore- most draw because it lacks any sex or important love interest, it is doubt- ful whether she ever made a finer picture or a more amusing, entertain- ing and charming one. Wliat Fauntleroy mar lack in its punch appeal to the wise, it should make up in Its manifold attraction for the youngsters. It helps to re- store Miss Pickford to the innermost "♦lenrts of sn audience, if she ever left those !»acrod recesses for more thim perhaps an occasional mischcsen sub- feet. ^Nobody can go wrong in booking liittle liord Fauntleroy" in anv honse «t anv prices that any audicnees will pay for any picture. fg^f maimed and halt come to her from the whole countryskto to be cured. But (quotiag the title) "There are men who ao hate puritj they would ■tamp upon a flower and crush a good woman's soul." Thus the rich man puts all other buaiuesa aside and de- rotes himself to persecuting the poor cirl. Unless the will agree to go back to the city with him, he will tell Ike Mvrfd c'Htrr-3*i/a:r..^f::'.-i*a>t. .\^nt the past was and, how he knew it is apparently none of the oudicnce's business. He Just tells the ftlmple country people that "this woman has a past" and they shrink from her. All but one. a companion of the rich vil- lain who promptly knocks him (the villain) down. There is a lot more of aimless narrative culminating when the hero, and the madman from the village meet in combat on a mountain peak and are to fight it out to the death when the hero is saved by the Miracle Girl. Then it suddenly develops that the brave young man who smashed the villain, had a long time ago "wronged" the heroine. So he rei>cnts and they agree to marry. It is such fiction as the cheap magazines buy by the avoirdupois scale at $7.?>0 per 1,000 words. Still the magazines seem (o prosper. If (here's a reading public for this grade of matter, maybe there's a film fan public for it. too. They ran it in -a Columbus circle pic- ture hou9e at the 35-cent scale and there was no indignation among the audience. Rush. BEATING THE GAME "Fancy Charlie** Tore Moor* Nellte Brown Hasel Daly O. B. Lavflon DeWUt C. Jennlnrs Ben Fanchette DIek Roaaoa "Slipper Jone«" Nick Coaley Jvlea Fanchette Tom RMcatta Madame Fanchette Lydla Knott Dank President William Orlamond Anaelleo. his wife..Lydla Tcamana Tltua WORLD AND WOMAN A wierd one. It Kt.irts out on the fallen woman st-ntimental note with a Broadway backing, moves into "so- ciety" atmosphere of a kind, switches for a moment to down east country life, then steols pretty much the whole idea of 'The Mfraclc Man" This is Ooldwyn'a latest release, with Tom Moore as the star. It is a corking comedy drama mere or leas of the rural type aleng Ihe lines of •Turn to the Right" and "The For- tune Hunter,*' but still difterent enough not to conflicf. It has a cork- ing twist at the finish and the sus- pense is maintained through the con- timtity until Ju8^ before the fiufil shot. That usually spells "good picturcf," and that is exactly what "Beating the Game" ia for a regular program pro- duction. Charles Kenyen. one of the Gold- wyn regular staff writers, turned out the story,.and he has fitted Mr. Moore with a role that he enacts to perfec- tion. Victor Scfaertzinger directed the production and got all that could be had from the story. Mr. Moore at the opening Is a sec- ond-story worker in New York. He breaks into a place and after cleaning ui» runs a<n*osK a kit of burglar tools. He believes that he his turned a trick on a brother cracksman and empties his pockets. All the while he*a been working he has been under the eye ot the owner of the establislimen. who stakes him to tl.C^. directs him to a small town, and says that at the end of six months he will show up there, and if Moore hns managed to estab- lish a reputation for honesty in that Hme thev ^ill both be in a position to 'clean up.'* Moore is sn-vosuful bevond his wilrt est dreams. The townsfolk are about to nominate ,him for Mayor, and in '>ddition he has fallen in love. The latter is the reason that he has deter- mined to go straight, and when the «»npposed cracksman from New York shows no rnd is renr'v to operate, he turns him down. Then it develop^ that his benefar-tor is rosily a State Senator, owns half of the town ami 's a crank on criminologv. Of course, he ha.i nut the boy he is experiment- ing ^ with Ihrouirh various tests, and finding him strong enough to "go through" with them all. he is willing *.-> back him to (he limit. There are manv little touches ♦hrough the story that help along in mnking the picture one well worth and ends up with a happy reunion of Invors in a labored climax. The .star is .Teanue Kaglcs. whose frniiiinK ought to have warned her to lay off this Kort of stuff and Cnndler Pi< lures stauds sponsors for the pro- duclion. Miss Eagles first cornea into view on a thoroughfare which a title milicif.'s is Hroadway. although the haiURTfHinds F^iippent nothing of the sort. There is a party poing on with in a gaudy cabaret and one of the men through a window beckons the girl to join the i»arly. It npi>ears that this diner has n country plnee and the IxMispkeeper has M^^ked him to sen<l a nt;iid. He ofTers the i(>l» to the girl a?i»l she- her namo is Marv—(ake.s it. When tlio n-vellev himself p<>fs to the r.Mintry house, he promptly makes advances to Mary and when Klfe repulscH him. roughs her up. She waiwlerK away to the home of kindly country people nearby and is warmly r<v'eived. The natives are hav- ing a party and the little girl of the household falls down stairs, sustain- ing irviuries which threaten her life. Hut Mary, who has been purged of sin bv suffering, is inspired to prnv for the child's recovery ami her faith works the miracle. This Incident sets ^/.Tro..* »!..» tu^ ^ ^ L hile. Hazel Dalv. who plavs oppo- l!:^''J!.^i^*A ^^^r'^^r '« « «'"ninn)f .;,^ Moore. Is a n,te Ingenue lead, and Miswers nil neods of the story to per feetion. DeWitt C. .Tennines plnvs ♦ he benefactor cleverly, while Niek Cogley is a corking old cr.>ok. but '•evertheo'ss a l«»vai»lr» one. Diek Uossnn nlnvR the heavy, doing very ■veil with what i.s little more thnn a '''^- Fred. into the water and has a punch n . , . , ^ , „ seeond with gunplay ralore. a kill Mary up m the miracle business. Tht iog or two or three and eventual ea FIGHTING STRANGER A Panvon Picturo featnricg Frank- Ivn rarnuin ia offered as half of a dotihle f«»atMre at the New York. Tt is one of those elemental melodrimns whifh have as their rhicf and onlv virtue a chain of swift action epi- "odes the more vitdent and spectacu- lar thp hotter. "The Fighting Stranirer'* fulfils ♦'tis reonirement ahtindnntly. The blood and thunder in^idenlR* erowd npon each other's he#»ln. The picture beelns with an elaborate ehase In- volving the robbers of n bank and the pursuit of a dozen nolieemen aft- or as tn.nny thieve*. The course run«» over housetops, along the docks and cape of the outlaws Ib a captured speed beat However, thia ia onlj a foretaste. After that the scene chanfes to the west and marine adventure gires place to hard riding, rope-throwing and the rest of the cowboy incident- tala. Nobody rests for a moment and events happen as frequentlj (and with about as much plausibiHty) as in a chanter of a wild serial. Restraint In inventing situations is thrown to the winds. The villain puts tlie heroine's automobile out of gear so that it "runs away" without brakes down a steep mountain road and the hero saves her by hanging himself by his knees from a tree over the road and catching her up as she whizzes by. Another villain lassoos her as she is galloping by and drops her over a precipice at the end of the rop^ while he stands at the brink and hurls rocks at her. The hero, who is in reality a detective posing for his owfk purposes as a leader of outlaws, first lassoos the Tillain, then goes across the chasm on his own lariat hand over hand and saves the distressed girl. Those two are merely samples. There are a score of Kpectncular "stunts" of equal excitement and they all go to making up of a story which should be interesti£ig entertainment for the sort of audiences that like this sort of thing. The picture is a crude dime novel grade of fiction, but it does not make pretension to be anything else and is offered frankly for just what it ia. As a production in thia daas it is well done. It is straightaway melodrama and accompUslies its purpose of de- livering a heroic thrill. These films have their field and their standards and are to be judged by their apec- tacular function. When they are well done, as this one is, they deserve credit. The objectionable picture, aside from ethics involved, is that which makes high pretense of Intel* lectual appeal and then descends to cheap theatricalism. "The Fighting Stranger" offers wholesome, simple romance and its action takes place in fine scenic mountain surroundings. The photog- raphy is excellent. The story has to do with the railroading of an inno- cent man by a rich and predatory blackguard and the efforts of his friends to secure bis release from nrison. The villain seeks to marry the victim's daughter and the rough and ready detective employed to free the fatlv£f falls in love with the daughter (although he seems to be working against her) and thus a thread of romance is woven into the ladiea are net hag aunta at fO. So she returas gUdly to her ow« fishes folk and marries the ja—1 secman. WHERE MEN ARE MEN THE ROWDY Made by Universal from the Satur- day Evening Post storj. "The Ark Angel," with Gladys Walton starred. Jack Cunningham wrote the scenario. It is an interesting little romantic comedy with picturesque settings in a fishing village. ~ Some good com- edy charncter relations give a certain agreeable flavor to the story and the whole thing is far and away above the Universal aversige for taste and intelligence. Miss Wmton. as the tomboy pro- tege of an old lighthouse keeper, gives an amusing performance and does perticularly well in the several passages where dramatic force is demande<l. She has freshness of yotith and a natural style of acting that registers clearly on the screen. The supporting comptny is excellent in an even way none too common in the output of this maufacturer. In the catch-as-catch-can wav of getting film data is thrown on the screen the names of the leading man and several supporting characters were lost although they deserve men- tion. In like manner the direction has been handled in workmanlike stvle with several caoital treks of light and shadow and the dramatic snp- prises are effective. The story has to do with a babv cast up on the liglithouse beach and adopted by the lighthouse keeper and his wife. The child grows np among fisher folk, a rollicking tombov. In behalf of a sorrowing wife Kit, as she is called, adventures into the cabin of one of the fishing fleet and breaks up a gambling game in which th* husband is losing his earrings. The young man. owner of the boat, seizes her and is about to hold her captive. The girl pleads for a sport- ing chance and the gambler agrees that she may load one chamber of his revolver. She may pull the trlg- per twice and if he escapes, she may po free. Instead the girl points the revolver to her own r<»mpTe and the rambler admits himself defeated. 11^ thereupon falls in love with the brave heroine. At this point two rich women ap- near and claim the girl as their niece. They take her away to their lux- urious home across the bav to bring her up in a style appropriate to her new condition. The pirl finds the stiff, conventional society people un- congenial as compared to the more sincere folk of the village and con- stantly returns to the scenes of her childhood. In a trip back from the fishing fleet she is made captive by a young man in th'' cabin of his cruising boat and is only resened bv the promnt arrival of the young fisherman who loves her. There are some first- »-ate sea storms in this passage and a fme fight as a dramatic climax. In the end it turna out that the two eld Vic roster flfiiwn ••■•••■ Frank Valone. "DTitch" Monahaa Laara Valona K. C. Cavendlab... SlierifT Ortmaa Mike Revaa Monty Green • ••••••••• William Deeean fldtt* Johnson Oeorso ataaley - Ti*rti^MSiM!>B ...Gertrude Aator .. Harry Lonsdale .. .Georgo Kankel ..William MoCaU , ..Charlea Dudley A Vitagraph production adapted for the screen by Thomas Dison. Jr., from the story "The Princess of the Desert Dream," by Ralph, Cummins. William Duncan is the s|ar«al80 cred- ited with the direction. The story is of the west. The locaXe being ths miuing country. Vic Foster (Dun- can) is accused of killing (i<s partner to secure his poke. To clear hia name he endeavors to loe&te the real culiiriL This brings him into con- tact with the cabaret star of a min- ing camp saloon. NotbiQg is knovvn of the girl other than she is strictly on^ the level. A friends'aip springs up' between the two Foster aiding her to leave the place when she is threat- ened bv the proprietor. She goes to a neighboritag camp where he visits her after having been run o«t of the other settlement for bfatinf up the saloon man who had dni^ved him and stolen the deed to his pnine. The girl proves to be the daughter of hia dead partner masquerading under an asaumed aame in order to locate h%r father's murderer. To clear up the mystery it turns out that the saloon owner la the mur- derer which brints about bis justified ptmishment and the serene finish for Foster and the girl. For a wsstera picture this hi^com- paratively iatereating. The general flood of pictures of this order has been noticeable of late in tbe cheaper hoases. The old style melodramatic idea appears to bold a certain appeal for the middle class of picture goers. Vitsgraph haa outdistanced a number of the others with this production. Its story has sufficient interest to gain recognition. Duncan works ex- tremely hard as a star and convinc- ingly brings out bis story in the di- recting. Edith Johnson, playing the leading female role, does some con- vincing work with the remainder of the cast largely made up of types. The production end has not been made costly through the action tak- ing place ia the open. The picture can oe sold at a price at which it should bring returns.. WESTERN HEARTS Cliff Smith produced "Western tlearts,** a typiciu cow1>oy drama, re- leased through Associated Pictures, with the New York rights held by Commonwealth. Smith also did the directing and is credited with co-au. thorship with Alvin J. Neita. In addition to the customary thrills for a picture of this nature, "Western Hearts" presents a story in which several unusual anglea are developed. The theme is interesting and holds the attention without too much spec- tacular riding and holdups. It is true the production has its share of this sort of business but does not rely on it entirely. The scenes sre laid on a cattle ranch. The foreman falls in love with an eastern girl visitor. The owner's niece loves him and en- deavors to keep liim from the other girl. Aiter the tatter's departure she holds up tbe letters of the two, giv- ing the impression that neither one is sincere. This causes the chap to leave the ranch with the trouble maker marrying his miccessor ss foreman, she remaining in hiding and writing to her uncle that she has married tbe foreman who resigned. The eastern girl's fsther buys the ranch and, accompanied by his daugh- ter, makes his home there. I.'pon his arrivsl he is Informed that his daughter's former sweetheart had fone off and married the other girl, 'he man in question goes into the government service and Is sent to the ranch to round up a band of cattle rustlers. There he meets the girl of his choice and manages to clear himself. The husband of the other girl in the meantime is robbing the owner of his csttle. In order to escape he forces his wife to come in contact with the other man while his sweet, heart is present, giving the impres- sion that he is married to her. This causes further complications that are straightened out after several mixups with the rustlers ond n general clean- ing up of the entire affair. The in- evitable serene ending follows promptly. It is almost entirely an outdoor picture. The ranch scenes in most instances are interesting, the director going a bit further with his work in picking interesting 'Bide bits. The cast includes Art Straton. Jo.sle Sedgewick, Haiel Hart. Flovd Tnlmferro. Edward Moncrief and Rert Wilson. All display a<laptablUtv to picture work of this order. A good cowboy picture. often by himself on the stage, mlw%^ a characterisation that has manv highlights, and the lack of some photodramatie subtleties will probab- lly be overlooked by most audiencea The > » are a big feature. The picture rana about aevea reds and is generally free from padding Beautiful country sides, wind-to.ssed hill-aldfa, shady lanes and the rest nrs all photoaraphed excellently, but ^VlTtT'Tjascelle, (he producer, has made the mistake of (»mitting even a gUmpse of the Hudson River. In this picture, th^. sncient hamlet of Katt- skill is an inland town which is a shame considering the fact that the spirit of Hendrici Hudson hung very closely over the Washington Irving classic. The story of the drunken repro- bate who fell asleep on a stormy night and awoke 20 years later, had been faithfully done. The i;:. ver- sion has been religiously adhered to, much too much so at times. A touch of slapstick comedy has been added, but it does not add to the effect. The scenes akowing Hip be- ing chas* i by the bear, !?'?> <'!»"hing the rabbit. Mrs. Rip being chased b^ a bu'l and several others are rather out of the spirit of the picture. On the other hand, the storm acenes. except for a very hose-like intensity of the downpour, were ex- cellently done. Tbe village Hcenes were realistic, and especially in the latter part, there were some oxeel« lent touches of atmosphere of the by- l[pne dfy in shots of old houses, quiHi streets and lazy, pleasant lookiof tnns. The best acting was by little Gladys Messtnger as Meenie, ^(inna Davenport as Qretchen and Max Ascher as tfie inn-keeper. Some of the sctors and actresses were in- clined to overact, but as the who'e tenor of the prodnction was a bit ex- aggerated, the acting was not out of place. 'This picture is being run here as a biff special at the Academy of Music. It seems in that auditorium a bit out of place, but it is sure to be a popular picture with the mssseg and ought to go great in smaller places. HER WINNING WAY This Ilealsrt production first ob- tained recognition as a novel and later ns a play, now it is on ths screen serving as starring vehicle for Mary Miles Minter. It is a pleasing little picture, but as one sits through it there comes the natural conjecture as to just how Rrcat a picture It would have been had Constance Talm- adge. instead off Miss Minter played tbe lead. Not ' - ise Miss v; r-r' does not fulfill the role within certain limitations, but just how much more Miss TaKnadge would have drawn from' the comedy situations. *Mi8S Mhiter plays the youthful book critic who tnes to secure an interview from the author of books on women, with a certain amount of dssh that is certain to entertain. The story itself is prefaced by a South Sea Island touch that Is amus- ing. It shows an Island where the women have tbe right of courtship and they go after the boys in the most approved cnvewoman style. It then states that her more edu. rated sister cannot employ the sane methods but nevertheless she is the pursuer of man today. The young author-hero of this picture has bten writing many works on women. He hss a dotinc mother and mother has 8 girl all picked out for him. Then the little book reviewer steps into the works. The author has refused to be interviewed by her. so she takes an apartment in the same building. coincidence puts her in possession of a card from an employment agency which is left in the author's ;»p:ii.' ment by an ai>plicant f«*r the position of housekeeper. She makes use of the curd and steps in on the job. From that point on she decides to win the author for herself and she mnnouevers events in such fashion as to break off his engagement to the short haired dame that moramer has picked and then it is easy sail-^ ing for he has roitnaged to slip the youngster a thrill or two while she was around the flat as maid of all work. He learns just who she is before the final clinch and orders her out but when he conges back that night he finds her stretched out on his couch. covered just below tbe shouhlers, with the suggestion that she is appnrelless umler the rug covering her. Of course, this is not .so, it is just a very decollette eve- ning gown, and the sap falls for her. hook, line and sinker. However, it looks as thought the director, Joseph Ilenabery, was tr.v- ing to suggest to the girls that if .vou want to cop n guy. all you have to do is to sneak into his apartment and let him find you seemingly un- dressed on his couch when he comes home late nt night. Frcd. ^ ifi RIP VAN WINKLE Philadelphia. Sept. 14. This ce luloid version of a famous stage success will undoubtedly be a popular picture. That it is not a I more artisti<? picture besides is a I shame considerinf the traditions which go wUh it Thomas Jefferson In the role made famena by his father wui flayed I DO A Harold Lloyd comic, at the Capi- tol this week. It's of the cfjmedlsn becoming a married man. inviting some small relatives, one a boy o"^ one a baby to his home, the eiisuiSK censequences. claused mostly by ♦■* mischievous youngster, and the coin* edy results. fiime.