Variety (December 1921)

priday, DecetfBW % WW r~»r PICTURES 44 BONNIE BRIER BUSH F***; ■'! 'IWichael Langhorne Burton ** X °5 SiwJ .. • -. • Mrs. Hayden-Coffln gjlRlSm MacClure..HumberUon Wright a screen rersion of Ian Mac- on's famous- itory adapted from JSf nlava from the same source by ^jT y McArthur and Augustus ihomas and done by Famous Play- i* TLaaky British Productions, Ltd., ISdirtns direction of Donald Crisp, iTanotbsr admirable production in ft/^Srvein of sincerity as that ifharScotch tale. "Tommy and ahmI H and on the showing of its ?£ftlni day at the Rivoli last Sun- Sar likely to meet the same sort of lukewarm reception. Sunday eve- J3nr with weather conditions all \ wnSnat attendance, the theatre was ' STthan half filled at the early -how Business in the other houses waa off, but not to the same extent. The State, for example, with "The Sheik," drew sturdily. Here Is a situation that seems to tvDify the artistic standards of film fans. "The Sheik," probably as trashy a screen story as has been screened by a representative pro- ducer in half a year, attracts -them to the box office, and a screening of one of the tenderest and most beautiful idyllic tales in modern flc- 2S 05 USSStlt « £od &v! I distinction Noah Beer, and Ed xsm*, *~» v » . war< i Martlndale were easily the outstanding characters, and the former especially seemed to walk^ away with the honors. If the rental price Is right the picture will Ao for the houses that do not play productions a full week. This is scarcely a feature of suffi- cient calibre for a full week's run. Fred. usual or compelling from the box office standpoint. "The Calf of the North** Is based on the Stewart Edward White story, "Conjurer's House," which was adapted as a play by Oeorge Broad- hurst. Jack Cunningham adapted the story to the screen and Joseph Henabery directed. There is a brief prolog, showing the manner in which the factors of the Hudson Bay Co. were wont to treat the trade Invaders of their territory. They were usually at- tacked somewhere in the uncharted wilds a*id left without food or means of reaching the settlements. Usually they welcomed death when It over- took them in the snow wastes. In such manner did the father of the hero meet his end, and years later the son, following out an oath which he swore at the time he heard of his father's death, is also a free trader in the wilds trying to track down his father's murderer. He is also taken in hand by the chief official of the H. B. Co., the same man who caused his dad to be sent into the beyond, but in the case of the younger man a love affair develops between him and the factor's daughter, and the girl is the final means in saving him. Interesting in a mild way, but in the main weak when compared to other northwest thrillers. Jack Holt plays the young hero. Madge Bellamy, who played the ingenue lead opposite the star, had little to recommend her for that THE LOTUS EATERS Jacques Lenol •• John Barrymora Mavis Colleen Moore Madge Vanoe Anna Q. Nllason Mrs. Hastings Vanoa Ida Waterman The Dean Frank Currier John Carson ••••••..J. Barney Sherry Jocko Weslejr Barry ernment as they deserve," it prob ably goes double that the fans get as good pictures as they want. The facts speak for themselves—they want "The Sheik" and they don't want "Tommy and Grlsel," and probably "Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush." The new production deserves a better fate. It is a fine translation from the printed page to the cellu- loid of an exquisite tale. Ian Mac^ Laren's warm humorous character sketches come nearer to being alive on the screen than usually happens when familiar personages of fiction are filtered through the camera lens: the backgrounds are notably lovely, the picture having been made in the real Scotch hills, and the main thread of the story has been plainly and simply told. From first to last the quaint char- acters are played with utmost sin- cerity. There is not a false note in the production. The book must have presented an embarrassment of riches to the scenario writer. Dr. MacClure, who was the outstanding figure of the novel, plays but a minor role in the film production, a shadowy shape that must have suffered severely in the cutting. Perhaps some day some one will make another picture with the rugged country doctor as Its central figure. In this version there was no chance to stray aside for Incidental character portraits. Margaret Turnbull, who made the adaptation* held closely to the roc mantle part of the original—the love story of Lord Malcolm and Flora, the humble' shepherd's daughter— and the human oddities of the Scotch village merely passed in sil- houette. Posty Macduff and John Carmlchael appeared only as shadows of their real selves, but Lachlan Campbell, the stubborn father of Flora, was etched in with a good deal of care. Played by Crisp, it is a convincing bit of de- lineation. The sceno between the dour old man. and his daughter upon their reconciliation was a touching moment, a moment of hon- est sentiment that seldom oemes upon the silver sheet where senti- ment Is too often maudlin. The Scotch locale Is refreshing to Americans, who have about been fed up on native locations. Some of the woodland meadow and village vistas are very beautiful. Even in the interiors of castle, cottage and 'kirk" deliver real, convincing "at- mosphere." As a plain bald story the picture "trifling. It Is only itH deft touches that make it notable. The narrative structure is Just conventlbnal Eng- J«h fiction. The lowly Flora falls J n ,i°, ve wit * the helr of "the castlo joik, • who returns her love, while w>e scheming Earl plans a rich mar- Ejage for his son. The woman the **« Picks is in love with the village minister and aids the young lord •J le T m any trials to wed the woman oi his real ehoiee. The time is two oecades ago, and the period and piace gives opportunity for a touch ej Picturesque costume. The wed- °jng scene at the end has the women in crinolines and the men "] kilts, with a small regiment of Pipers on hand to furnlHh music for jne wedding, which mnkos th*> ha PPy climax. jtuxh. CALL OF NORTH CHIVALROUS Charlpy Riley Eugene O'Brien HI* Uncle George Fawcett Alice Sanderson Nancy Deaver Her Father D. J. Flanagan Geoffrey Small Hantley Oordon Clean, romantic melodrama, cul- minating in a hoax, is "Chivalrous Charley," a Selznick picture star- ring Eugene O'Brien. It was writ- «* t . lrt „.i- ten by May Tully, scenarized by J°° ■ e JI?""} y, fellA - wl ^ *—- *- ^ < S d P ^r ,agne and dlreCUd by lftow C \i;l C bVto"^"f 0 real 8 abH.t; This is offered at the Capitol this week by First National. Marshall Neilan directed. John Barrymore (with his hair curled) stars, and la ably supported. The whole is baaed on a story by Albert Payson Ter- hune. Despite these names, there's nothing exceptional to the picture. It alms at satire and falls short of It with the result it will probably satisfy no one. The general public will be vaguely dissatisfied by the barbed humor pricking their bubble of romance. Jacques Lenol reaches the age of twenty-five without knowing a woman, due to an unpleasantness in his father's life, and so when finally he lands from the yacht he has in- herited he falls for tho first fair one he sees. This girl he marries, only to learn his income is cut for marry- ing before thirty. With a dissatis- fied wife on his hands, he sets out on* a mad ballooning expedition to China and lands on an isle in the Pacific. A bit of detail here al- leging the over-world winds would aid a flight to China is a mistake. The winds blow the other way, toward us. On this Isle all Is peace and plenty, every one does as he pleases, there is no money, and all is pure and holy. But Jacques longs for home and his frivolous wife, turn- ing an unappreclatlve eye on the cutie in Greek costume close at hand. So they let him go back. In New York he finds friend wife has married a wealthier man. She must choose which husband she wants. Choosing a third, she elopes, and back goes Jacques to the isle of plenty of everything, Including booze. The most Interesting thing about this picture is Barrymore and his performance. With long hair, it seems.to the observer he must be offering a-caricature of the old-type Shakespearean trouper, the kind who took himself and his "art" all If not a caricature. and directed by Mauritx Stiller. Judged wholly on what was of- fered at the Town Hall, Nov. 26, "Sir Arne's Treasure" is a fine pro- duction, well photographed and acted, interesting by reason of its difference from native output. It was offered as part of a specimen program of an entire everfing's en- tertainment, which Included scenics, educational, a comedy and folk songs admirably sung by a Swedish prima donna. In Swedish com- munities in the northwest such an entertainment might prove success- ful, but the remainder of our popu- lace would probably regard it as tiresome. Sir Halmar, a fiery young man, Is among the prisoners locked up for conspiring against the reigning king. With two others he escapes, and Is shown deliberately assassi- nating Sir Arno and his entire fam- ily for robbery. The mysterious treasure chest of Sir Arne is men- tioned in the sub-titles, but no ex- planation of its origin is vouchsafed. Again Sir Arne's wife is shown to be a psychic, merely by her having a vision of the Impending murder, with no further mention of the sub- ject. The only member of the Arne family who escapes is little Elsa, grand-daughter of Sir Arne. She is taken in by a kindly fisherman's family. Sir Halmar, gorgeously at- tired, falls in love with her and the feeling is reciprocated. One night FOR THOSE WE This Is a Hetty Compson produce tlon released by Goldwyn with Miss Compson as the star. It was the last production Miss Compson turned out with her o\ producing unit The reason that this was the final production that the star made in the role of producer is easily apparent to those that view it. It is without doubt one of the most incoherent stories that has been screened in a long, long time. Miss Compson has a corkina* company supporting her, which in- cludes Lon Chaney and others of equal note, but even they cannot pull the picture through. IncI* dentally the cast also holds Walter. Morosco. The three Rossons were a!, j ao« tive in the production of the pic- ture, one as director, another brother in the cast and the third as camera man. The experiment of shooting the greater part of the fea- ture in soft focus did not enhance the value of the picture. The story is laid in a small town, with the principal characters being the sweet girl, her brother and, fath- er. This little trio all live together. Father is the bookkeeper In the sash . factory, the boy Is a pool room hanger-on who also likes to play stud, and the girl just keeps house. At the opening of the story the girl is rescued from the swlmmin' hole by the town gambler, and after that Ltjeung is reeiprocaitu. vine nigiu oy liio luwn Rtiiamur, «uiu tintsi Elsa dreams that her murdered I he just naturally sticks around. Robert Ellis. Charley Riley (O'Brien) Is a ro- mantic young man with a penchant for helping females in distress* His uncle, a politician, endeavors to cure him by framing up something that will teach him a lesson he is not likely soon to forget. The audience, however, is not let Into the secret until the finish, which comes as a surprise denouement. A dainty miss, fleeing from pur- suers, makes her way into his apart- ment, remains all night, her sup- posed father arrives in the morn- ing, points u revolver at him and demands that Charley protect the girl's honor by marrying hew (No provision is made for the marriage license.) After the ceremony the "wife" tells him a harrowing tale of persecution of her and her brother, who was lured into embezzling from a man who wants to marry her,*and Charley gives her a check for $5,000 to repay tho embezzlement. Later he receives ... telegram telling him to call at a dilapidated house in the slums, "wijfio *. lid is ho'icJ captive. He fights a gang of "thugs," has a series of thrilling adventures cal- culated to hold any audience spell- bound, Is finally rounded up at his uncle's home, and then learns of the deception practiced upon him. Meantime he Is hurt to find the girl Is a party to the hoax and ap- peased to And she really loves him. A fine stellar role for O'Brien; a dainty, witching part for Nancy Deaver as the young miss, with the remainder of the supporting charac- ters In such capable hands as George Fawcett as the uncle, and so on. The entire production exudes ro- mantic action of the ultra-modern school, the footage is not prolonged one moment longer than necessary and when the surprise twist comes at the finish the audience is not an- noyed by being fooled. A satisfac- tory program feature. Jolo. sister has led her to the kitchen of the local inn. Next day she haunts the tavern, where she overhears one of the assassins say: "Drink, Sir Halmar; make merry. We are not at the end of Sir Arne's treasure yet." Elsa tells her story to the scullery woman, who notifies the authorities; but Elsa repents de- nouncing the man she loves and runs to warn him to escape, to which he replies: M You betrayed me, giving me no chance to atone," and casts her away from him. She begs him to flee; the police arrive at the house; Sir Halmar uses Elsa's body as a shield and fights his way through them, she being stabbed to death. The ship by which Sir Halmar was to have escaped is the •only vessel that continues to be Icebound, and the captain narrates a supersti- tion that this Is due to the fact that It Is inhabited by an evil-doer. Sir Halmar has carried tha body of the glrT to his cabin In the vessel; the captain, on hearing of the whole affair, has Sir Halmar cast ashore; the titled murderer says: "It Is God's will that we should pay the penalty of our crimes," is taken away by the police, the sea im- mediately opeps and permits the vessel to depart. They are a sad-looking people, these Swedes, with no Joy in their faces; but they are most expressive In pantomime, so that there Is *«*••. . * m *v * - mu. necessity for fully one-half less and Richard Lund as the stars. The ^.titles than Americana would picture has for its period and locale employ t0 put ove r the same ideas. will be missed, and what is offered in his place will be Judged with the slight resentment of those who miss the expected. Leed. SIR ARNE'S TREASURE "Sir Arne's Treasure" is the pic- turlzatlon of a story by Selma Lagerlof, made by the Swedish Blo- graph Co. of Stockholm, with Mary Johnson ("Sweden's Sweetheart") the Sweden of 850 years ago. It is quite possible the feature has been cut to conform to American regula- tion lengths and that in the process of excision much In the way of ex- planatory progression has been de- leted. It was made two years ago The conclusion must be arrived at that it is not for us. Jolo. A picture house with a seating capacity of OT© opened in Sheeps- head Bay, Long Island, last week. The brother gets cleaned in the Saturday night stud game and then goes home to turn off his old man for $80. That eighty is the whole story. As the result of the theft the father goes blind, the girl get* in bad with the town folks, for she Is seen on Sunday to enter the stag hotel where the gambler lives to get the dough back, and the boy Is ac- cused of the theft of the 'money and in the end when he is accom- panying the gambler and another hanger-on in the town to turn off the dive keeper he Is shot and killed. In the end the sap lover of the girl, who flopped on her while she was in trouble, finally wins her despite the fact that the gambler who stood the gaff and made it pos- sible for her to win out is turned down. That part of the picture, at any rate, is almost true to life* How often do women turn on the men that are responsible for their success and pass them up in their hour of need for someone that can- not do a thing for them. Trying to make the picture effect tive, the director took n chance at shooting everything in sight, even to a burning house to add a little pep to the production, but even that didn't help. There was also a speak-easy where you could get "it," but the comedy chances of this scene were entirely passed up. The direction was draggy and wearisome from beginning to end and it did not move the story for- ward at all. There was an attempt to get the yarn over with titles, but these titles were such that they only made more of a puzzle of the story than the action itself. This Is a good one to pass up, except when one can make use of the Compson name at a price for a double feature bill. Fred. A Unique Creation * * * A Unique Creation • * * A Unique Creation • • • A Unique* Creation * * * A Unique Creation * * * A Unique Creation * * * A Unique Creation * * *A Unique Creation * * * A Unique Cr&ation^+J*_+ A Uniaue^Cr*ati<m„!L*.J!L 66 CONCEIT" DR. JIM N'<1 Tr».,n ,V r 1 *' n!i ' All.riY.'. "*'•''»'A M.rrt... AchiU,. IV;,i,I... '.''■'^'••> Sl,. W ;.M ••<"ll.. All,, • ■ill. Ia« k Hull Miiil^f f<f!l;tmy Noah Mi'iTy . . Kniruls M< Donald . . I-Mwiir 1 Miiriiiul-'l Ht'lcn I-Vri^isun JmcW Hr'lxit Dr .Tim Ko.-no Fr;cnU Mnyo H«*lon K«'«n«» «" !n i •-*- Wimlaur Kenn.'th Ford Oliver Cn-*n Hobby Thornr» Staiihopf Whratrroft Tom Amlrrnon Hohirt AnuVrson Captain Blake Gordon Sa< UviMc J a, ' k Holt makes Iuh bow on oroaduay this week as a Him star. jj,l n * . ,,n '■■ s, -ntod at Die Itialto by *«e La sky in the Paramount pro- JjUcUo:,, •■ T ,„. r . m of lne Nortn .» Mr a th 1'icliue iH not likely to pull a • many jirst nm contracts for hi i st,in '«»R series, for while a *>», lnU '»' <,tJ ting tale of the north- *»t. It has naught about It un- An unusually Rood Universal with photography of the exceptional sort credited to L. Ii. Lancaster. Stuart Paton's story and Eugene B. Lewis' s enario are satisfactory, and Wil- liam "Worthington's- direction way abov the program average. A clean picture for all classes, it strikes a high average. Frank Mayo and Olla Cronk, she of thenustrous hair and wonderfully clear-cut features, lend distinction to the acting, but the support is all capable. The story deals with n young doctor's devotion to Ins • liild patients and his efforts to hold his butterfly wife. The action moves steadily and with a gathering inter- est up to a storm at sea. caught with considerable •actualiiy and made very effective. An unusually good I'niversal, worth booming. l.red. The Picture of No Regrete •* • * The Picture of No Regret* * * * The Picture of No) Regrets * * * The Picture of No RegreU * * * The Picture of No Regrete * • * The Picture of No Regrets * * * The Picture of No Regrets * * * The Picture of No Regretsi Second of Lewis J. Selznick's Supreme Six, of Which "A Man's Home" Was the First A Triumph of All the Arts * * * A Triumph of All the Arts * * * A Triumph of All the) Arts * * * A Triumph of All the Arts * * * A Triumph of All the Arts * * * A Triumph of All the Arts * * * A Triumph of All the Arts * * * A Triumph of All the Arte Directed by Burton George, From the Story by Michael J. Phillips, Scenario by Edward J. Montagne, who wrote the 'script of 4< A Man's Home. N > 9 The Picture That Has Everything * * * The Picture That Has Everything * * * The Pit* ture That Has Everything * * * The Picture That Has Everything * * * The Picture That Has Everything * * * The Picture That Has Everything * * * The Picture Thai Hem Everything.