Variety (February 1922)

40 PICTURES Friday, February 17, 1922 -ly. BACK PAY Heater n«»vlns.... Jerrx New combe. S<^<»na Owen her i^ve*tlu-;itt Matt Moore Charlcia U. \Vbeeler» a niitllunair<> • ••••••••••••••••••••••J> iiiiriM'y Sherry Kitty VA\\o\ l>ur;iy "Spot^'1" C'harloH Crai< Thomas Cnilgr Jerry Sinclair "Back Pay" Is a slow plodding averago foature, that barely pasi^es, through paucity of story with act- ing and direction scomingl • held down because of that. It's at the Rlvoli, a Cosmopolitan-made liltii that is "presented" by Famous Players as a I*arannount. that per- haps signifying the Famous Players made outright buy of the picture from Costnopolitan, If so, F, P. got no bargain. . * The best thing about "Back Pay" is its title, that having been made known in the Fannie Hurst story the play and picture were adapted from. The play, produced by A. H. AV'oods, had a short run on Broad- way but has gone out again for the city week stand lime. Its tale may have read well in type, but on the screen it drags along, that old- oaken bucket story about the country gal who goes to the big city and goes wrong along. Mis.s Hurst gave the stereotyped talo a couple of twists; the first the girl leaving the boob boarding house to look for lingerie, and the second, her regeneration, if that were it, when she quit the Riverside drive Hat, put on her original litUe gingham gown and hiked back to her *J5 a week job. That Riverside apartment setting was elaborate enough to turn any girl's head, from a clerkship to an illicit courtship. And Hester iJevins (Seena Owen) got her lingerie al- though she didn't show any in the picture. Also she got remorse when her country sweetie, " Jerry New- combe (Matt Moore) came back from the front, blind. The doctors told Hester Jerry could only live three weeks. He still loved her and she had a hunch for him. Hester asked her gentleman friend with the gray hair and a bankroll if she could marry Jerry for three weeks, just to let him die happy, and g. f. told her to go to it. So she did, moved Jerry from the hospital to her sumptuous apartment, told him it was a three-room affair and lie died with that lie on his mind, along M'ith the others he nover knew of. "Which may bring out the moral of the story as the good die and the reformed bad live, to try it over again, if they wish. There's never was any action. Much time is wasted planting the tale at the outset and much more along the way, in the mushy scenes between Hester and Jerry, tlieir trysting place in the woods and their hospital meetings. The picture could still stand a 10-minute cut. Frances Marion made the scenario End didn't over-work herself. It was a))Out the same with Frank Boizage who' directed, though the script of course held in the direction. Miss Owen only had to walk throiigh tho picture and she did only that, whether in the country or the city, while Mr. Moore did even less. The story called for no effort by anyone. Other principals hardly counted and celdMi entered. Kotwtth.standing there Is the usual Bentimental appeal to the love in- terest, but even here it seems to be risking any picture when the lead- ing figure in a romantic tale is given a totally unsympathetic role, such as Miss Owen ha.s, making Hester Bevins a gold digger in the country before she knows what gold digging means, and finishing up her educa- tion along that lino wlion she reaches tlie city. It's a bad story for young girls to see. Sime. ground. Before he reaches the kid- napper, tho captured gal says to her captor in the cave: "Why have you brought me here?" The stupid little minx, when said villain is the one who brained the hero through jeaIous\ of her a^id who has made repealed efforts to embrace her. And. oh yoH, there was a lot of boot- legging and a train hold-up by the villains, aided by the Indians, in order to capture the payroll. And how do you suppose they stopped the train'/ Naturally, you will say, by placing .something across the track. Not so: they ran alongside it on horseback and shot at it, and when it slov\ed up th< / scrambled aboard. So the her tepped out. jumped on tlio b.irk of ouf of tho gangs horses, and although they weie rigb.t alongside him and many shot at him they 'nevv.! touched' him and he rode furiously to the Hoyal Mounted hcadauarlers and brought them back—and oh, there were manv other sueh escai>a(ies, while the audience at the Circle Tuesd.ay evening laughed derisively. The nam-' of ll^"- W'"»n<KrfuI fea- ture is "Cameron cf iii'» Uoyal Mounted." an laiiest Sliipni.-ui pro- duction, rel'^a.-ed through llodkin- .•^on. It wa - ul.ipted fr«nn a story i by r^ali)!! Connoi and directed by ' Henry Macltae. Benll\. there is; "nuich too nujtli" action, even for ' the most elemental audiences. '" | Joht. HER SOCIAL VALUE Kath Marion Iloyt;'.. «M;fioi\l Trt'iit.. JJcrtha ll.irm>»n S!ii;»l«'y J '0 ilarnnm.... rin** Ma'DoniiJil Ray f^towart .LJ«Ttram (Jrasshy IJotty Il->3.s Clarko | Winter Huil , J<^?opti tiirat J "Her Social Value." a Kalherlne JfacDonald starring" feature, re- leased by First National. It is a fairly interesting story evolved by C J raid DulYey and well directed by Jerome Strom. The production has a certain amount of value inasmuch as it has two starring names, Kalherine Mae Donald and Boy Stewart. The latter is not playing a westerner in this picture, but ap- pears in regular store clothes. It is a story of a woman's sacrifice for her husband's career. In it ;<^iss MacDunald does some of the best work tiiat she has displayed on the screen in some time. Miss MacDonald as Marion Iloyte is a girl of the middle class, who marries a man socially prominent; but he is unable to secure clients ; . an architect because those who could assist him in a business way have passed him up socially be- cause of his marriage. When the wife learns this she pretends to be in love with another, so that her husband will lea- e her and be rein- stated among the socially elect. He does leave her, but instead of moving back into society buries himself In a small town. His wife finally seeks him out and there is a reconciliation just about the same time that a fat commission ar- ri es. his plans for a big railroad terminal having been accepted. Mr. Stewart is a convincing lea^jhis own but an eye out for another, and that eye lamps Katherine. On o. off, it would be the same. The TRUST YOUR WIFE It's good advice, that title, but it doesn't make this a good picture. though it has a lovely woman as its star, Katherine MacDonald. And a lovely woman on the screen who can act should be superior to an ordi- nary story such as "Trust Your Wife • is. It's adapted from the play "Conscience," by H. S. Sheldon. There are two great titles to .'•ug- gest a picture theme of magnitude for an original script. "Conscience" has been utilized for pictures and now "Trust Your Wife," stuck on a conventional, loses its film value for all time. It's seldom a lovely woman Is seen on the screen who can be anything but lovely. Miss MacDonald is not of the cutey nor the beauty type; she has just loveliness. It stJinds out on the lilm. it comes out and as a photographic subject, if her equal lias been found, the other one should have .a life contract if she bus any- thing beyond looks. Miss MacDonald has expression. In lilmdom they say a player "reg- isters." T'vit registering is the big- gest joke of the infant pieture. You c:in regi.-ter a Sell on the i)hono- graph disc, you can register emo- tions before the camera, but all the directors in the world can't make a player expressive. There is no.sueh tiling as a mechanic in that. The di- rector's "register this" and "she will register that" may have been the spsamo that gqt a bankroll out of! someone, but it never made .a picture i star and never will. The personal- j it. of the voice or face can never be , directed. Either may be cultivated ' or Improved, but neither can be , manufactured. I Which is recalled through having! heard, 'Katherine MacDonaUl i.-j a 1 bear of a looker, but that let.^ her' out in pictures." The Kathi rine , MacDonald lecture Co. presents i "Trust Your Wife," released by. First National. So she isn't out of' pictures yet. Benjamin P. Sv"hull)erg j is the president of the MacDonald | Co. No one in pictureville e\er said Schulberg was a simp. It should bo pretty safe to back this combination. There has been no better expres- sion seen in a very long while on the screen than Miss MacDonald in her scenes on the yacht in this pic- ture when resisting the advances of the man she had agreed to meet on his boat at night and alone. Nor 1 could the expression of happiness and contentment as she rested in • her husbands arms for the fadeout be simulated without the falsity of such simulation betrayln^f itself. But it was a registration in part when Miss MacDonald tried to ex- press fear upon first meeting her husband after the yachting eplscde. That was misdirection, of course, for why force a girl into unnaturalness V.' en she has proven she can be nat- ural? Heigh-ho! And why rewrite the picture business? So. getting down to the story. Miss MacDonald is the handsome wife of a good looking but needy inventor. Then the capitalist, with a girl of Torvald Nora Ivar i;mrny H'.b .. Dr. Rank I ' hoy<lenish ! ha? dl.\- be tho star, and Bertram as the hea\y does some minor roles OAMERON OF THE MOUNTED opposite Grassby excellent work. The are also well played. Pictorially there are some very pretty interiors and one or two ex- terior locations that look well on the screen. The handling of the c rthquako is rather badly done, es|)eclally in tho shot where a can of powder is set off to indicate that a landslide has wrecked a shack in the wood.s. To the exhibitor it is just a ques- tion oC how strong a drawing card tho star is with his audiences. There is nothing particular about tho picture that will draw, but it is an all arotmd good p-i^gram feature. r-id. P r,irpor.'tl Cameron Cjaston nii.is P.avoi; IrviDi; CummlnK^^ MumJy Vlvltnm' Usbrirno l.iit!- Thunder ....Frank LK'inning I'otta Goor^o I.irkiii im Huhy..... Juu Singl.>io.i There arc more "thrills" In the six reels of "Cameron of the B-;,al Mounted" than in half a dozen or- dinary program features. It starts off with the raising of a check from ^}0 pounds to COO pounds. The hero is accused of doing this to bis own father, and, having been drunk, doesn't know whether or not he did It. Then his "thrilKs" only com- mence. He has a fist fight in a border saloon, is thrown out, and that is only tho commencement. A jealous rival for the girl he is smit- ten with tries to brain him with an axe and succeeds in putting him in Iho hospital for weeks. He becomes a member of the Northwest Mounted Police, chases one of the villains down a moun- tainside on horseback and over the rapids in a canoe: they have a ter- rific fight while clinging to a log In the water; they both reach land exhausted and the villain wants to die, admitting ho raised the amount of the check. Does the hero bt him die? -'ot yet. Ho literally carries him to headciuarters and lets him confess before witnesses before per- mitting hiia to pass away. And Is that all? In ruslies some- ore and announces: the gal has been r.itliv»pped. So he rides seven mil^s mor(f for a tight with another vil- lain, jumping on the bad man's borse and bcai^ins him to t!i.- CROSSING TRAILS A Cliff C'mith production rel.a^cd by A?;sociated I'roduccrs. It is a cheap type of western feature that has Pete Morrison featured. The real sti»r of the production is a kid acior who walks away with all of the comedy possibilities. As a picture it will f-erve on a double feature program providing the pro- duction shown with It holds suffi- cient punch to get the bill over. Cli c Smith directed the prodtic- tion, holding for the greater part to ex» rior.-j foi his shots. In several places he caught some picturesque scenes. The featured player, Morrison, is rather a typical western hero, rides well and i handy with a gun, but other Mian that he seem.^ to posKcss naught that will ever endear him to til' hearts of film fans. A simple story is employed for the puipose of parading a set of rhaiacter across the silver sheet. Th'^-rr* is the heroine, who is rearing a iiid brother. She is made to ap- pear as a circum.tantial murderens. .->he ( -icapes and settles on a raneh, the homo of the hero and his mother. From that point on tlic e\ent3 are discernible on the sur- faee. H':o fails In love with her, Jif avy appe.ir.H on the .vcene, tri«'S to kilnij) III*,' girl, and finally is I;n0elced-off by the .'heriff, wdh tho usual 'liiM'y ending. capitalist schemes to win the wife and get the inventive husband out of the way. A yacht is one excuse. But the capitalist first takes a drink of booze he must have got in a Broadway cabaret. He couldn't wait. Before his guest could remove her wrap, cap started. She stood him off, professed helplessness and won out on his conscience, although the other girl, peering in through a window of the cabin, contributed her bit to- ward the conscience awakening. The other girl put over other dirt. She phoned the husband \/here his wife was. As he reaehed the pier all the husband saw was the boat moving away. Ho went homo and sat up all night thinking It over. When wife showed In the morning hot talk passed, with most of the captions In this picture evidently taken from the text of tho play, they were so different. Husband wouldn't believe his baby or his ces or ears until tho cap came along, ex- plained things, and then the fadeout. The tale has been told in a hun- dred ways. Once or twice almost In the same way, minus tho vacht but plus the finish. Still, there* is Kath- erine—and she Is there. This one is good enough where a lovely woman is hound to draw, but why not slij» Katherine a regular story and sec hoi put it over? tiimr. \ easily do vaat violence to precon- ceived ideas. That the film is an adequate presentation speaks vol- umes for the taste und intelligence of the adapters. No small credit for the whole ex- cellent effect Is due to Mabel Ballin who plays the exacting part of Jane. Miss Biillin has a rare type of delicate beauty which lends Itself perfectly to the early Victorian iieroine. She could pose for .a copy of Mona Lisa and her dark spiritual loveliness makes her ideal for the part of Jane. She plays in u <iuiet { and natural vein which contributes i greatly to the effectiven' s of the whole work. A more energeti*' method might have spoiled the fine balance. As an artistic achievement the picture is splendid, but aa u <»om- mercial product its fate 1^ open to question. Picture au«liences liave been educated to more lobust dram.i than this photographiv* reci>rd of a phase of British life in a bygorv* day. Bealistlc common-places ilone i with supreme fidelity tsueh as; (Itorge Kliot s transcripts fmm bie> ; may make literature. !»iii the film ' folle rs seem to ilemand more' sijii^iitl> iomanc«»s th;.n this delicate affair of la\ender and old rose. Tho pieture deserves a large' measure of success on its iiriistie merit. A painter wouU! d»»li^ht in ' some of its pietorial qualities. The, exteriors of landscapes, g; i dens an«l | vistas of rur.il roads are f xt|Uisit«' ; and have a convincing aspect of rt .il i l^nglish parks. In the same uay the lofty rooms at ThorufUld bear the! stamp of actuality with iheir quaint ' furnishinKs ami m.'.ssive «i»cora- tions. The handling of light and shadows has been rcmarkal)ly well 1 cared for. In the scenes wl.er*- a ' creepy and >. nister effect is d« sired ' —those basing to tlo wiih the hor- i rifying apjiai itions of the mad j woman—this management of shadow \ masses is imj): c.-si\ e. | These Si>enes. by the w.»\. ar** • managed with c'nsummate erafis- j mansiiip ami deliver a real tlirilt ' the only drama the picture has. The ' rest of the story is ratlu>r < olorless ! as it conu-s on the sc-rci'ii, ;ilthou'-?h ; the romantic sentiment in iho clos- J ing i)assages whete Boche.^t«r has j gone blind .ami Jane goes to him is , *'"**^?' sincere and affecting. * The casting of the picture is ap- propriaf<i. to the intelligene** whl«h directed Hie whole production. Nor- man Trevor plays Boeliest«'r in exactly the right spirit. A younger and handsonn r lover might have been more impressive, but he would have done violence to the true trans- lation of the story. Helen I'oole (the titles failed to n.amo the actress who played tho part) sounded just the right sinister note and the other minor characters were absolutely in the picture. . The picture Is a ne» nvorthy .ne- complishme! t in the screening of a standard work of fiction and one is led to hope that It will not suffer the treatment of manv I no books that lie neglected on tli'> library hh- ivej? while cheap und : l.oddv curr- nt romance that satl'fi^s the literary fads of the moment enjoy the fhal- low fancy of the public. I'u.sh. A DOLL'S HOUSE Itelmer j^^. •••• Nuzitnova • ••••••#..».., .Philip do ].a(<ey Llaib.irii ^r^f(.p . ............. ....J. Want. Jr ............. Nigel l)o ]Sriill<ki( N ll3 Krogstad WodKwood XowelT * hnsHna J,indcn Flor.Mxe K,Hhp. i\l\"''^ lOUnor Oliver '•"^" ^'ara Le, Now we have the third film pro- duction of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House." Originally the play was' picturized by Universal as u Blue- bird with Dorothy Phillips as Nora. That was in 1917. A year later Art- craft turned out a screen version of the same with Elsie Ferguson' f-Mtured and now finally Mm»'. Naz- imova comes to the fore with her version as her first Independently made production released by the Cnlted Artists. With this picture-^s it is just a (luestion whether or nut' the coupling of the name of .Mme. Nazimova with the Ibsen j)lay in .appeared on the speaking money. As a is entirely make jt par- and the which slu stag<- is to draw any film -.V Doll's lloust laeking in aetion to tieularl\- worth while a f<u\'ign acting Nay.imova can expeetid to put it oxer. The Ibsen play is known too well for a resume of the stors That goes for exhil»itois as well as play- CtMMs iov the former ha\e un- d'Mihied se'^'i eithei' one or the otl er of the \\\o i)revious produe- tll/US. As a picture e\en with Mme. Na;;imova it is rather tire u>m«' and olil fashioned and ibis pn tieular pioduet i<jn is s.) bandle<l to gi\e it more the atmosphn-o of production. Mme. .\'a'/,im<tva as tlu' star, and her husband. Charles i:t\- int. as the direetor, h.Mve nvmam'd to pick SeandavaniaJi types lor ti\e prin- cipal r<»les. and it must be sni«l that the selection i)f Alan Hale for Thor- vald \\as a liiost happy one. I>ut Mr. Hale v.as undoubtedl.v overdirei ted, unquestionably ho w.as comi)eI!ed to oveiact in ;i couph' of the se.neR. This is what end.-^.so mmh of a foreign production atmo.-.phere to lh<' feature. .Mine. Nazimova seemed at all to be forcing herself in the I pla\ing of the role 4uul it is doubtful if lier interinetation of Nora will enhance her screen v 'ue to a y great extent. IMiotography is of the rather dark sort without any shadings us to lights. The sets adequ;tte. although a couple of storm exteriors showed plainly that it was studio stuff that was used. I'led. that pro- Ilugo tributed .Tu-t ■rn. Fred. ) JANE EYRE Ballin Productions (dis- by Hodkinson) has turned out a fine dignified transcript of the famous novel by Charlotte Bronte, with particular reference to its beautiful backgrounds and excel- lent acting. The exteriors give an astonishing effect of authentic Eng- lish land><ai»o atid the InterliMs have done from first to last with'utmost fidelity. The production Is always .•studi- ously careful and mannges to re- produce with happy fidelity the atmosphere of the old story. A world of p.iinstaking caro is rr-pjo- sented in this screen translation of the tale. It is considera)»le of a trick to crystallize the spirit of n novel such as this, surrounded as it is by the tiaditions of t^overal gen- erations. The picture version could HOMESPUN VAMP May McAvoy is the star of this Realart product i'-n released by Paramount. Tho stor>' is a,i origi- nal by Hector Turnbull, adapted for the screen by H.irvey Thcw and directed by Frank O'Conn* r. The feature is a mighty good littlo pict- ure, full of heart interest and not withoit a real comedy rolief. Miss McAvoy is a ch.irn ing iittlo Cin- derella heroine, and the fans follow her will like her in tlx^^ duction. The scene of the story l-« In a small town with tho heroine tho orphaned niece of two bachelors who are far from being spend- thrifts. The girl keeps house for them, and they have ml their le arts on her becoming liio \\ fe of the son of the lady b;a( ksmith of the village. Just abotjt at this stag, along comes the hero, a writer, who is seeking out a lonely spot wh« re he can compl. e "the g .at Ameri- can novel." The town folk arc sus- picious of tho stranger, and when the post ofilce is broken Into they start after him. In trying to escape he Is wounded and falls in front of the home of the Iittlo orphan. Her uncles are away at the time and she hides the supposed robber, keeping him in tho house over night. In the morning the real culprit is captured, but then there is the scandal, for the tmiMes returnln.:. find the writer has stopped in their house over night and tho girl has been there with him. No cfiapero. . A wedding is insisted on, the young man going through to protect the girl. Later he takes her to his own home, where his mother cares for her. while an action to annul the marrl.-^ge Is before tho court. The decree Ir finallj hnnded down, but a real love affo..- has been brewing in the Interim. When the courts decision is handed down tho hero announces ho rt\illy loves the girl. The picture is full of action which moves along swiftly. The cast hns a ntimber of clever char- acter i,tudies, not the least of whi» li is tho rob» of the hick boob that young Steadmnn plays. Charles Ogle and (luy Oliver as the pair of imcles also score. On the whole it I«« n mifthtv good little comedy drama, J red. THE 14TH LOVER Vi M.m hniont.. KUhard Ii.irily. (•|ydt» \\\n Noss. Aunt I.rtUia.. .. .Mrs. H;ir.l.v Mr. Mai(htiiutit ...••.•..* \'iola Dana rack Mulhall Thoodoiv V n Eltr. K.itp I.cater Alliorta Le« .. .Fr<"dcrick Vroom Mutd Furnsic Cumtn The cold statistics of "The 14th lA)ver," a Metro Classic, run this way; A Harry Beaumont produc- tion, adapted by Edith Kennedy from Alice D. G. Miller's story: photography by John Arnold and A. F. Mantz, art director. Viola Dana is the star with Jack Mulhall jLif head of the supporting company. Tho story itself is a light trifie, all tho emphasis being on the side of comedy which frequently edges dangerously into farco. However, it s a cheerful story, bright and en- livening In all its characters and in- cidents and its only defect is th« ^ lement so common to li«ht comedy pictures of feature length, its tenu- ous recital Is shamelessly padded with frivolous detail to pad out the necessary footage. It requires a particularly meaty comedy story to sustain Interest through the strain of attention re- t4Uired by something over five icels of Ilickers. So much lei»enda upon tho swift play of small in- iident and the interesting deVilop* niont of character that a frothy story has to be done much more ex- l>erily than a dramatic tale where liio suspense of an Ingenious plot gr;i>s 'crest. "The lUh Trover" II- lusirit this point. There are time.-» strict attention w.niders becMu the too elaborate detail which wearies. Miss Dana has one of her familiar farts of tho hoyti, n. a headstrong apper who breaks through parental »ntrol and works out her own tittle romance in hov own determined little I way. The Metro star usually does j extremely well with this kind of role atul there are moments when ! she Is effective here, but there i« I rather too much of the .vame thing ! and one becomrs rather impatient with the repetition of her escapades. It is just a trifie too saccharin and cuti.-cutie. this spoiled anil im- perious daughter of a ri«'h imd too indulgent father. Jt's ratlur dif- ficult to sustain an hour and a half of svm|)athy for a spQlled dirling and her adventures bc<ome rather clo\ iru; .Mfier a while. Th'> tale has to do with tht- love affairs of Vi Marchmont who is pur- sue(i by 1.1 rich an<l hindso...e suitors of her own altitude of .social emitience jind who in rr\ulsion against the trouble of lakiiig UP her mitul which one to a<'cept. turns in desperation to In r f.tthci's xoung guardian. To her utter .-isioiiis"' ment when she pr.actic.ilh' throws hers. If into his arms, he dL-^pl'iys n<> great enthusiasm, observini;—i»"*' f(uit« logically when yoii come (Continued on Page D^ to I