Variety (December 1922)

S4 PICTURES Friday* December 8, 1922 •1 THE SUPER SEX ^rank R. Ad.-vms production from the Coamopolitan itory of "Miles Hrewster and th» «uper Six" bjr Aaama Adapted and dir»cted by I^mbert Ilillycr. Din trIbuUd by Amftrican Ucleaninr. Shown at thA C&m«o, week t>«o. 4. VJT2. lilies Brewster Uigginm Robert Oordon Irens Hayes Charlotte I'ierr* Mr. Ill«Klns Tully Marahal. Mrs. Hl««lns I.ydla Knott Oraadma Krswstsr Gertrude ClaJn Cousin Roy Albert MacQuurrlc J. Gordon Davis L.ouls Nailu-aux Mr. Hayes Ooorge Hunny Mn. Hayes Uvelya Burns After Tlewinff thla picture one wonders how and why the young American Releasing Corp. secured It, when the older and perhaps big- ger diatributins organlsatiuna In the field are clamoring so loudly for (ood picture productions. This one la a good one, no matter from what angle you look at IL It is better than some of the early real good Charlie Raj pictures and a produc- tion of the same tjpe. It is cast perfectly, It is directed finely, and it is a picture good and strong •nough to play any one of tho big pre-release houses and not only satisfy audiences but pull biuiiness, because it is a picture that will get word of mouth adTertising. In It Ljunbert Hillyer seemingly has done something for pictures which in its way is almost as great as the close-up. From this time on ons can expect to get a follow up on his Idea of splittiog action with a spoken title by almost anyone of the directors, for it is a real advance- ment and the only one that has come along since the close-up. Talking pictures? Ko. not in the fullest sense of the word, but ad near talk as one can get without the words actually beign uttered. Hillyer takes his characters and ■tarts them on a speech. In the centre of it he givs the spoken title, following it with the character con- cluding the speech. And you don't have to be a lip reader to get what is uttered even before the title is flashed, so wetl do the speeches fit Into the action. Incidentally in Robert Oordon, who plays Miles Brewster. Hillyer seams to have picked a boy destined to land as big as Ray did in the matter of personal popularity, pro- viding he has in his next couple of pictures, direction as capable as that which he had the advantage of in this picture. The Irene Hayes contributed by Charlotte Pierce is likewise- as clever a piece of work as that which Gordon does. How Booth Tarkington will love both of these two young people on the screen and figure how "much he would have liked to have had them characterizing his youngsters of fiction. As for the stoiT It Is one of those that they rave about but seldom get. Clean, wholesome with a delightful vein of comedy, a cleverly handled love story of youth, in a wsnderful background of small town home atmosphere. No matter where your theatre and less matter fhe kind of theatre it Is. from the highest and smartest to the smallest and cheapest, you can't go wrong with this one. yt^ur audiences will love It. Fred. ling people are concerned In the principal incidents, the only sym- pathetic characters being the yuung lover and the heiress out of luck« who really are subordinated to the parallel story of a domestic mlxup that really should form the basis of a farce Instead of a polite comedy drama. The progress of the romance is constantly Interrupted and over- shadowed by the introduction of ex- traneous matter, and in the sum- ming up It seems that the love story has been slighted in favor of a so- ciety satird" in which the young lovers arc not vitally concerned. The young people are interesting. The elders are not. Mary Fenton. so the story runs. Is reduced to temporary poverty by a law suit over her inheritanos. She has Just been evicted from her hall bedroom for non-payment of rent. The Walford family are nouveau rlche, a little vulgar and selfish In their precarious wealth. The young son retut^ta from cow punching in the west, a wholesome unspoiled youngster, who declines to agree to his parents' plan to marry hiai off to a rich wife, sister-in-law of a cousin who married for money. Mary walks the streets homeless and in famished desperation strikes up an acquaintance with the cousin at a fashionable hotel entrance. She is invited to dinner, and being seen in the cou^n's company is palmed off as his wife's sister. From this start. Mary is presently installed in the Walford home, more by force of circumstance than her own schem- ing. Papa and Mamma Walford plot to throw Mary and the boy to- gether for tho benefit of the family fortune. The son falls In love, but is restrained by the girl's supposed wealth and his own poverty and things are at an Impasse when the real sister-in-law appears on the scene. The instant the son' learns that their now unwelcome guest is penniless he makes violent love and is accepted just in time to learn that she is in fact disgustingly rich. There is an episode of a Jewel rob- hery, of which Mary Is accused, and this adds to the complications and heightens the surprise twist which is rather violently brought at the end. The long arm of coincidence Is pretty well worked throughout the piece, and there are times when one becomes a bit dlzxy keeping up to the astonishing happenings, such as the husband picking out two strangers to rob his house so that he can collect the insurance and the circumstance that the chief robber Is a rooming housa friend of the heroine and comes in pat at the right, minute to save her from the police. These screen coincidences have to be gulped down quickly or they choke. That's the kind of picture it Is. It won't bear close inspection, but if you don't examine its plausi- bility too closely, It passes for en- tertainment Ru$h. York police at ths psychological moment. The story has several discrep- ancies which will not bs noticed by the average picture fan. It is an interesting tale, splendidly cast Oertrudo Astor« was almost too beautiful to be so villainous, but gave a convincing performance. Lillian Rich was sweet and appeal- ing as the young wife, and Denny was manly and virile as ths center of the maelstrom of the connivings of the confidence gang that had wormed their way Into his father's favor by posing as distant cousins. The photography was excellent. the race being exceptionally well 'blended. A real race was taken with frequent cut-backs to sh«w Duke Charles" and "Twllighf* fighting it out neck and neck for the $10,000 wager. The splicing was masterly. It's a sure coin getter for ths pop priced picture houses. As a pro- gram release it achieves st>ecial feature proportions. Con. WHAT'S WRONG WITH WOMEH ProducM by Daniel Carson Ooodsaan for Bqaity and rs'.vased in the state's rights fluarkst. 9t«ry and script by D. C. Qool- man. dlrrctsd by R. WHIIam Nell. Six meis. Shown at I,oew'« Now (pTork. N. T., on double featore bill. Jamss B.'iscMa Wilton tAckayc Mrs. Bascom Julia Swfyns liordon Bllse Bascom Ceostance Bennett James Relden Montssa L<ove Jack tse Rod La Rocque Janet I^ee Darbara Caitle'oa IJaby te* Helen Roland Mr«. Neer Iledda Hopper I.\nyA WstBon Huntley Gordon John Maithsws Paul McAllister A Friend Mrs. Oscar Haaunsrsteln man takes up his resldsncs on the island. Ha informed the chief that he might jtist as well return to his former mode of life and take unto himself as many wives as he cares to have and to eat, drink and be merry, in the meantime copping a native girl for himself. This leads to his un<loing, for on the night that there is a celebration over the re- turn to former conditions, the trad- ing boat arrives and the captain as- certains what has been done and that the cause of the general dis- turbance Is also the no account hus- band of the woman he loves. A fight follows In which the captain Is worsted and the offender makes his e8<»pe, only to be tracked by the native who was turned down by the girl when ths white trader made a fuss over her. There is some corking sea stufF in the picture and a couple of native island touches that make the picture worth while. Dagmar Godowsky makes corking looking native vamp, who goes about her business as though she enjoyed it. The title "Altar Stairs" refers to the fact that the heroine of the pic- ture left her husband immediately after they were wed. With his death she naturally takes the second trip to the altar with Mayo. Fred. DAUGHTER OF LUXUKY A;do1ph Zukor presents Arnas Ayres In "K Daufhter ot Luxury"; adapted by Beula Marie TKx from the play. 'The Im- iwslor," by Leonard Merrick and Michael Morton. Directed by Paul Powell. At the Kew York RIalto, Doo. 4. Mary Fenton Aitnes Ayrea Blake Walford Tom Gallery Kllpn Marsh Kdith Torke mil Marsh Howard Rartton liOftus Walford Kdward Marlindel Mrs. Walfrod Sylvia Ashton Red Conroy * Clarence Burton Mary CoBsrora Zasu Pitts •tJharlla Owen • Robert Schable •Winnie Bcrnlcs Frank Genevlere Fowler Dorothy Oordon Nancy...< Muriel MacOormlc A society comedy-drama Is here presented neatly. It has a capital thread of romance, an agreeable flavoring of comedy and character drawing and telling comedy com- plications. The defect is that it is a talky play In the first place and here Is struggling with the unhappy medium of pantomime. The result is little action and long passages of draggy developments, most of which are dlsclosei via titles. However, It does build up to a satisfying climax and the last reel Is the best of the five, loaviug" a pleasing final effect in the happy working out of a tangle of inlsun- derstandlnga A lot of rather trlf- KENTUCKY DERBY Universal-Jewsl producttoa adapted from the play by Charles T. Dasey, "Tha 8ut»- ui<ban." The scenario Is by Oeorse Hull; photnin'aphy t>y Victor Mllnsr; dtrectt>d by ICins Uasrutt; at B. F. Moas' Broadway, Dee. S. D(>nald Gordon Ras^nald D<>nny Alice Bixjwn Lillian Rich Col. Moncrlef Oordoa Emmett Kins Ralph Gordon Walter MoGrall Helen Gordon... Gertrude Astor Col. Rome Woolrlch Llonei B<»lmore Joe Ranee ...KInfrslsy Benedict Newcoml>e Bert Woodruff Top^r Tom Brt Tracy Bob Thurston Harry Carter Capt. Wolff Wilfred Lucas Jensen .Pat Hnnnon Mrs. Clancy Anna Hernandec Tlmmy Clancy Vsrna Winter 100% •r THB Exhibitors of Michigan Read our magazine published every Tuesday, I£ you want to reach this clientele there is no better medium. Rates very low MICHIGAN FILM REVIEW JACOB SMITH, PuhliMher 415 Free Press Bldg. DETROIT, MICH. This Is a pip of a meller featuring Reginald Denny, who Is crashing Into prominence through the medium of athletic scenarios and a clean, manly per.sonaMly. The scenario frbm the old melodramatic play, "The Suburban," allows the director ample scope for action, hinged around the universally ap- pealing horse race and thorough- bred. The screen version follows the play somewhat, but shakes off the restrictions of the speaking stage when the hero is shanghaied and kept prisoner aboard a sailing vessel for three years. A pair of villains aided and abetted by a sea captain (muchly resembling Jack London'.<i famous sea bully, and also nnmod Wolf) succeed in estranging I^onald Oordon from his father. Col. Moncrief Oordon, a Kentucky breoder of thoroughbreds. The crooks steal $20,000 from the Gordon safe, throwing suspicion on yuung Gordon, who has Just been disowned by the Colonel for marry- ing the girl of his, and not his f.ither's choice. Gordon is kid- naped after being blackjacked In a sailors' lodging house in New York, and kept on the sailing vessel for three years. His young wife doesn't (1«>spair, and is Anally awarded when Gordon escapes after savinR WolTs life in a shipwreck. On his death bed on an island in the China Spa Wolf confesses his duplicity to Gordon. The latter returns in time to frustrate the schemers who luibed the Jockey named to ride the Colonel's horse In the Derby. Gordon switches Jockeys at the last moment, after appealing in vain to his father and Informing him of the plot. "Duke Charles" wins, saving the Colonel from flnanctal ruin. The crooks are ar- rested on a warrant from the New One flash at this production and it is easily seen that Daniel Carson Goodman started out to make a super-special. In this he failed, but he did turn out a whale of a program picture that in entertainment value stands out. The exhibitor that tokea this picture can either do a !ot of business or none nt aM, just on how he handles the exploitation. It is a picture that offers untold opportuni- ties in an advertising way, especially in the small towns and cities, an! there is where it oupht to clean up The story deals with the unrest among the women of today. Their constant quest of a thrill, no matter If they p.re amr>pg iho wealthy or among the middle class, their gen* er.al dissatisfied frame of mind over their own status in life, which eventually leads to the breaking up of homes and unhapplness. In a sense it is a sermon, but on the screen the theme is carried out In- terestingly. In cast the producer has gone the limit In the matter of names, and here certainly is a picture that one can bill practically as all-star. In production he has not stinted, and the picture shows that there was a lot of money spent on it. Jack Liee (Rod I a Hocque) Is a young archttect employed In the of- fice of Bascom (Wilton Lackaye). His home life is ideal, his wife being a good helpmate until she gets in with a grass widow who lives in the same apartment house. Then she starts moving in a fast set and the family goes to smash. Lee's em- ployer, a |5O,P0O a year man, has no better luck In his fomily, and In both cases H Is the women folk of the family that are the cause of the trouble. Through It all there is a carpenter who lives in the basement of the apartment house of the Lees who portrays a character akin to Jesus, apd in a quiet way he is the factor In strniprhtenlng out the af- fairs of thta.Lees, while the Bascom family likewise comes to see the light, and all ends happily. The cast without exception Is good, and La Rocque, Barbara Castleton. Lackaye and Hedda Hopper all score. Mrs. Oscar Hammerstein, the widow of the theatre builder and grand opera impresario, did a bit as a souse that landed. In Introduc- ing the character.**, however, there l.<» nothing to indicate who Is playing the various roles, and this makes It rather dlfflcult to the average plc- tivegoer to distinguii^ who is who. Fred. STREETS OF N. Y. A Burton King produ'ction. which has no bearing whatever on the title, selected undoubtedly for its attrac- tiveness, other than through the introduction of a number of sec- tional views of Greater New York, which precedes the unfoldiig of a weird, almost impossible melodra- matic yarn, and one.that Is neither interest-bearing nor sensational, ex- cept, possibly, near the finlHe. Then a rather good flood scene is shown with the principals struggling In the water in an overturned f»hanty, which tumble.s down a falls, ending the story and adjusting the com- plications. Just why the streets of New York, Coney Island. RIlia I.sland or any other pcrtioo of the mstropolic was selected for the title and shown la chopped views Is problematical. Tho story deals with the history of a crooked hanker, who saves bankruptcy and ruin by lifti.ig llOO.. 000, placed In his hands by a sea captain. Immediately after banking this sum. the captain returns and demands it, learning of the banker's ruin, but upon being refused, con- veniently dies of heart disease. The banker and his chief clerk have the secret between them, ths banker keeping the money and th* clerk the receipt for It. which hs deftly lifts from the dead man's pockets. Years later, we see the banker's iaughter grown up, a oharitably* Inclined girl, pretty, etc Also ths sea captain's widow and crippled boy. crippled In an auto accident In which the banker's daughter was th« passenger. The mother Is a wtvik, haggard old wo^ian, who scrul floors for a Uvlng. The director h her placed in the banicer's office. Then dispossess proceedings. Ths boy. a street violinist, meets ths banker's daughter, a love affair and the flood scene, which culminates la their marriage and the straighten- ing of the banker's business deal, the son getting his father'j money, of course, while the banker and h S chief clerk rush to their death v«ver the waterfalL It Is a penny thriller, and a poor one at that. What acting is oMered is of the average type. wUt; *he girl shining In this department. The interior scenes are all of the con- ventional sort, well set. but nothing exceptional. As a fcuturo i-icture. this is Just one of those passing things that flll a program, but mean nothing at the gate. Its title, misleading, of r-ouree. shows the producer's sagacity, for such a title carries some value a.s a magnet, even though it has no tvla- tion to the subject pictuied. It failed to arouse any enthusiasm at Loew's State Monday and l>eyond the water scene has n'.>thin(; to rec- ommend It. Wtfnn. i WHAT FIRST NATIONAL'S ALTAR STAIRS This Universal feature has Frank Mayo looking like a mirror reflection of Wallace Reld. Seemingly all that U. will have to do is to furnish Mayo with a line of Reld stories and they ViTlll develop this ctar to an extent where he will be in lino to steal all of Reld popularity at the box offlce. This picture is an Interesting one that will please the majority of audiences in the daily change of program liuUF.es. hut not strong enough to make the grade on three- day or week run. It is a otory o( the south seas with Mayo the captain on a trading schooner. He ia employed by a com- panj' that operates from one of the principal I.Hlands. On the island that Is the home port there Is a girl with whom the c:xptutn falls In love and although chc seemingly returns his affection sho refuses to marry him. Tho reas'f; bring slie has been secretly wed to a chap who has developed Into a bad boy. Through picture coi.MC'dc.ice this husband is one of the crew the captain has on board his ship slated to act as the company's agent on one of the islands. On this Island a parson has set up a church and convinced the natives they should embrace Christionity, they accepting his teachings until the trading post ARE DOING - .^ "BRAWN OF THE NORTH" George T. Poivler, Lux Theatre, Banff, Alia, wires: "Broke all summer and winter records with Strongheart In 'Brawn of the North.* Patrons demandfki return showing^, which I am booking. Such a picture makes an exhibitor's life worth living. Believe you have the world beaten." y .: "' "EAST IS WEST" ^ : ' The New York American says: "Constance Talmadge scores in 'East Is West.' She docs all sorts of dramatic things. I unhesitatingly say that it is the best picture she ever made. An excellent picture and amusing Never a let-up." ;•;■.; "MINNIE" ;..,.- '•-."";:. ^v^'t;•;^:•\■' The New York Telegraph says: "Marshall Neilan's 'Minnie' is so human and natural and so absurdly tragic that it is quite overpowering. No touch is left out to make it true to life, but the reality of the externals are sur- passed by the penetration of the heart." i^ "SKIN DEEP" : .: E. D. Keiltnan, Grand Theatre, Topeka, Kan., says: "Thomas H. Ince's 'Skin Deep' is melodrama and unusual. Put it on with special settings and cleaned up." "THE MASQUERADER- H. J. Longaker, Haward Theatre, Alexandria, Minn., says in the Exhibitor's Herald: "Guy Bates Post is a real actor. 'The Masquerader' holds the attention to the end. Everyone proclaimed it extra good." . "THE BOND BOY" Life says: -■■.■■,:■.•■ •.-■:■;.'.-■',./''*'■.;-.^ "There are several fine qualities evident in 'The Bond Boy.' There is the acting of Richard Barthelmess, and the direction of Henry King. There is a trial scene which is a marvel. There is a thrilling cha.se and many gorgeous backgrounds." > "OLIVER TWIST" Jud^e says: "All the people who love 'Oliver Twist' arc going to have the time of their lives. Jackie Coogan plays him to perfection and looks the very image of him." FIRST NATIONAL PICTURES — u \i':