Variety (July 1923)

F^-" y..^ ,^-* ■ rhuniday. July M, 192S PICTURES T-p jrr HOLLYWOOD Chicago. July t$. protfvctioii wMh JauM Owm rir«t ahowa at tba OrplMam. j«iy SI, wbarv tha plMtoplay 1«lad boasa for a ma. Raa« ^— A ranod' w ^i^itakw*•••••••******''^P* Brown Wbltak«r**<' Lak« Coflfrove 7«frarts > O. K. Arthur Mather Whltaker..... Ruby Lafayette A Wbltakar aieanor Lawmob PriDffle«>>«> i>«*.KlD( Zany /• Jt picture that can be exploited ^|y the uee of the claim there are # large number of stars in M. While 'tbe players proper ara not well known, at aome time &r otbar for a : foment or two In the ploture ttoe i^^njorlty of the better known •ten '«f fllmdom are Jntroduced. The list ^^includes: GMsU R. DeMllIa Tim. 8. Hart w Walter Hter» a* McAvoV ^lea de Roche • Owen Moore Baby Percy Viola Dana JLiina Q- NIIsBon Tboma* Jjieiyban B«(ty Coanpaon Uatrtce Joy f U e u . Komlott Itoorve Fawcett 2ry»n Washburn Hope Hampton Seen Percy II Montana ToUk NeiiTl Jack Hol^ -<acqu«nnc Logan NIta Nal.li Wm. de Mille .lack PlGkford Lloyd HamlHon Will Rofers T. Roy Bamea A Knee Ay res I^ila Lee Lois Wllaon Noah Beery AH. E. Grr«n AnKa Stewart Ben Turpin J. W. Kerrigan Ford Sterling (.: The Story la cleverly conceived. *It concerns a pretty girl In a small town who thinks that vhe should be ta the movie« and who 14 urged by her friend to enter. 8h« is of a poor iami^ and hae an ailing grand- father. Using the need of a change <tC air for her grandfather, she visits ^Jlollywood on funds provided by the ; ffUe of the lot on which Jtlie family iMwne ha« just burned, a donation 9f the grandmother, who is certain ri^e girl will succeed. L ( Having nothing but beauty In her i^vor, she cannot sret a chance; but the grandfather, being a type. Is practically forced into film work by f^runners for producers. He takes •n airs, is an honored guest at the homes of the stars, while the girl who expected to prove a sensation In plotures^depends upon him for her living. The old chap becomee so gay the «lrl writes home without making er letter plain. The grandmother and an old maid- of the family rush ta Hollywood on money the old fel- . low sent home. They are both nabbed as types and get into pic- tures. The girl Anally marries, and her twins are commandeeredT* for pictures. Every one connected with her geta Into pictures but she. her- ■elt It Is an amueing idea, good com- •dy, and the fact that the inside life of Hollywood is shown with many notable stars appearing for a feioment makes It a capital draw. Uvery one will want to see it The girl meets Mary Pickford, to Whom she delivers a dress. Mary ealta Doug Fairbanks out that the irlrl may meet him. Other stars ftppear equally a« briefly, but they I4>pear. Loop. THE IITH HOUR reftea by Bernard J. Darning. fiblrlay Maaoo and Cbarlaa Jones featured. Pra- J?S*!*. Sr 'YiHI^SLf"* •* • *•«»*» »^^- Vf *L**1?J!:*"* "^'^^ theatre. New Tork. July 80. IMS Running time. 65 minutea S?r. if'S ^^^} *..... Shir ley Mason 21' il ^^rP*"**??, Charlee Jonee Si'^'^'^^^^l*"*"'* Richard Tucker Prince Stefan da Bemla Alan Hale wiS^ii w'*l W Walter McOiall Submarine Commander Pred Keleey Mordecai Newman Nigel de Bruller A red-hot. rip-snorting melodrama that is going to pull the audiences right out of their seats. It Is a pic- ture that has everything in the way of thrills In It except the kitchen stove. In fact. It Is a serial Jammed Into Ave reels, and while it may not have everything that "TTie Past Mall" had It Is there with punch after punch that is going to delight the average picture audience. One has to hand it to Lincoln J. Carter when he sets out to thrill,, for he writer every twist and turn possible Into his works. On the screen these days they can do so mu«h more with one of his real mellow meHers than they could on the stage that the screen versions of his works have the punch plus,* "The Eleventh Hour" is one of those'mystery thrillers with the heroine a girl whose guardian-unele has squandered her fortune and who doesn't know It The uncle !s In the hands of the heavy, who wants to marry his ward, and the two are In a plot to evolve the most power- ful explosive in history. A mad prince learns of their object and Is aware of the fact that they have, finally solved the question, and he plans to seize the formula. He starts his secret society members after the formula. He has a submarine, a secret wireless cabinet and all the other aids that a first-class villain should have. In his employ as commander of his forces he has a sturdy young fellow who. after traveling through the greater part of the story In the guise of a heavy, finally emerges as the hero and happens to be a member of the Secret Service. At the finish he rescues the girl from the clutches of the villain and all ends happily. In addition to the submarine there are aeroplanes, fast motor boats, automobile chases, a den of/lions and trap doors galore to furnish thrills and the manner In which the story is worked out certainly sup- plies all that could be asked in the way of ppnches. Shirley Mason Is the youthful heroine that takes a number of chances, and Charles "Buck" Jones is the athletic hero who pulls all the stunt stuff Imaginable. m Bernard Durning, who directed the picture, made it a wizz-bang for speed. This-Is one of those affairs that you don't want to look at if you have high, blood pressure, but audiences are Just about going to ea* It up. Fred. LAWFUL LARCENY AHaa Dwaa prodmUlM^ Praaeatad hr Adolph Ewkor. AduUd froai tfea play by Nita NaJdL Hopa Haaipton. OMirad Nagel and Lew Cody, DlrMrtad by AJlaa Dwan. Shown at tha RIvoll. Naiv Tork. week Jaly 22. Running tlma. M aalavtea. Marlon Doreey Hopa Hampton Andrew Doreey Conrad Nagel Vivian Hepburn Nlta Naldi Ouy Tarlow Lew Cody Sonny Dorsey RuaMU Griflln Here is a whale of a picture for entertainment purposes. The story is a high-class society melodrama taken from the Samuel Shlpman play-in which Lowefll Sherman ap- peRre<l laat season and which is serving the A. H. Woods star as a vaudeville vehicle for the summer. In the screen version much has been added to the original which lends a delightful comedy relief. Lew Cody's playing of Tarlow Is In Itself a work of art and adds tremendous- ly to the screen valu*. Incidentally this picture again shows Allan Dwan back In his directorial stride at his best. As a picture "Lawful Lar- ceny" is sure-flre for any type of audience In any typ« of house from the highest to the lowest The featuring of four names—Nlta Naldl, Hope Hampton, Lew Cody and Conrad Nacal—Clvsa ths picture more value at ths box oflSce for the exhibitor. Th^ wlss theatre men will also take advantage of the fact that Oilda Gray is In ths production with her famous South Sea Island dance that she does in ths current "F(A- liea" and maks cdvertlsing capital out of it The story Is that of a wealthy young husband who Is left In New York to amuse himself while his wife is abroad. He falls into the clutches of a heavy society vamp who Is run- ning what is on the surface a so- ciety club, which In reality is noth- ing but a crooked gambling house., and who has for her silent partner a society man about town who has a good name but Is short on dough. The two manage to "takfe" the young husband for all that he has and then in addition get him to sign a note for $100,000 on his firm. That is the condition of affairs when the wife returns and obtains a. confession from her husband. She then lays plans for the recovery of the money and the note, She^tarts out by vamping the society steerer and finally by using a cheating cheaters idea manages to attain her object. Miss Hampton plays the wife, with the soft focus lens in use for every one of her close-ups. Miss Naldi was the heavy vamp to perfec- tion, and she looked wonderfully well In the prolog in a Cleopatra role. Mr. Nagel was all that could be asked as the young husband, but the honors of the picture must be hand- ed to Mr. Cody for his playing of the part that Sherman originally created on the stage. He walked away with the picture. The director deserves credit for getting aU of the punches possible and never permitting the story to lag for an instant. Fred. rv COLUMBU5 cniCMf OpeningWednesday Eve,, Aug, Ist •nd Twice Daily thersafter MARION DAVIES xvith VICTOR HERBERT and HIS ORCHESTRA OPENING NIGHT PRICES: $2.75; BALCONY. |1.65; THREE WISE FOOLS Ooldwyn production, directed by King Vldor, from the stage play by Austin Strong. Running time. 78 minutea. Seen at CaT>lto). Flndlf'y Claude GlHlngwater Rena PalrcMM EUeanor Doar.^.man Sydney Fairchlld BilMinor Boariman Hon. Jnraea Trumbull....William H. Crane Dr. Gaunt Alee Prands John Crawahay John Salnpolli Benny tha Duck Brlnaley Shaw Gray ^...•• •••..Pred Bam^lton Gordon ....Winiam Halnra DouRlaa Luclen LlttleAbld Mickey , ZaSu Pitta Saunders ....Martha' Mattoz Poole..... Pred J. Butler Clancy Charles Hlrkman Young nndley Craig BIddle, Jr. Young Trurnbull CrelRhton Hale Young Gaunt Raymond Uatton There have been squawks innu- merable—and many bitterly Just— of screen "versions" that perverted and distorted the brain-children of playwrights. But Austin Strong should say a prayer of thanksgiving to the folks who executed bis "Three Wise Fools" in ths client form, for they have caught all his subtleties, preserved all the finesse of his amlahle tale, and added to It those possibilities of distance, outdoors and rapid shifts of locale that only the films can ailord. For fidelity to an original, the Vidor production Is |i model. One who sees the picture at the Capito'l ha.9 seen the play as done by John Golden. But he who haa only ^een the play has not seen "Three Wise Fools" until after witnessing the picture. That Is the apotheosis of screen adaptation. ■ ' It makes an acceptable, pleasing feattire, not thrilling and not even important But it is clean, humor- ous, romantic, sane, plau.siblo and capable of hofldlng continuous con-' contration without boring or giving the onlooker any creeps or .umps. It i", for the main, a "parlor" story. The brief flaHhes afar Into the un- derworld alleys, the counter-atmos- phere of the story, are no more than relief. The love portions, too, are daring- ly light. And the ki.sa between the youngsters takes place half-way along instead of being tortuously preserved for the tag, as Is the orthodox method, against which few directors dare rebel. The interest is not in any measure ruptured or even spotted thereby. The photography Is of the modem type of the best—sharp, clear and fine. The settings are mainly de- voted to the Interior of the home of L0GE8, $65.00three old gentlemen who loved the one girl, with an acre of living room sjsd A great shot upstage'to a ttalr- cas« that permits of plenty of run- ning up and down without gettini; outside ths focus. Ths direction is slmpls. straightforward and human. For • production that cost compara- tively little, as costs are reckoned In this prodigal age. the entire effect is rich and impressive. In the acting Eleanor Boardman easily stands forth, with Claude Oill- ingwater as one of the trio of monkey-glandless Romeos taking next honors. William H. Crane, the unctuous veteran, is prominent but not brilliant. ZaSu Pitts has %he merest sort of a meaningless bit, as have Creighton Hale and Craig Bid- dlc, Jr. (the last of these the Phila- delphia "scipn" who is breaking in), and these Interesting personalities go for Incldsnt&Is. William Haines makes a colorless youn» hero. •Three Wis* Fools" will do any- wha*«. It Is good enough to play up, AS It will please and entertain. and It should hs well within the |»rio« ot ths avsrags sxhibitor for a program feature on the apparent ecenomy of the Invetrtment; not that it Is done cheaply, but it is done as weni as it well could be done, and still finds no occasion for lavish out- lay. For a sound, sweet picture that will never hit anyone hard but should react on many people pleas- antly, it hi a success. Mitf. MIND OVER MOTOR Los Angeles, July 25. "Mind Over Motor.*' proiluc'cd s.nd di- rected by Ward Lasoellee. starring Trlxie Prlgania. Diatrllnited by Principal Plo- turea Corporation. Running time, CO mlo- at««. Hill Street. Iioa Angelea. This Mary Roberts Rinehart story, published in "Saturday Evening Post" as "Tish" and scenarixed by H. Landers Jackson, proved a happy selection for Trixie Friganza's screen debut. Letitia Carberry. also known as Tish. fits Into the story like a glove. Miss Frlganxa should encourage the vaudeville star to film more of Miss Rlnehart's stories. The continuity and the direction are not so good and the lighting in spots is also off, with the cast, though not holding any other names of note, still is good. Just Why Tish was not Incorporated In the title is not clear, as the present title is of little consequence. The story evolves Larry Steers as Ellis, fake race promoter, inducing Tish to innocently finance a fake motor race in which three of the drivers are fixed. The fourth, Ralph Graves as Jasper McCutcheon, is in love with Clara Horton as Bettina Bailey, and enters the contest, but near the finish of the race is pocket- ed and injured. Tish, realising unless the race Is won she would be arrested for con- spiracy, jumps into the racing car and wins. Tish taking the wheel is the punch and draws applause. Bennett Copen anddL^nders Jack- sons supplied good laughing titles. Others In the cast are Carolyn Rankin, Ruth Hanford. CJrace Gor- don, George Guy^on, Pietro Sosso, with Eddie -Hearne acting as official starter. ^ The Picture has many redeeming features and is above the usual con- ventional program features. Jo»ep'K9. THE PURPLE HIGHWAY Kenma production r^hniird by P«ram<>unt. Prom the play "Dear Me." by Lu'her Hc9«d and Hale Itamllton, adapted by Rufua Stee!". Star, Mad^e Kennedy. Directed by Henry Kaiker. Running time, W» minutes. At thp RIaHo, wf^pk of July 22. April Blair Mad«« Kennedy Fklgar Prentica (Edgar Craig). .Monte Blue Dudlfy QualJ Vincent Coleman Joe Renard Pedro de Cordoba Mrs. (barney .Emily PHsroy Mr. Quail Wm. H. Tooker Mrs. Qunll Winifrrd Harris Manny Rnan Dore Darideon ahakenpeare Jr'nes John W. Jenkins Mr. Ogllvie Charlea Kent lust a light breezy story of "two fellows and a girl," with the right fellow winning ou' Is the substance of this feature. Judiciously released for late summer or early fall pro- duction, prior to the. time more composite and impressive subjects are placed on view. Madge Kennedy Ig introduced .is a slavey and goes along until achieving puccesA as a musical com- edy star. The burden Is placed on Miss Kennedy, who struggles, In some instances against the odds of negligible direction, to do the best she can toward making the picture entertaining. The balance of credit should go to the title writer. The cast sec.is to move In a list- le.«w, nonchalant manner, taking or being given little opportunity to re#:lstor in what should be dramatic and comedy moments. Blua, oppo- site Mi.wi Kennedy, straggles throuph as though JuHt part of the usual day's routine. Vincent Cole- man, es the Indulgent aon of rich parentp, desirous of winning the COSTU M ES F" O R HIRE New York's Newest and Foremost Costume Rental Orpanlzaticn BROOI48 1437 B'way. Tel. 5580 Per prlRia donna, gives a similar color« lees interpreoUion. Dore Davidsoiw as the theatrical manager and pro- ducer, strives to be realistic, hat lippeared held In *'Ieaah" to enable Blue to stand out. Davidson's show* ing is greatly enhanced by the titia speeches he makes. The etory tells of the establish^ ment of a home by % millionaire for literary and artistic failures to oom« memorute the failure of his son, who left home to become a playwright. The entire duty of the inmates of the home Is to eat. sleep and recreate. Most of the latter they get through the good nature of April -Blair, daughter of a musical genlufl, who had left her: homeless; and, to the mercies of Mrs. Carney, the housekeeper, who installed her as maid of all duties. The majority of the shots are in<* doors, with an endeavor made to ha spectacular In a ballroom scenes where a fiylng ballet Is used, ana in a sunken garden, where a pageant is enacted, after which a pyrotech- nio display biases out the name of the girl. The theatre scene is cheaply staged, with Just a few chorus girla used. As the picture appears now H can. be placed in the group of fair pro* ' gram releases, with nothing to recommend It outside of the nam* of Kennedy. •»' OUT OP LUCK UalvaiMkl featora aurring Charfas (••Hoot") uitaoB. aapported by Laura L* rv***; w ^"SLJ^fi soanario by BdwaM SMlgwiek. ProjaeUon tlma, 12 mlnuta» At the Broadway, New Tarb. July M. Another light comedy with melo- dramatic trimmings such as hava furnished Qlbson with his best ve- hicles. In this case, although thh story Is western In its background, « there is no cowboy-rlding stuff. Oddly enough the best of the mate- rial has Qlbson as a gob, struggling laughably with navy discipline. There are some gobd laughs her^' although they do rather overplay such business as the hero struggling to walk a boom and get himself stowed In a sleeping hammock. From the plains to the deep sea la a novelty, and here it works out for capital effeota Qlbson is always likable, espeelany in this release, which shows him at his breesy best This star has conferred a great serv- ice to ths fan public in putting tha Josh into westerns, even If he has killed the locale for straight heroics. The combination of melodrama and nonsense is well done. Comedy has the upper hand; instead of the old method of putting the emphasis on the straight stuff and introducing comedy by way of relief it's tha other way round. The comedy is tha backbone of the story and the melo- drama insinuated for change of pace. Hoot is a regular cowboy, but even in that capacity he never gets a leg over a hors*. Instead he rides a ' bicycle to keep^tryst with his swee^-' heart. Nellie Is willing, and Just asi: :; they become betrothed Nellie's papa,' the bully of the community, enters^ and knocks the Interloper cold fof^. daring to kiss the girl. He Is about to commit further assault and bet-1 tery upon the suitor when Hoot picks'^' up the poker and lays him out.i'. ■ Thinking he has killed the old man. Hoot beats It by way of the freight : route to the nearest seaport. The eatihg Is not so good, and starvation and luck finally bring him to a naval recruiting station, where he Is regularly Introduced to the trick pants and the rest of the para- phernalia. Meanwhile Nellie's father recovers and, recognizing that tha mixup was aH his own fault, adver- tises for Hoot to return. There is a bit h«u-e—-detailing Hoot's Ingenuous explanation to the petty omcer that =' he has roplgned and is going home— . that Is as full of laughs as a Harold \ Lloyd gag. Instead Hoot Is shipped off to sea. There Is oapltal stuff aboard a real man-o'-war. Hoot is so sick ^ they send him to the bav. There he meets up with a crazy seaman* . < whose bug Is that he must murder- the captain. Meanwhile Nellie has left the old place to live for a wh^a with her rich aunt. Hoot saves tha' captain's life and Is made a special messenger for the skipper by way of reward. Returning to port the crazy / seaman escapes, while the captain • > takes Hoot home with him. Cruzy seaman makes tracki for the captain's home, and It turns out that the captain's wife Is none other than Nellie's aunt, but Hoot doesn't know it yet. The meeting is brought about when Hoot discovers the mur- derous maniac In the house and . again save his skipper's life. That ; leads to the happy clinch. Throughout the Joke Is always on the hero, which makes it all the more amusing to fans fed up on stilted screen actors. Capital five ret^rls of solid amusement. At the Broadway the end of the picture brought a burst of applause •^f-ldoa% heard In a picture house. Jiuah, — All Exhibitors--^ in Michigan Read our magazine published every. Tuesday If you want to reach this cllentcia there is no better medium. Rates yry low I MICHIGAN FILM REVIEW JACOB SMITH, Publisher 415 Frt9 Press BIdg. DETROIl