Variety (July 1923)

ss PICTURES -M »«q»r■ Thursday. July 26, 1923 LEONARD—TENDLER Shown at B. S. Moss* Broedwsy July 2' ProduciHl by Cromwell A. C. Inc. lUrcc- ttoa L)>on D. Hrltton. ReleaMd through PMUKr rrodiicllona. Length, JO luiuuUia. The Leonard-Tend lor flRht pic- tures at the Broadway are produc- tions of tho 15-round championship bout stagrcd July 23 at the Yankee Stadium, in which Leonard out- potntf^d Tendler and retained his title. The pictures are the best fight shot* ever seen around New York. The entire 15 rounds are shown, as well as some Interestinflr prelimi- nary shots ot the Leonard and Tendler camps. No views of the hugre throng were shown, due to the late hour. This helped the film rather than else- wise, confining it to actual fight- lnc» which is what the mob at the Broadway wanted to see. Slow motion shots of two rounds were shown in rounds 12 and 13. The pictures also refute the claim that Tendler went down In one round from a punch. It can be plainly seen that Tendler missed a swing and went down from loss of balance. The pictures will interest every done, but they don't show the supe- riority of Leonard as the actual contest warranted on account of the angle shot from. Many of Leonard's punishing body blows and uppercuts are missed on ac- count of the speed of the camera. This occurs also when one fighter has his back to the camera. The one-minute rest, periods be- tween rounds are supplanted toy captions commenting upon the fight and the crowd, all well written and interesting. Sidelights of the fight are shown in shots of the scribes working in the press stands. Damon Ranyon being prominent. A battle royal staged at Leonard's camp for charity was interesting. A flock of kids whaling away at each other is then shown with slow motion ef- fect. Leonard's sportsmanship In allowing Tendler to recover his bal- ance after mlKsfng punches and Aivlng Into the roi»os is uliown on several occasions. The pictures should be a draw, for the fight Itself was one of the most interesting contests ever staged between liglitweights and one that lends itself to photographic reproduction admirably. Con. TRILBY Richard W»lton Tully present* a new screen version of George Du Maurier'a fa- mous novel, starring a new French star, Andrea l^afayette. Directed by James Toung. Distributed by First National. ProjtK-tlon time, 82 minutes. Projection room July 20. Trilby Andre* T^afayette ^vengaJt Artbur Sdmund Csrew The I^alrd......... Wilfred Lucas 7.ouzoa Mmorlc* Cannon Durlen « Ckirdoa Mallai Mme. Vinard ....Martba Wanklln Rev. Itagot .Ollbart Clayton ImprosarTo Kdvard Kimball Little BIllM Creifhton Hale Taffy , t'bilo IfcCullough Oerko Francis McDonald Dodor Max Cciistaiit Miss Bagot Gertrude Olmstead Mrs. Bagot .'Brelyn Sberman Laundress Roas Dlone leannot Robert Da VIlblSK Richard Walton Tully has filmed an especially satisfying version of "Trilby," notable in respect to the playinff of two roles—Mile. Lafay- ette and the Svengali of Arthur Ed- mund Carew. It must have taken a good deal of courage to make the e«Ray, for "Trilby" was not written for the screen. It has high dramatic qualities, but they depend intinoately upon mood and atmosphere in a pe- cullflr degree. This production is appealing be- cause it does get over something of the color and shading of the orig- inal, a background of picturesque^ studio life in Paris of the 80's, a far more delicate thing to manage than the mere presentation of the narrative. The original has been treated rev- erently, although changes were un- avoidable. The delightful Christ- mas party is himed with a good deal 7 of agreeable detail, but it is here that Bagot and Little BlUee's mammA break Into Trilby's romance instead of later on. The picture is particularly generous In the pic- turizing of small incidents. Very little of the material has been elided—the incident of Little Bll- lee's sketch of Trilby's foot. Gecko's fight with Svengali. Trilby's Job as "blanchlsseuse de fin," etc. The life and soul of the story lies largely In tlie«<^ Hide lights, and the screen version takes life and color from their use. j The picture appears to have been made principally on this side, al- though there are a number of shots taken in Paris and matched up here. Generally the work has been well done. There are views from the studio of the Three Musketeers of the Brush, with the city in the background. For these the placing of the American characters by way of foreground shots is skillful and convincing. The bier scene of Sven- gali's death was done in the studio, of course, but real bits of the actual Clrcue de Paris, with an enthusias- tic audience in appropriate business, gave the incident imntense force. The screen version holds to the original ending. A manufactured happy ending would have been a crime, and although perhaps thfiL death of the heroine is not the best ending for a picture. It was here Inevitable. Andree Lafayette is an ideal Trilby In face and figure. She is best In the comedy passages, such as the camaraderie with Taffy and the Laird, and she has a knack for soatlmentat scenes, but her mau- agement of the more emotional mo- ments was not so convincing. The scene where Little BiUee finds her posing in the altogether before the art class (neatly and discreetly done as far as suggesting without revealing too much of the girl's un- draped figure) was not very strongly acted. But the lighter scenes are delightful. Crelghton Hale's Little Billee is pale and Indefinite, and Wilfred Lucas, smothered in beard, is not very impressive as tho Laird. Philo McCullough was uneven as Taffy. But the performance of Carew as the sinister Svengali Is ample compensation for the deficiencies of the others. It is a great bit of play- with A girl and marrying one of the shop girls who on the next day^fter the marriage is not averse to re- celvlnir a former suitor in her honrke In her husband's absence; the ensu- ing divorce; the hunt for the "girl without a name" and the final find- ing of her in Siberia during the war where she is in the service as a Red Cross nurse and he as a pri- vate. That covers considerable ter- ritory and only briefly touches on the Incidental sub-plots—and there Is much of that too. The casting was really high grade. Cullen Landls as Nathan, was sincere and Mildred Harris was a,sympathetic feminine lead. Louise Pazenda lent some comedy inter- est and David Butler, who looked like a "comer" a couple of years back, only figured with a small bit. Ralph Lewis as the father was superb. Ahek SAWDUST Circus story by Courtney Riley C<>oper. trnXmrlng CMadys W«iton. Universal pro- doctioB, directed br Jack Oonway. Half a double feature bill at Loew'a New York June 19. Runs About SO minutes. Nlta Moore (Janic* Wrntwortb) Olady V Walton Phillip NMea Welch •Buli" Oifford rrank Brownie* ing. Hush. THE FOG I IffM your hair! I love you! You shall belong to me, Svengali, and I will make you famous! s MARK T R A N Broadway at 47th Street D BEGINNING SUNDAY, JULY 29 An Immortal Romance of the Paris Latin Quarter ' , ■■':■■. .-' ,.■.;*■■;'' . - " '. ^ ■. ■ 'i, ■■ ■ , ' •■• ■ _ * ■ ' , . V '''"'*. " Picturized to rival the stage :i triumph and the famous novel by George Du Maurier ^RICHARD WALTON TULLY presents his screen version of VMRILBY" with the celebrated French stir -^ — Andree Lafavette Directed by James Young i^cenarlo by Richard Walton Tull> Wilfred Buckland, Art Director <;corge Benoit, A. S. C, Cinematograpl A Hrjbt notional "Picture Max Oraf production released tlirough Ix>ew Metro. Adapted by H. H. Van Loan from William Dudley Pelley's story. Scenario prepared by Winifped Dunn. Dl- recttU by Paul Powell; photocrapby by John R. Arnold. Runs about an hour. At Loew's Stale. New York. In conjunc- tion with Ix>ew vaad<nilte July aSI-'JO. The cast: Madclaine Tbaddon Mildred Harris Millie Kioharfls .....Louise Fasenda Mrs. Thedilon Louis* Dresser Kdlth Forse Marjorie Prevost Carol Garilaer .....Ann May Mrs. Forffe , Ethel AVales rVathan Forge Cuiien I^ndis Jonathan Forge Ralph Lewis Si IMumb David Butler Caleb Oridlpy Prank Currier UordoQ Rugtcles Edward Phillips Several valuable box office names included among the cast as.witness above and they should mean some- thing at the gate. The interpreta- tion Is consistently intelligent and the direction rather good. Yet somehow tho sum total does not ring true. The basic genesis of it, as transferred to the screen, pre- sents a rather flimsy groundwork. It may be this is one of those un- usual instances of too much story. A recounting of the plot details this, but at the same time it would or- dinarily tend to belie the ns.sump- tion that the story was to blame. Tosslbly what it lacked was a mas- ter's hand in wielding the puppets. A sneaking idea persists that if a Griffith had manipulated the mechanics the story might have re- sulted In a truly unusual picture. There is enough character material to allow for some unusual Inter- pretations. As it is. It's a passably fair production, mildly Interesting when one is inclined to loll back and let the screen have its hour of flickering and when it's all shown and done with, one reflects and concludes what a flimsy idea to base a romance on. It may be that having become inured with aaccharlne roman- ticism this deviation from the ideal .does not jibe with one's expecta- tion. But again it is refuted when It Is considered that originality is also appreciated and approved. The action Is set in Paris, Ver- mont. Jonathan Forge, "a narrow- minded bigot who horsewhips his Juvenile offspring, Nathan, for mingling with girls at a harmless children's picnic is introduced. Nathan, grown up and harboring a secret desire to write, has been lost in an Ideal of "a girl without a name' who from her carriage sym- pathized years ago with the lad who was being cuffed and kicked down tho rond by an outraged father. On this ab.stract "girl without a name" idea is built a romance starting with the local gazette printing a poem of that title by Nathaniel Forge. The hick town paper seem- ingly has a wide cimnlHtion for in a distant girls' finishing school is the young lady who. as a girl, was so sympathetic to the then young Nathan. Nathan Is shown work- ing In a tannery; winning the in- terest of dour old Caleb, the pro- prietor; becomitig the pirt owner of a pai»<»r boK factory; losing out There'* a certain basic similarity between -Sawdust" and a recently released Paramount, "Soul of the Be^st," that is boujid to create com- ment from fans who see both. Both are circns stories and both yarns re- volve about a young circus per- former who tires of the big-top ex- istence and runs away from the circus. This general similarity becomes specific when the situation of the "Soul of the Beast" tale, which has the "heavy" in the guise of the hero- ine's stepfather, is paralleled in "Sawdust," the villain being the heroine's foster-father. Thereafter both are worked out differently. Doubtlessly this is Just one of those coincidences that has been known to occur in any creative work, for C. Gardner Sullivan ("Soul of the Beast" author) does not have to borrow from the popular Courtney Riley Cooper, and vice versa. How- ever, when "Sawdust" plays the New York on Tuesday and "Soul of the Beast" is boldly displayed and heralded with a replica of an ele- phant in front of the theatre as the coming Sunday-Monday's attraction, the regular patrons are bound to comment because of the brief in- terim between the two. The circus is labeled Delmar's Combined Shows and Is playing a southern town. Nita Moore's par- ents having died in a circus wreck, she is following the family tradition under the brutal, though none the less effective, guidance of "Bull" Glf- ford, her foster-father, who is ring- master. The girl is a feature of the circus, and, in addition, has her wor- ries in keeping two booze-flghting clowns out of the ringmaster's sight to avoid immediate dismissal. Dur- ing one of the clown Tip's "jags" Nlta dons the clown's costume /or the emergency, which culminates in her meeting Phillip, a young local attorney, who was seeking the show manager to adjust an irate client's claim of having his property unlaw- fully plastered by bill "snipers." Colonel and Mrv. Wentworth are Introduced as regular patrons of every incoming circus or carnival, hoping to find their daughter, who, the parents believe, had been kid- napped by show people. This la the cue for the friendly, short-changing ticket seller to frame Nita as the Wentworths' long-lost daughter. Nita, tired of it all and wanthig a home, acquiesces in the subterfuge and makes the old couple truly happy for a while, assuming the name of Janice Wentworth. Tho advent of another spring sea- son and the circus brings back "Bull" Gifford, who has been hunting for his runaway foster-daughter ever since her escape. Rather than return, Janice, after confessing to Colonel Wentworth that she is really not his daughter, attempts suicide via the neighboring creek, with Phillip effecting the rescue. "Bull" GlfPord is shown being chased off the premises by the former clown "Tip," now one of the Wentworths' gardeners. It la not made clear why Gifford so calmly acquiesces to a de- parture when at first he was Intent on getting Nita back under the big top. There's plenty of circus atmos- phere included with "shots" of the performers, although the "audience" is depicted only as a handful of ex- tras in one section of tho mammoth tent. The story progresses easily and smoothly, and is paeaably pleas- ing summer entertainment. It was coupled here with a rather good Fox program releaae, both features hold- ing up. The star Is consistent In her char- acterisation, the hoyden in her, a heritage of the circus rearing, be- coming manifest In her occa.sional lapses, such as using her boudoir chandelier for trapeze purposes, the four-poster bed for acrobatics and the bedspring for flip-flops. Nil^s Welch has few opportunities becauHo of the story limitations, but docs his bit rather well. Brownl«e was a villainous "heavy" and m^de the role vivid. The picture should hold up aU ii > in the small duilv-thahge houses Abel STOCKS QUIET (Contlnned from page T) partisans of the stock, probably!^ aiders, tried to make a market fal the Usue during the favorable xnatl ket of the sprinc. but when tb«y found ths bottom dropping out tf the whole list around the first week in »tay they besao to ourtall on! eratlons. Obviously, if the geneni market situation was unfavorakis for putting prices up, the sensibU thing to do was to withdraw and let ths price find its own Utw. Pools frequently hold accumulations a year or more through all sorU oC tough times 'and then come back when ths market position is rigkt Apparently this is what is going m in Goldwyn. ^w_- No Curb Trades /^ It is significant that there has not been a trade in an amusement stock on the Curb for three weeks^ or since tl^e Big Board undertook its drastic campaign to reform business methods In the outside market. The record Is the best erl. dence that the Exchange ft sin- cere in Its annoimced determination to end sharpshooters' operations and washing of prices on the little exchange. The Curb list of indus- trials has 'shrunk to about thirty- five active items, compared with at least twice that number befors the reform, and probably , thres times as n»any when the -Curb ,wa#*. an open air affair and trading was wide open. The Curb has Its 6wn ticker now and the making^ ©f fictitious markets is discouraged. Four film stocks are dealt in. Film Inspection Machine. D. W. Griffith* Technicolor, and Triangle, and some of these have been favorites of the professional sharps from time to time, particularly Triangle. The snmnaary of transactions July 19 te 2i, inciusivs: STOCK EXCHANGE Thursday— Sa1es.HiKh.L.ow. I.,ai»t.' Cbt "^ — * 1'!?? 7*'4 T?S T*'^ -h5 •0^ 16 +1 Fam. Play. -Li. l>o. pfd Seo HO I..oew. Inc 900 lU Boston sold no Orpheum. Friday— PSim. Ptay.-L,.. 8,800 7^% 74»4 7.'.% +1 Lo«w, Inc 200 16Vb Itt Itt Boston sold no Orpheum. Saturday— Fam. Play.-t... 1,700 7« 74<4 754 +H Do. pfd lOO W) M) W> Ukw. Inc SCO lOVi 16 16^ -f % Boston sold no Orpbeum. Monday— Fam. I»lay.-I*.. i.tOO 7«H t^^ 76»4 + % Do."TTd 200 (K» i¥) 90 Loew, lac 400 16U 15% 15% —% Orpheum 100 17V4 17\i IT^ +% Tuesday— Fam. Play.-L.. 4.100 7R% 7»A 73% -H Do. pfd 200 90 90 00 Loew. Inc 200 15% 15^ ISH •> U Orpheum 200 17«^ 17% 17% — V Boston sold no Orpbeum. Wednesday— Fam. rUjr..,L.. 8.700 74% T8% 74% +» Ooldwyn (new). 100 1«% 16% 16% + S lioew. Inc 100 IS 16 16 4-m Orpheam SOS 17% 17% 17% -f ^ Robert Kane, head of the Famous Players-Lasky scenario and script department, sails for Europe on Saturday aboard the Leviathan. Hs will remain abroad for about »m month. CAN YOU OFFER A POSITION TO THIS HIGH CLASS _ THEATRE MANAGER? 17 years of practical ex- perience in sifectively combining music, photo pla3rs, prologues, light- ing effects and other important units. A thorough knowledge of booking, bargaining and contracting for all ne- cessities required in presenting and advertis- ing first-class perform- ances to the masses. I build business and earn my salary. r i WRITE TO Address Box dO Variety, New York