Variety (December 1923)

r. Thursday, December 27, 1923 PICTURES VARIETY tbey ^r* K«n» uid add comedy r«- jlef Just wber« ne«dcd. The atorr >■ draped around the ' Bis Brother movement eponaored by ^ prominent criminologists and hu- ^ aianUarUn*. Jimmy Donovan (Tom Jdoore), granff leader from the car bam diatrlct, endeavors to father the kid brother of Big Ben Murray (Joe King). Ben is croaked in a sang battle. Donovan grows to love the kid and is drifting away from the gang i'^when the juvenile court dec»ldes hp ts no flt guardian, placing the boy In an orphanage, derar and Jailbird." The boy la finally sent away to school by his foster father, and after 13 years re- turns to the town. The district attorney and his son are mixed up in a shady oil prop- osition scheme^ and the local paper gets after them. The boy Is the editor and he takes his stand to maintain It Finally he la made assistant man- ager of the bank. When the dUtrtct attorney, driven to desperation through failure of the oil scheme to pan out, tries to decamp with t: e funds that the natives have Invested Donovan runs wild after that, but. " '* '*•« ^°y «hftt they have all cast Is llnally rejuvenated by tfie court's °"' '"^° soes after him and recovers promise the kid will be returned the coin. when he (Donovan) proves he has That makes him the hero, and the the T>roper nunliflcntlons for a Bi-r girl who was engased to the district Brother and will set the boy a good example. The scene Ip the Juvenile court Is a l>car. Midge Murray (Mickey Ben- nett), the kid. l.s haled before t!ip court. Thinking to Impress, he tell- the Judge what a toufrh egg his adopted father and hero l.s. The suh-titles. representing the kid'." conception of his gangsfer-hero, are comedy wows. The w»rk of the youngster Is also high cl.Tss and will probably elevate him. He was tlie perfi-.-l type of a sophisticated rhild of the streets. Ills playing of the character and uantomlme w.ts un- usual. The boy Is a distinct "type" and roiiM he fcntiired In '■t(ni"h 1 id" parts as long as the stories last. Tom Moore, as the gJinfister who mends his ways to qualify as an ox- ample for the boy, Is happily cast In a fat role that he milks e.\pertly. Moore looked and acted the we;i- dressed gansster of real life, not the poorly clad Idea of the average writer. The photography and direction are high class all through the picture. A ganr: fight which started at the annual ball of the Pastime A. C. was another triumph of direction and technique.. One little detail will ajif. flee to Illustrate the knon-Jedge of gangdom by the author andrdirertor. The leader of the rival gang arrives with his "motf." He wanders Inside and Is promptly "fanned" for his "rod" by the two bouncers. He Is "clean," for he had previously slipped the gat to the dame. She had It planted conveniently In her handbag. Kven in gangdom it Is Unethical to search a lady. A stick-up by four auto bandits was Just as Intelligently handled. The much-abused "cokle"* was re- juvenated by the character work of Raymond Hatton. His dope fiend Is a sterling bit of character acting and another of the many details that make this picture stand out among underworld shots like the Wool- worth building in a Ix>s Angeles •uburb. It Is. a realistic, melodramatic tri- umph and a really great picture. Con. attorney s son breaks off the match with the final fade-out flnding her in the hero's arms. The story drags along at a slow pace and at times becomes tire- some. The direction of Sherfdan Hall, while satisfactory from a per- functory viewpoint, docs not give the picnire a wallop at any point that would register particularly with an audience. Of the cast Mary Alden In a char- acter role for a^ brief time at the opening of the story registers strongly. Jlarguerite Courtot as the heroine Is conventlon.al, but Miriam Battista, whc plays the same char- acter as a little girl, gets her work over with a bang. That Is als» true of the two youngsters, Joseph De- pew and Jerry Devine. William B. Mack is the heavy and scores. There Is some fujrly good photog- raphy in spots, and a couple of street flghts between the kids reg- later for comedy. Fred. ENGLISH PROGRAM Edward L. Klein Co.. lm[>ortfYa and «x- portera, screen a aix-recl mixed program In thf MI1p« projection room, late last we*k, fflving alx reels tn a variety of one- and two-reelera. all Brltlnh. Two or the single reelers are educationals. A two-reel dra- matic, "The Reverse of the Medal." fol- lows, and the finale Is a two-reel comedy, "The Man Who Lilted r.,emon»." Tti« only star Is CUve Bn>olt, pl.-iymg the lead In "The Ravera« of the Medal." «p«n<!s th« whoto •<rin for lemons, leaving the burylttr to be eelied. There may b« a British national wheeze about >eaion eaters, but this reporter was too thick to set Ite humor. Ruth, THE RED WARN^G Universal, atarrlnc Jack Hoxle. Story, continuity and titles by Isadora Bam«tein. dlrertlon by Robert North Bradbury. Shown at the SUnley. N. T.. Dec 2B. 1823. Thos. Jerrrlea Fn-d Kohler Kntnk Ainslee Willlahi Welsh Geurire Ainslee Oeorge Welsh IjOui!«e AInsIee HTlinor Fields Harry Wl'IIama... .Ralph F. MacColIou^her I'hlllp Hav.r Jack H'xle Toby Jonoa , Frank Rice STEADFAST HEART Distinctive Production, adapted from tiic Mory of Clarence Rudlnicton Kell and by Philip Lonercan. DlrectPd by Sheridan Hall. Shown at the Cnpltol, New York, week Dec. 2S. Running time, 7S minutes. Lydta Oanfleld Marruertte Courtot Lydia Canfleld at 8 yoara. .Marinni Battlsta Ansufl Rurke JoKopb Striker Anffua Burke aa boy Joseph I>cpcw Mai rvane Huch Huntlej^ Mai Crane as Iwy Jerry Devine* Crane William B. Mack Blshwanf H'8>l'rry Tansey Mrs. Burke Mary Alden David Wilklns Mario Majeronl Tllus Burke Walter Ix>uls This Is a rather draggy affair that ■tarts depressingly and later light- ens up. As a picture It doesn't ap- pear on the surface to have any par- ticular strong box office appeaL It Is just one of the average run of f program pictures. There is one thing about the pro- duction. It has some half dozen names that might attract patronage. _ They are Marguerite Courtot, who V- makes a reappearance after an ab- t sence of some length; Miriam B:;t- p tlsta, William B. Mack, Mary Alden and Mario Majeroni. Incidentally, L there are a couple of kid actors In Joseph Depew and Jerry Devlne who make a decided bid for fame In [ the production. The story Is one of small town Intolerance. The Iiero is a yoimgster with low-browed parents who live In a shack on the outskirts of the town. The father commits a rob- ■^ bery and makes his getaway. The f mother, half-crazed from a beating. ^ believes that the posse searching £ for her husband are really bandita I; and she Instructs the lad to fire S" through the door when she gives f- the word. The boy does and kills t the sheriff. He Is tried for murder V. and acquitted, whereuiwn the editor ^ of the local paper adopts him, start- I Ing to educate and raise him. V The other youngsters of the town, L however, will have nothing to do M with the boy. One In particular, lii— the son of the district attorney who ( tried to have the boy convicted, takes •very opportunity to call him "mur- COS XUIVIES F" o R HI re: New York's Newest and 1 Foremost Costume j I Rental Organization I V;-. 1437 B'way. T*l.6680P«n. .i—J It Is not news that the Kngllsh producers have made long steps for- ward In their proiUi.tion methods and the quality of output. But It eeems they are no nearer the Amar- Ican. This group suggests some of the reasons why the KngUeh don't break in, although It does make It appear that they are doing ex- tremely well with one-reel non- theatrical subjects. The two educationals ehown here are of high quality, scenlcally, and might make capital material for the surrounding bill of an American program. For American purposes they get away from llme-worn Ideas, have scenic beauty and illum- inating titled. They are part of a series called "Secrets of Nature." One gives the life history of the mayfly and the other deals w.th a small flsh called the "stickleback." This doesn't sound nearly as thrilling as It is on the screen. The fish picture waa taken In a glass aquarium tank and shows the stickleback mating cave- man fashion, the male guarding the eggs and young until they are abie to care for themselves. TWb process Involves underwater battles with many queer creatures and other in- cidents of interest. The mayfly reel Is just as interesting. Both were edited and titled by an officer of the British historical museum. "The Reverse of the Medal" Is a war drama, done In the typical British style, with particular enf- phasls on repression in acting and titling. It packs a whole slx-reeler Into two reels and has a good deal of merit. It Is doubtful if the Amer- ican fans will accept such a drama. We are accustomed to aomewhat florid acting on this side, and par- ticularly picture audiences like the "punch" In visible and concrete form, rather than by the indirect form of suggestion. When the British general (it's a war picture) sends his own son to death behind the enemy's lines, he is expected by the Americans to show some emotion. The typical Briti-sh action Is to suggest the man's emotion by his stoical im- passlteneM. British audiences un- derstand the man Is ccnceallng his emotions, but Ameriraps probably would regard his actions a« ex- pressing phlegmati<i indifference or at least heartlesmiess. The series ends with a two-reel comedy, "The Man Who Liked Lomens." which Is the least promis- ing of the lot. America is pre- eminent In the comedy subject and has develoi.ed It 'way beyond the foreign makers. This one Is slow in action, has no "stunts," no sur- prises, and seems to make an effort to follow the Chaplin design, with- out success. It deals with a come- dian (somewhere between Lloyd Hamilton and Chaplin In style) who Is thrown out of his lodgings for non-payment of rent. He loves lemons and In trying to steal one Is about to be arrested. He escapes A burglar seize* the sap and makes him his assistant In a "Job." They are robbing a flat, after sandlwtg- glng the occupant, when the coin gas meter gwa out. The simp Is j .sent out to get two shillings change for a two-shilling piece, and lie | .1 . . . > . Fairlj^ood western thriller of the cheaper program type turned out by Universal. In the houses where~they like the western stuff of the rough- and-ready variety this one will please tho fans. There are a couple of touches suggesting local K. K. K. stuff, and should make it liked In the communities where that organiza- tion has a strong hold. In spots th'- photography and tinting ^re bad. and that hurts. Jack Hoxie. the star. Is set down In a small western town near the border that Is being overrun by cat- tle th/cvcs. He Is the one to organize the natives Into a vigilance commit- tee, and brings about a roundup of the crooks. The story Is the old-time formula with the rancher having a pretty d.iUKhtcr and the heavy holding n note for the homestead. "Give me the 9lrl and call It square" Is the plot. When dad won't give up the girl and can't pay the note he goes Into the desert and looks for the lost mine. The heavy follows him and knocks him olT. "but before passing out he is found by two jtrangers. who get his story and go back to the little town to look after his daughter. In the finish the desert hero wins the girl after he wipes out the band of rustlers, and finds the mine her dad lost his life In the search of. Thc-.e is a little too much of the riding footage to make the story a real fast one. But in the main It will hold Interest in tfte daily change grind houses. Fred Kohler handles the heavy role nicely nnd-Elinor Fields as the Ingenue lead does all that could be asked in a particularly strong part. In Frank Rice, U looks to have a character player they might buiUl up along the lines of that of Ernest Torrence In "The Covered Wagon." He furnishes a comedy relief for the yarn. Fred. PREPARED TO DIE Johnnia Walker pnHluotion starrlns fc^Mte Polo. Story by Ke«?ne Thompaon. dlrecie.i by Wm. Hurhes Ourran. Shown at the Stanley, N. T.. Dm:. 23. 1023. RQnnlnir time, 50 minutes. Vlvtenne Van de Vere Edna Qrerory Jo4in Pend eton Bmylhe K*Idle I'oln Storekeeper ^ John MclSlhern A PRINCE OF A KING A flve-reeler produced by A. Q. Steji- multer. Story by Alice Farwetl Brown. Directed by Albert Austin. Fenlurlng Dinky Dean. Released by Selinick Dlstrlb- utlns Corporation. Shown on double fea- ture bill at L««w's New Tork, Dec. XI. Runninc time, io minute*. Dinky Dean is the youngster who appeared with Chaplin In "The Pil- grim." At the time the kid was heralded as another Jackie Coogan. This producer evidently considers Dinky of stellar material, yet he has camouflaged him with a costume play that Is a cross between melo- drama and a comic opera. He has surrounded him with an adequate supporting cast, including Virginia Pearson and Sheldon Lewis. The stoiT revolves around a babe, heir to the throne in one^ of those mythical kingdoms. The babe Is born on the eve of the king's death. Roberto, a cousin, next in line for the crown, commissions a hireling to steal the royal baby and make away with It, so that he can rule the kingdom. The henchman weakens and instead deposits the hnbe in the donkey cart of a troupe of ilrolling fcrobats. The latter bring him up. At the age of four he la taught all of their stunts and is their chief performer. Little Crlgl la the idol of every- body. Wtien he performs the tak- ings are of generous proportions. But he Is beaten and maltreated by the acrobats and makes his escape. After numerous hair-raising vicis- situdes he Is restored to his queen mother and aace.ids the throne. Prior to the cHmax the youngster lAs made his way to the castle in an attempt to flee the tyrannical acrobats. Roberto, who new occu- pies the thro e. sends for ihr nro- bats and '. a'juut to give him back when the queen convinces the guards he is their rightful king. When the kid ascends the throne he asks if any command will be granted that he may wlsli. When told it would, he exclaims, "Then throw out those acrobats!" which provldw the comedy punch finish. Dinky Dean is undoubtedly a clever youngster and demonstrates It. esi)ecially in the early reels, when he does some clever acrobotic stunts True enough, he has not that seem- ing sophistry of young Coogan, but this will probably come in tim<'. His pranks were spontaneous and natural. Miss Pearson gave a likeable de- lineation of the queen-mother. Sheldon Lewis did well as the giant acrobat. Bam De Qrasse gave a villainous portrayaa of the Black King. Although having nothing to dif- ferentiate It from the rank and file costume play, this film will un- doubtly api>eal to a kid element be- cause of Its youthful star. It's best break will be on double feature bills or may do as a feature In the small neighborhood hoiuwa. .-:,. 1 <•,.)■.. t , f .- .. , 1 f , .■ I ' , > . Kddle Polo as a society dub with a monocle! That's the plot of this featin-e, at least that la about all that stands out In the productionr- ^Phe low down on the picture is that where It should be funny It is sad and where It should be taken se- riously it is funny. On the whole. It is mighty poor screen entertainment except for the houc.es where they don't care what they see as long as it is something that moves on the screen. Otherwise this is one of those things that the average exhib- itor wants to lay off of. Possibly there was a story at the time th.Tt Keene Thompson turned in a script,,but by the time that It reached the screen the storj' must h.tve been d:-opped in some oot-of- the-way cornef**in the studio. At any rate the tale ambles along with- out any attempt being made to pant a reason tor anything that happens In the latei^eplsodes. It is the yarn of a socletj' dub having been Jilted decides to commit .suicide. He has a horror of bumping hliDself off, so he takes a friend's advice and hies himself to the Kciu tucky mountains, where there Is supposed to be a feud killing every minute. When he gets there he finds the town fast asleep, and after he wakes It up sufficiently to register at Khe little one<horse hotel he starts out tq have himself killed. His at- temps, 'however, are taken for brav- ery, and he wins the admiration of the storekfcpor's daughter. Later, when he decides that he wants to live again, he loses the girl through his backing down when one of the roughnecks tries to run him out of town. But his fighting spirit Is roused with the loss of tjie girl, and he does put up a battle. That Is the only thing about the picture that has any action. PqIo simply will not ^o when he tries these dressed-up parts, and seemingly, judging from the tech- nique he disyplayed In this picture, the art of acting before the camera seems to have escaped him entirely. Fred., BROADWAY BROKE Murray Oarson presents tbla film version of Earl Derr Bl»»ers' story, nrlslnally pub- IlKhfd In the "Saturday Evening Post," featurlnc Msry Caxr. Directed by J. Benrle Dawley. Scenario by John L,ynch. Dis- tributed by the Selinlrk orcanlzatlon chain. Projection time, SO minutes. At IXMW's. New Tork, Doc. 22. "Broadway Broke" may have made a good enough story. If Earl Derr niggers wrote It and the "Sateve- post" published It It is a reasonable presumption that it was. But it makes a pretty tiresome picture. A writer In the medium of print could have built up the atmosphere of the 70'8 and a picture of other times gracefully softened by Im- agery and grace. The literal screen falls to do this, and the only pos- sible charm of the picture is its spirit. It ha^^ practically no action and never should have been adapted to the picture medium. Made Into a film that runs for nearly an hour and a half. It is deadly. The flrst reel or more are devoted to Incidents backstage and out front at a premiere at Daly's theatre half a century or so ago. Actors imper- sonate General Grant, Mark Twain and P. T. Barnum, as flrst nlghters, a matter of momentary Interest. All this to establish the triumphs of Nellie Gwynn (Mary Carr) as the Daly star. Mrs. Carr doesn't make the youthful actress by a wide mar- gin, but there Is a certain Interest in this dip Into old times, for adults. The story Jumps to the present day when the former toast of the town has fallen upon hard days of poverty, dae to a selflsh daughter married to a vaudeville performer, who has spent all her money. Her only comfort Is a sweet granddaugh- ter. The vaudevllllan Is the heavy. He has committed forgery and Is being pressed to make good his thefts. To do so he sells his triek dog, pet of the family, to a vlvisectlonist. Grandma brings about a happy ending in about half a reel by sell- ing tho picture rights to a play written by her dead husband and signing to play in it at tM)0 a week. There Is nothing the matter with the material for a light, short, sen- timental picture, but spread out Into a crudely produced, sloppy, senti- mental seven-reeler or more. It be- comes soporlfls. An exceedingly unattractive pros Pect. Jlttsh. SALLY BISHOP London, Dec. 10. This adaptation from the novel by R. Temple Thurston Is a pleasing if not enthralling- prtKcnfatlon to be added to the list of Stoll Picture Productions. The story has nothing in It of any particular novelty and does not provide a very substantial vehicle for Marie I>oro and Henry, in the leading roles, to ride to any great heights. Yet it rannot be said that they make the mo.st of the op- portunities llioy do have, and the t :■ . -V • . - , - ■ tone of the whole pictur* la Just or- dinary. As is oftep the case when a novel Is adapted for the screen, the actios is apt to be disjointed, and the pic- ture loses much through a none too careful linking up, which mars the continuity considerably. This la more noticeable In the early stages of the film. It is the old story of the man of the world on pleasure bent, whose fancy Is attracted by a pretty face and Who responds to the Instincts oCthe chase. John Thraill Is a bar- i*ster. and after a chance encounter with a little typist he t« Interested enough to follow her, and after one or two meetings and a visit to his chambers he realizes her purity and warns her for her own sake he must nut see her again, .as they might get to care for each other, and he is not a marrying man. Discontented with the tawdry at- mosphere of her cheap boarding houKe and desperately In love, Sally flnnlly becomes his mistress, and for three years all goes well. Her girl friend tells her, however, that If by that time he has not sufrgested mar- riage to her ho will probably want to marry someone else, and her flrst Intimation of this will be If he makes her a settlement. This, in fact, does happen, and Is the beginning of the end. Marie Doro ts a pathetic and real- istic flgure as the romantic girl brought up in a country vicarage .tnd pjunged Into the maelstrom of life in a bustling city. Henry AInley does not flt into his character of the lover quite so neatly, but, then, his forte fa the spoken stage, and he n«ver seems quite a( ease without the help of his voice. The other parts were quite well played, the best performance being that of Florence 'Turner as the far- seelhg, faithful boarding house friend of Solly. YALENTINO-F. P. ROW SETTLED THIS WEEK star Returns to Former Em' ployers for Balance of Contract' After a year or mors «f battling In and out of the courts, the row that has b«en , wased bstwcen Roddph Valentino and th« Famous Players-Iissky finally haa bsei^ settled. Early this WMk offlclaj conflrmatlon in the form of a state- ment issued from the offices of Famous Players in which Adolpb Zukor, Mrs. Valentino, the star's personal attorney. Max D. Steuer, and J. D. Williams were all quoted, assured tbe world that Rudy was to return to the screen and work out his contract with his former employers. Mrs. Valentino sailed tor Europe about 10 days ago. following her husband who sailed the week pre- ' vious. At that time there was an. intimation that the matter had been • flnally settled to the satisfaction of all concerned. No terms were mentioned In the contract but its language in part follows: •• the Rit» Pictures Co., which also has the star under a contract that will begin upon the* completion of his contract with Famous Players," seems to be slg- nlflcant In itself. The statement also carries the Information that, "By the terms of tne settlement all litigation t>etween Ifr. Valentino and Famous Futyers will be dropped, upon the completion of his contract." Seemingly Valentino wjll have to. work for Famous Players until 19:;S under the option which Famous Players exercises on their contract with him. If that is the case he. will make pictures for them at his salary of 91,200 a week, although under his RItz contract he is to receive $10,000 weekly and a per- centage of the profits, according to report. The flrst picture that Valentino will star in on hi* return to Famous directly after Jan. 1 will be "Mon- sieur Beaucaire," which Is to be di- rected by Sidney Olcott. Forrest Halsey has prepared tho screen version of the Booth Tarklngton story and a strong cast will sup- port the star. 18o TOP FEOF San Francisco, Dec. 27. The IS-cent top ts a flop at the. Portola, which recently quit flrst run circles and went Into the sec- ond-run grind class. The change drew fewer customers than before. AcU in Vaudeville Hultable for Outdoors Itsvlswed Wcskty la "THE CLIPPER" V::