Variety (July 1924)

Vayedncaday, July H. 1>8* r» flCtUU'ES VARIETY 23 •unbMms c*a't crawl throusb •iblfwbUtlea ar« w«^ "For Sal«" !• » ▼•'^ "K*** "!**" -B picture, a- to drawing or enter- iSmoPt qualltlea. fii**- BROADWAY OR BUST SZ:»An.l Bchrock, •crlpt by Dorothy Yo»t. ^^'^''by IWward s^gewlck Sho*n at time, tS mtnutM. jlll» S^flnta RMldlnX "^ailta ' .7.7..." Hoot aib«n •*;_S"*!iTii;,;i Ruth Dwyer S^P»t«r«. Daaa-Sniytlia. !• •„■••• panUnella.. S^^ Kins Zany Qertruda Aitor .Stanhope Wheatcrott Fr«d Malaateata Here is a wow of a hoke comedy. If■ made to order for summer audl- inces and In the bigger nelghbor- £oad houses It cannot fall to please SSeaudiences on double bills, such aa it played at the Circle. Eddie Sedgewlck, who wrote and directed the picture, hasn't over- looked a bet to get laughs. He re- •mrted to everything that waa in the SSii Joo'Miller book published. Ifs S In this picture from the "grape #ridt Juice In the eye' to the old gag S trying to blow out the electric Itefat He couldn't go back any far- tiSer than that. But how the aqdl- ence loves It! „„..,» » _ "Broadway or Bust" Is Juc'. a story «f a cowboy turned down by his glrl UOiUBe she has Inherited »200,00(> -ad gone to New York. He sells his ranch for a million, and follows her, busting right Into society and saving her from the villain in the last couple of hundred feet of Eastman atock. _. But that doesn't tell the yarn. The llrgt couple of reels are the usual tioke western stuff that has been «h»t a hundred times. The old dance •t the ranch house and the rivalry between the city slicker and the cow- boy sweetie. The big-town stilff is where the Urallop comes in. The cowboy, after belling his ranch with its radium de- posits, starts for the big town, taking his ranch man-of-all-work and their horses. When they reach the Fritz Hotel In the big town they Insist on a suite for their horses as well as one- for themselves, and the enter- prising press agent of the hotel con- vinces the management it'll be good ■tuft for the papers. The Idea is so good that the society queens start flocking around the mil- lionaire cowboys, and they are in- vited out to the self same country home that the ranch sweetie Is stop- ping at. All this stuff is just one laugh after another, but there la a little touch of the seasickness stuff on a yachting party that ia a Uttle overdone. Hoot Gibson slips over the cowboy stuff, with King Zany as hia com- panion with a kick. The girl, Ruth Dwyer, is,colorless. Gertrude Astor as the society queen was "there" 40 ways. Fred Malastesta as the heavy just about got by. Outside of Gibson .there wasn't anything to the cast, tout the hoke story and the direction cot it over. Fred. prison tha lesser crooks respect him for daring to pull such a big job. Though Innocent in reality, he es- capes with an Irish thug so that he will have the opportunity to clear his name. A dirigible hovers over the prison and takes them away— a highly Improbable thing—and, once out, he finds the real thief and clears himself, working around to a happy ending with the girl who stuck by him when the riot was on. Ruth Dwyer Is the nice-looking girl. The crook stuff Is all done as the magazines write It, but as the flim makes no pretense of being anything elae than pure fiction, no fault can be found with it. It is adequately crtaged, well directed, and although Rawlinson is the only name of note In the picture, the others are sufficient unto the tasks asRlgned them. "Dark Stairways" Is a good aver- age second-string release. Bisk. YANKEE SPEED Sunset Production, presented by Anthony J. Xidlaa. Written and directed by Robert North Bradbury. Featuring Kenneth Mc- Donald. Caat Include! Jay Hunt, Richard Levis, Milton Tabney, John Henry, Viola Yorba and Virginia Ainsworth. At the Circle, Now Torlt, ona day (Jul> 10). as halt tha bill. Runs almut an hour. DARK STAIRWAYS -•lUnlvenial production from atorr by Marlon Orth, with scenario by I^ J. lUgby. Hfrhert Rawlinson featured. Dl- nscted by Robert F. HIU and reviewed at lioew'ii Now Yortc July 14 (ona day). Run- ning time, es minutes. This Is one of UnlversaVs less Important releases, from the ap- pearance of the paper prepared for It and other tokens, yet as a pro- gram feature for the neighborhood and daily change houses It serves Its purpose by being good enter- tainment. Whether the Rawlinson name is a potent money draw In this type of film (crook stuff) la prob- lematiral. Brlefi.v. the story tells of a bank cashier falsely convicted of the theft of a J100.000 necklace. In All Exhibitors in Michigan Riad our magazine published every , Tuesday Xt you want to reach this clientele there la no better .medium. Rates very low MICHIGAN FILM REVIEW • JACOB SMITH, Publisher 416 Free Press Bldg. DETROIT NKW ADDRESS A typical moment In "Yankee Speed" comes when the villain, after glancing carefully around the empty room, hisses to the villainess, "Are we alone?" There follows the care- ful plotting of a scheme to steal the hidden plans, get the money, fool the heroine and split the proceeds. When it is added that the locale Is the border line of Arizona and Texas, the girl In the case a Span- ish-type beauty, and the hero an American roof-cIlmblng athlete, there remains little else to tell. It is similar to 100 that have, gone be- fore it, a bit weaker in continuity and plot construction, perhaps, but with some effective local color and striking photography. McDonald, a comparative new- comer. Is the Yankee knlck-of-tlme boy. He is tall and good-looking and vaults fences gracefully, but his facial acting as yet is below par, and his acrobatics and fighting lack the snap by some of our other film- supermen. Opposite Viola Yorbn gives a fair performance that will Improve when she learns how to put more animation into it. The balance of the cast Is none too impressive, with the villain a particularly vapid specimen of the bewhiskered, nasty- minded variety. The film has .the usual quota of chases and fights, with the brawn of one Americano superior to that of an army of gringos. Some shots in the Mexican cafe juitaining ex- cellent Spanish danotH lend much color. The exteriors are lovely and photographed with taste and skill. "Yankee Speed" la an average film of its type. THE BATTLING FOOL Perfection feature releasing through C. B. C. Directed by W. S. Van Dyke and fea- turing William Falrbanlia and Eva Novak. Showing at Ixiew's New Yoilc, July 12- Runnlng tlma, S7 minutaa. Fairbanks' boxing and ably tak- ing care of the portrayal, while backed by a rural story that's been blocked out many times before. However, the ring action overcomes the vireaknees of the narrative and besides giving Fairbanks a better vehicle than he has had In some time, the picture screens as a cer- tain entertainer for the middle class "Van Dyke has capably handled the fight stuff, which takes In the start of the minister's son ring career by staying three rounds with a barn- storming champ, and finishes with the -winning of the championship. In between Is spaced the daughter of the village mayor who is partial to the fighting youth with the two parents being aspiring refonners. Miss Novrfc has little to do, but Fairbanks breezes through the script neatly and at least is constantly moving around, which is something many of his previous films have lacked. The story overly stretches Itself at times to make It strictly a moving picture tale, and accordingly loses caste. , . A local poolroom proprietor teaches the son to box whence the father ousts, the youth from the homestead and he goes to the city. Meanwhile the daughter has become crippled through being trampled upon in the aftermath of the three- round stay in the town hall, for which her father will do nothing, as he believes it a form of retribution (Continued on page 44) COMING SOON PRODUCERS DISTRIBUTING CORPORATION S^SSSSZSSS IHE WISLVIRGIN' STAORlNO Artsy Quth Miller ElMee HARRIS SPECIAL paooocnoM AND Matt Moore '^"-"n'-rf'-.^-J^-^-W-^--*^--'*--"--'"!--''^*^"^ SINCLAIR LEWIS' BEST SELLER." /Paturino WllLARD LOUIS CARTEL tY^YERS and oiher favorite players ^ Directed by HARRY BEAUMONT WARNER BROS "Willard Louis as 'Babbitt'*****;s the charscter to the life.*****ln his second hit following so oloealy his suecess as the prince in 'Beau Brummel' *****. It is a well chosen cast whioh the Warner Bros, have brought together and which hss been so skillfully directed by Harry Beaumeni."—^N. Y. EVENING TELEGRAM." 'An element of suspense is built up in the picture " EVENING that the book BULLETIN." never atUins."—"N. Y. "Willard Louis as George F. Babbitt himself, personally, is alone enough to enlist us as a stren- uous advocate of the movie."—"N. Y. SUN." "A great deal of the picture, however, might have been lifted from the book to the screen, so fsith- fully has it been reproduced, and the casting of the characters has given somebody a great deal of thought. Willard Louis, in the title role, is per> feet.''—«N. Y. HERALD-TRIBUNE." "Vilmrn»r Bros, hsve sent us Willard Louis, a compsratively unknown actor, who will not remain unknown after this picture.*****You'll like Babbitt. Sinclair Lewis tried hard to startle US by letting us know how provincial it is for everyone to use the same make of alarm clock. Warqer Bros, are content to merely tell a story. They'vo done good work."—"N. Y. Dsily News." "Now comes 'Babbitt,' s bettor novef than 'MalK Street,' and by tha same token • bo tU r pioture.**** it is so good thst I have no hesitdnoy in ouggesting that anyone who read the book will enjoy voina bo the Rivoli and seeing the picture."—^N. Y. AMCII< ICAN."