Variety (December 1924)

r- ■ • ■ .V WedMsday, Decen&er 3, lOM P*CTUR&S«^ VAMlffft"**' 87 PRESENTATIONS pjctaTMi* mtiU bm cmriml tmi ^auenbmd m thia dmpart- «Mtlf far ikf ft—^oM bffprmaium of Am tradm.) FR0>.90U« TO «A SAINTKO OKVIL'' (11) r Funitas* (tftMiai) ; '* •tfuM, New Ym4( H*r«'« th* m^tft f)Aborate and probcbly ob« of the mo«t expensive preMtitatlona ever put on in New Torfcl Joe Plunkett htU tt people dn tki»'«t«se. *)|' ifbriclns on. before «nd through a Spanish courtyard ■et that cost som^liodr a pretty penny coiMilderlns that It van be used in New York fOTcbut two ^weftka and^tteit probahir •««!» in f. Brooklyn. ■ ~-i ' ■ ' ■ —■!. s.--^ JacQUee Qmenberg's theme nong. „. *^eine9>ber Me," used throughout 'the "A Sainted Devil" picture, is ' plugged flret by the Hurtado Ma- ; rimba Band, located on" a' balcony ot the house facing the ^courtyard. ' Th^n the Strand Male qiiiutet tftngs ? "SI Rellcaro." and following that. \' the Valentino Tango, the sam« 6ne Budy used to -do when h^ was mak. -'Ing Mincralava famous.^ Is danced '^ by'iiCme. Klemova and Roberto Me- 4^*00. Eight girls and quite a few others do one of the standard Spanish dances, a Jota, with the whole scene brought to a fadeout ^ dose by Everett Clark lienorlng the 'i^ theme song again. ,\ '^' The preaent«tion ia ijtcomparably ''<j.. more entertainihg than the picture. Its ebstumfe, thos« used in the Aim, ■reb^utiful and tlasby. while the Atmosphere is neatly achieved by 4 Whoever directed. Made up of ^ Bothinf more or.leiw than mediocre ^ speeiaitiee, they are neatly struni^ together and have a continuity that makes theni attractive: ENich a set is practical for only th<l houses with i^reat Ci^city and wittt the mbney to apthd. But with mxih a' iha^nlflceiit aet u PlUnlcett •howed the boys 'and girls of Broad- wa|^, Th^ picture is fairly well , aUi^d before H b«|^' BUte. i': ~~ ■ Tb4 Ccpttol theatre. Kewport, Ark., haa^ been purehased by the Arkaiua«AmiiM«ent Company and will be under the. persona) manage- ment of F H. Jones. Jr. RIALTO SYNCOPATORS (12) Oreheetra Rivoli, New York Preltlematrcai whether this mu- sloal combination comes from the Rlalto or the Rivoil, although tak- ing the title from the former the- atre. Either way it simply amounts to lifting the desired musicians from the house orchestra to the stage. The regulation instfumenta- tion is used comprising two cor- nets. French born, trombone, tuba, banjo., violin, three drums and piano. •• Two numbers receive program mention with tl^e orchestra render- ing in dance rhythm without par- ticularly colorful - orchestrations. The procedure may be new at the Rivoli as a presentation. It so it looks like an attempt to beat the high salaried band angle in Aim hoi'ses. iind «till have dance music. Minus any distinctive features, the Interlude shapes as an ordinary addition to the program which may float by as a "ftller." but never will be missed If t|ie verdict la elimina- tion. SMff. FILM REVIEWS rarr life wqicpesfult D. W. OrUata Predoetloa rateaard kr Uolttd Arttota. Story br lUJor Uo««Cr*r UoM. UrMstM br D. W. OrUBtli. Caral DtmpMcr and Ndi HkaUtM rMtuM<. At Um tUralt. N«» Tone wMk of Nor. g*. BttOBins tloic, t9 rnlQutM. !■«» C»r6l OMSsater HimM, MB of th* pntnmot,..H»U .HaaUltoB Onn^i^Mur ,.,,.....}i«l«ii Lipwvll T%» r rofa—oc BIrvill* AUtrmm n» Brother ^ Wnnh PtwUar P«.awt MMtckt iUrria Stromas aUyMa..., t.a»lB» Uta* Tha Huncrr Wotken .Paul Kheko^C Coeat «Mi Bebaet BURNOPF AND J08SPHINE Daneing 10 Mina.; Full (Special) Missouri. 8t. Louis Burnoff and Josephine are ac- complished terpslchorean artists, featuring interpretative and modern Oxhitation dancing.' Besides being a graceful dancer Miaa Josephine has personality which radiates. In their ftrst number, the "Sally Dance," Mias Josephine, in scant clothing, does some high-class toe work with remarkable control of nerves. Burnoff displays strength with grace. A solo dance by Mis« Josephine was presented in a graceful manner. The audience liked It. Burnoff. then appeared lo Russian dance, of which he t> <^ master. Vhey closed i^ritli, *n Ai>ache dapoe. a. real knockout here. apparenUy original, and ritp^ived solid appUuMv JBoss. D. W. Griffith again come* to the fore with the unusual on the screen, in "Isn't Ldfe Wonderful' 'at the Rivoli this week. Just as his "Broken Blos^oma" was a departure from the usual picture fare, so also saxophones,^ is this present flim. , It is a picture that has something' more behind it than the there Idea of entertainment. It should to an extent give the American public an insight into the lives of the simpler Qerman folk and their sufferings as a result of the great wars after- math. Whether or not the picture will be a box oRlce success is another ques- tion. Off hand it seerits doubtful if the story will have sufflelent appeal to make It a record breaking money venture. The story is too realistic. It is a page torn' from Ufe. Those virho rave aboUt "the finer tilings in pic- tures" may not come to the l>ox Office in sufllclent numbers to offset the out and out fans who will staiy away. After ali the latter are the onek to t>e catered to. Pans like naught but the sweetened pap fed to them day after day on the screens of the country.. One point about this story should be pointed out Immediately before some rabid anti-Qerman Jumps to the fore, proclaiming it another example of- O^rman propaiganda. SUNDOWN nrat National Plctorea, Inc.. production. From tha atorr l>7 Barl J. Mu<1^aD, dlrrrtod br Larrr Trlmbla and Harry Hoyt. Pr*- a«(tad at tha PlooadlUr th«aUe. New York. WMk Na*. It. RBBalDS tlm«. n mlnutea. ■Ila* Ccawlajr Baaate Lore tUiMi Bient Rojr Stewart Jona Brant Hobart Boaworth Mr« Crawlar. Arthur Murrajr Pat Maaeh Charlla Uomir ioha BarW....'...;.., Jet* AuaUn oa ^ttoB,.«...,>,.;,,.CharlM C Crockett Pr^daot 9aaa*««H ...B. J. Radcllffe llrf. Breat ..^.....Itarsartt McWaide M. M. McNeese has purchased the HaskeU theatre at Haskell. Tex. IT'S ALL "^•'^X^'*f ^fK'*'" ;r*" :■• ,r-& iUs- m- .4. r »#«.'!liJ «,. %3Vithout a foot of scenlcs or "magazine stuff" vv; : ;to pad out— PATHE •9C'.«•-■"•.►•• >• -..■»*■; :-■iy V,. >o4*^.ri • ^ *- "•'nit . »v-w;i When you show the Patlie News you show a news reel that's all news, nc>t one that's half news and half £llcr. When you show the I*athe ^ews you show the news reel with the largest and widest xlis- tributed staff of cameramen, a staff that truly covers the world. They get the news your patrons like to see, and incomparable service gets that news to you ^rJ/. ' If yoii want "magazine" pictures and scenics you can get the best in,the world in the Pathe Review; but when^yoja buy the Pathe News ypij gtt wl^t Y^i0^ii9t> a. news reel that's J,PO% j;] niews and the best known, best liked of all. 53 a 1* That's why you should show it TWICE » ... n .Mi'^ . * *-■ .6ne weitps TO thittlc what il chance was left to run wild here. This might have been as great a picture as "The Covered Wagon." for seem- ingly the material to work from was there: but it isn't a "Covered Wag- on" by a long shot. It isn't even anything beyond what would ordi- narily t>e termed a "western." There was entirely too much cattle stuff and not enough story to the picture. Wboev)»r was responsible for the crowding in of all of the cattle stuff *njd letting the story take cKre of (ta»tf should be taken to task for it. \t it Is true that all the time and money that they say were expended on this picture, then some one must have gone cracy in the making o( It. It is known that First National luu) counted on this to l>e a super- special and that they Anally cooled do.wh. regarding It simply as one of the regular releases; but it is less than that. It could'nt even l>reak into the Strand, New York, the regu- lar Ftfst National house, and was switched to the Piccadilly, Lee Ochs arranging for the booking of it at a time when he did not know where to turn for product. It Ochs had been situated then as he Is today regarding pictures, it does not seem lively he would have booked It. "Sundown," Judging from the fore- word, offered as great an opportunity for graphic Aiming of the passing of the great west as did the winning of the west. Hut It was "muffed" In the making. There was right at hand the material with which to construct a storv of tremendous patriotic value, Into which could have been woven all of the hardships and heart- breaks that the pioneers suffered, biasing the trail, only eventually to go down l>efore the conAagration that they themselves started, and forced In time by this self-same civ- ilisation not only, out of their own homes and graslng lands, but actu- ally out of their own country Into a foreign land—^Mexico. But. pioneers to the last, they take their medicine and go forth under a new flag to con-^ quer new wilds that the United States, which they loved and made, may continue In Its greatness with its millions fed by the beef that they provide. They give yOu the beef on the screen, but overlook the romance entirely. There if a love theme running through the tato, but It never means anything much. - Bessie Lfove is the little heroine, i^ho, with her timid bookkeeping father and a little brother and sister, have come out of the east to "take op" a quar- ter section. It la tbe Inroads that these homesteaden^ are nsaking that' is driving the eatti* pedpl*. out of their own country. On the train the little eastern group run Into the son of tbe spokesmen of tbe cattlemen. He Is on his way back boms with his father from a conference in Wash- ington. There Is nothing for the government to do but to compel the cattlemen to move their herds, and the best that they, can expect is to be granted grnslng lands in Mexico if they will go there. The Foreign Of- (Continued on page SO) That is the fact -that Major Qoeffrey Kloss. the author, is of the British army. In itself that should be suf- ficient to still those y^xo might shout "propaganda." This is the plctufe that Grimth shot partly In Germany and partly In this oountry.^ prifflth'fi handling of the theme ik little sboirt of wonderful. His comitositiOn in mass scenes as well In those with but few character* is in line with the best he has ever done. The photeigraphy at times shows isome jremarkable shots. There is one thing al>out this work of the mast^ director and that is that he has held to his idpa that a story can t>e told with but few prlnOipals; also that he haa kept his love theme in the Toregrocciid. It is of the privations- and struggles t>f a Oermnn •■ family fol- lowing the war and the collapse of the German, exchange. A tale :at once gripping and interesting though heart rending and depress- ing. A German professor is im- poverished.' He and his family have been driven from their home. They are In Berlin. One son is stitdying and working as a waiter in a night club, the other laboring In the ship- yards until his strength, weakened through the war, falls him. The entire family to living in two rooms, eatlns n potato each a day. Their Anal working out of an Idea with the one son cultivating a potato t>atch, hla building of a one- room house on alotted ground so that he may marry and Anally, when the crop is harvested by himself and his bride-to-be so that the family may have enough to live on and the two youngsters can marry, they are set upon by robbers on their wUy home with their cart of food and stripped of it all. And in the finish It's the girl that says, "I still have you, so Isn't life wonderful." Carol Dempster and Neil Hamil- ton are featured as the lovers. Miss .Dempster does work of which she may well be proijd. As for Hamil- ton his characterization ranks with anything that he has done in this particular line. . . .' The support has Helen lA>weU'aBd Marcia Harris In twov character roles, both women scoring ter- rifically. Ervllle Alderson' as the aged professor, likewise delivers a characterization that is Ji gem. But to Lupino L,ane must go the honors for several laugh' bits. He virtually makes his feet and legs do comic grimnces l)efor* the camer.i. and the audiences will Just howl at hi* work. « ' . Am a screen woWc of art "ftn't Lifo Wonderful" must be rated with the. I>eiit. As a l>ox oAlce attratci<W it In possible Griffith's name coupled' with the two featured player* ma.v 'overcome any, hesitancy audl^nceii' Anav have when It comes to" paying d% the window. \ ; ■ iVed. ■ ■■ - ' a. 3- ■■■ ■ '7A(X PtCSu^tit^li IDLENESS Los Angeles, Dec. t. Jack Picliford is here, a guest aC the Fairbanks home until the end of tills week, when ■ he - returns to ^evy.Tork'tO join his wife, Marlllyi^ .MUter. ,, , , . rickford will not do any mord .film work until next summer, when jjje i retluVnii her^^wjtj b'lli wife foe .ll^r ..vacation.^._^ . ,• . . This Real $2 Show opens at RivoU ular prices Sunday 0 111 psEfCNTtD ay I AOOIM ZVROa J(SM L.U«KY Jack holt ERNEST lORRBICE LOIS WILSON NOAH BEERy ^A Written l>]r the Mine autlior and produced on the Mine seal* its "The Covered Wafon." Screen pUjr.4b]r' Jame* Hamilton m -.■V'.. lil ONE OF THE FAMOUS FORTY QammountQicUires I ml>rr Motian Pictara Pr^daccri A Dlitrlbator* of Amsriea., WIU B. Hays. Free,.