Variety (August 1925)

WednMaay. Afifusl 18, 1998 PICTURES VARIETY found comfort and enloynMiit ia tbe oompany 9t hla children and book* and tho leaae of a Ute at hoiM. The kids, too, ara allowed todo aa they pleaae and becomi better youngatere because of It. 'Xbeii cornea the genuine O. H^nry twlat. One night » curtain catchee 'Ar« ^d In extinguishing the blaze the father discovers that under th^ stress' of fear and excitement be' has recovei«d the use of Hie legs. But realizing that such A condition means a retyrn to the boredom and dissatisfaction of the «M ilayS he swears the friendly old dMstor to secrecy and returns to the Wheel chatr for the rest of his life. There Is a good deal of delving Into child psychology and It is here the picture gets definitely on the •^irrong track. Bntlrely too much of the " 'ou wouldn't let 'em wash soy teddy bear, would 'ou" type of Stuff that mukes much of the ac- tion seem either ridiculous or bore- •ome. Incidentally an overdos > of sute-tltles give a talky effect to a Dim that otherwise leaves quite a ^it to the imagination. It would seem an error was made m the placing the roles of this dla- tlnctly middle-class couple in the liands of such patrician looking types' as Al-.e Joyce and Cllve Beook. Considering this limitation, bowever, both do exoellently. Brook's performance in those •oenes In which he discovers with mingled Joy and dread that his legs are not worthless will rank as one of the best of Its kind. Little Billy Kent Sehaeffer aa the-youngest and moat unmanageable of the chlldreni supplies the acting that will bei ■lost talked about, doing wonders with a role that Is more genuinely nasty and irritating than cute and appeiallng. Oeorge Fawcett and. Ifartha Mattox head a supportingl oast of capable character actors. . *The Home Makers," then. Is a •eriouB effort at domestic natural- ism. There will be a certain num- ber' of people who will think it •plendid in a quiet and yet forc^ul' way,. They do not promise, how- "iwrer, to be numerous enough to- make the picture a real box ofBce attraction. That goes particularly (or Its commercial chances at the *CJolony this week, with Broadway prqvlding all sorts of Important op- -yosltlon In the "Greater Movie Sea- •aon" line. ol«»rt|ff the way for a klssy ending. Produced economically and with a supporting cast that never sup- ports, Jones bears the entire burden himself. Some of the locations are good, and the dog actor employed as the pal of th«< dietectlve works for laughs. Etecidedly a mediocre member pf tbe.Jpnes' series. Biak. The Girl Who Wotildn't :WoA„i ^ '^,:.l-: B. P. Schulberr pnatntu "Ti« Qlrl Who WouliJnt Work," by Gertie D. Wentworth- Jaraeii. Adapted by L«la Hutchinaon. Di- rected by Marcel De Bano. Thla picture reviewed In the Blmclex projection room, Candler bnlldlng, at 2:80 p. m. Monday. Auk. 10. The regular release date on this flim la Xvg. 15. Footace, B.tTO feet. Oordon Kent Lionel Barrymore Mary Hale Harsuerlte De 1m Motte William Hale Henry B. Walthall Oreta Verlalne , Lllyan Ta#hman William Norworth FOrrent Stafiley District Attorney... Winter Hall The "Rounder".,^ Thomaa lUcketts Thanks to a cast headed by Lionel Barrymore. ^his picture may meet the demands of the present-day film houses that thrive on dramatic subjects. The story Is a "weak sis- ter." At times it flares up and shows some semblance of life, but lacks the Mg punch. Mr. Schulberg has done everything possible to make a big picture out of this commonplace story. For a few minutes Lilyan Tash- man took all the fancy door cinema play away from Barrymore when she went to her sweetie's home. She raged, ranted and fumed and hus7 tied the other woman out in a hurry.. The picture was interminably slow in getting into dramatic action. When (he'time came for it to speed up it had little in reserve to make the picture stand up as a bi^ .smack-'em-between-the-eyes hit. > ttark. I THE SPEED DEMON i AD partleulara Blaaed, esceptlns that Kenneth McDonald Is (aittored. HnnnlnK time around 00 minutes. Not to be Judged through being on a one-day double bill at Loew's New York. The other half ("Dollar Down") was so bad it needed some- thing stronger than usual to bring up the average. "The Speed Demon" could and can stand by Itself. It has two "thrills'; in a horse race and an auto race. There isn't much of a thrill in either, but together In one picture they give it a BWingr for liveliness. Kenneth McDonald as Speed Sher- man, auto racer, does pretty driving In his racing car. That links in with some racetrack touts from New York going to extraordinary lengths to obtain a Kentucky Ally through crooked means. The far-fetched story hurts It, but Mr. McDonald covers up a lot through his likeable playing way and personality, There's a girl heroine here, also of per- sonality, while the ' iuw comedy that gets laughs is capa'ly han- dled by Speed's side-kick. Be- sides which the captions are deserv- ing for their laugh prowess. That caption writer has a sense of humor that should be worth much to him for the screen. Not a bad one-day stand by itself, "The Speed Demon." Inexpensive, 4ith tbe big S4ienes Inserts, but well dbne.' flftttie. DOLLAR DOWN Tmart picture, also marked Renown Henry Walthour starred and nuth Rolaivd featured. Directed by Tod Browiilng. Other names mlaied through fast screentnK of opening slides. Ronnlns tlnM^ tS minutes. A poor picture. The producer must have been de- ceived by the scenario. It's possible that this story looked quite good on paper. It doesn't work out that way. "Dollar Down" might have been sponedred by the associated savings banks, if that organisation were In existence. It's propaganda for thrift,, made doubly tiresome through in- expert cutting In the earlier sections. The picture picks up a bit toward its flnale—then too late, of course. This story abounds In inconsisten- cies In both ends of the contrast. It attempts to prove the evil of lnstal)> meat buying and the rewards of economy and saving. From that angle It might interest the high> living clerk as the preachment, for it is only that, could carry its lesson. If 13 or 15 minutes were elided tho film would be helped, but not much. To bring out the boresomeness, it could have been suf^gested in tho editing room that all of the scenes, every one, with the children (couple contrast) in them should be re<> moved. They are too silly for grown-ups (the scenes, not the chil- dren). Henry Walthour hasn't much to do, so it was a walkaway for him. Ruth Koland doesn't look the part of the daughter alongside of Mayme Kelson Rs the mother (the dollars down). But the boy Juvenile of the economy family gives a peachy per- formance. (His name was missed). Any exhibitor may sidestep this With perfect safety. It's guaranteed to irritate any audlehce. Cheaply produced. gim^, BORDER VENGEANCE 8am BfnM prodoetlon distributed by Ay- won Films, morr ti9 Forrest Sheldon. KM- rected by Barry Webb. Raas alxMl 4» minutes. W«a CbanBln«...;.........i...Jaek Psrria .Bumpa Ja«ksoa........k.i.4t..VoBd«ll Denr Mrs. Jackson Min* Redmas A new Loebln'rar has entered ib4- (Continued on page 4S> .WILD HORSE MESA v'Wamoas Players'production of the Zane Gray story. Directed by Oeorg* B. Belts And the screen story by Lucten HubMrd. sack Holt. Noah Beery, Billy Dove and DveillM Fairbanks, Jr., featmred. At the' RMta, New Tork, week Aor. •. RenatSK: 79 minutes. I Weymer jaek Holt fbPhetsoti, Hoah ^Mgry (•Ikeme .BtUte Dove fl Chsas Weymer Devclas Faiibanks, Jr. 0: Beat Merembe Oeorce Macrill F^Xlge Kelbeme Georva IrvlUK ■A. 'Qrandma Melbame l>:dlth Torke k %oddy Nokin BernanI Belsle 'i,«JMle.....j Margaret Morris • This western, produced on a de luxe scale, and photographed before jtettings that are probably among Nature's best, quallfles as a program «ttractlon, but not among the real Its of that class. Tha story concerns the expedition tnado by Llge Melbeme and Bent -Marerube to the canyon land where wild horses lived In multitudes. Bent had a scheme for trapping these horses in a natural corral and proposed to use barbed wire fences to keep from getting out of the passages which mlgrht free them. This murderous plan was stojppod When Chane Weymer came upon the scene. Chane was a rider of the desert lands, friend of the Indians and bom and bred in the open. He and Marerube got into a fight when the sole punch came as Weymer pushed Marerube against the barbs to let him get a feel of them. '■ • . The direction Is loose and the continuity rather poor. Cutting Isn't of the best, for many of the soenee could stand much elimina- tion and some other are unneces- sary and Injected for comedy touches. They do nothing but Im- pede the story. Jack Holt stands out most proml- hently, with Blllle Dove and >^oab Beery in the order named. The re- mainder of the cast Is capable, but even this cast and the majestic beauty of the scenery will notibe •iMUgh to lift "Wild Horse Mesa" Into the hit flbn elaaa. It needed kkJks and lots of thete. Biak. COLD AND THE GIRL A William Foi production starring Charles (Buck) Jones. Directed tty Edmund Mor- ttSMr. Story tiy John Stone. At the Stan- ley, New Tork, Aug. 6. Running time, 03 Mnutes. Usually the Jones pictures are pretty good and filled with action, but this one is the exception. Com- pared ^o the rest it doesn't rank «kt all. The plot has Jones as a western {letective and his victims are two ast working boys, one of whom has a, beautiful niece while the other is lost a bad boy with a yellow streak. Things work to the point where Jones falls In love with the girl and ■be falls for him. But the detective mts after the two bad boys and tko girl risks her life to tell the Mro "dick" they're after him. Any- way, the other bad boy kills the icle and then ha In torn la nailed, the finest ever onthe scteenof American Thcatic/ jto/s SAEFIAKE IftlBUNE b9> ^^^ **'f>,^Wi<S?f jS*«rt\ <-'•>-; ^-:-'■■ / , ., . . / '-v.. I V' :%• heller midknix ^ reaction mm ms/ Fi'ank. J. Can'oll prat-ui % SCARLET WEST ith Yoa ifsa Robert Frazer ^nd Claiu Bow< Uttt »DMribeloM of *sieflealkt-*Ul H«» J^mMi^ •^