Variety (December 1925)

r i . '?' •« ■>;-■ Wednesday, December 16, 1925 FILM REVIEWS . c. , VARIETY JOANNA FIrat Nfttlonal picture, illrected by Edwin /".rewe arewe production. hVatur.s Stroaiy M..ckalll and Jack MulhuU. A a ted fn.m the newnpaper aerial story of fi , a;imo nimc authoied by H. I-. tJales. it lh« Strand. New York, week Dec. 13. Runnlntf time, 70 minutes Jo" mm Manner* Dor«tliy Ma.k.l John Wllmo.e Jack Mul lall Kririk Urandon Paul Nicholson Andrew Kurjl.'ston Oeorge Kawcctt James Orayeon ISdward D.vIk CnHotta de Siva ^J^fo'ly «ijl HI" Teddy mrmlnster John r. Murray Georglo Leach Kita Carcwc A newspapfer serial y.arn that must have been eaten up In many a kitchen. Its a story of a shopgirl who suddenly galn.s command of a million dollars. With that knowl- edge on tap, fill In your own sce- ilarlo. for you can't be entirely wron{?. 'ihe story screens very much as it must have read, and will be thor- oughly snubbed by the clientele which likes the "worth-while" things. Major city balcony trade should ac- cept It as satisfying, and as and where Illiteracy percentage mount 00 will the entertaining qualities of "Joanna." It's strictly for the back- door Insiders. „oanna comes Into her million be- cauae a bank president t.ikes ex- ception to a newspaper editorial be- littling the modern girl. The old boy is so steamed up that, having a loose ten hundred thousand doing not a thing but roll up interest, he wagers it that a normat present-day girl will still have a spotless char- ac.er after burning up the money and won't sell herself because of having become accustomed to lux- ury. Of course, the Individual ac- cepting this sporting proposition can hardly be said to be starving to death; And what's a million in a Bub-tltle? A thousand or so feet later is revealed the why of Joanna being "It." The bank pres. knew her mother. Well lubricated with the oil con- cerning "money cannot buy love," one thing leads to another, with the audience always MO feet ahead of the aotion, until Joanna loses and regains her struggling architect (Jack Mulhall), while the bank's head is so overjoyed to see his mil- lion come back he adopts Joanna as his daughter during the time it will take her to get her blueprint inter- preter before an altar. The film is overboard with wild •nd gay partleb. elaborate cabaret scenes and anything Interiorly that enters the Imagination along with the thought of a million bucks. In- cidentally the author has seen fit to allow Joanna a little over two years In which to consume the "roll." Most of that period la spent abroad by means of a caption, but there is revealed thcN girl's joyous plunge Into check signing, while the depic- tion of a bank president laughing himself to death at the si.arht of flve- flgure drafts on his "dough" for au- tomobiles, etc., la a new angle on a banker's sense of humor. The playwrights who are squawk- "^tng against the stage producers af- flliatiiig themselves with the big film concerns should take a look at this relea.se :ir. 1 then celebrate. They could turn out one of these things daily for a month and then lay off for the remaining 11 months. The •vident hooUup between the paper or papers, which ran this serial and First ^^ational must have been a bitter pill for. someone to have downed after gleaning the sub- stance of the tale. At that Miss Mackalll contributes • nice performance. .She looks good •nd wears an abund.'inre of clothes. While Carewe has slipped in a mid- night negligee bathing party so as to be sure nothing would he missed There Is also a laugh here and there. &Iu!hall convinces as the hero with old-f.uhloned Ideas, with Paul Nich- olson still "tight," according to this Bcrecning. He's either been "chas- ing" or "stewed" for the past year as seen In picture houses around here. "Joanna' should and proliably will flravv that public which followed It In print. The costly looking pro- duction donated imllcates that the author's r<'aders will he appeased at -his brain-child In celluloid form. «ut the money sjjont on It Is out of all proportion to the actual worth of the__llc:htwelght theme. Tliat wnuld go" if this were a "nickel" produc- tion—and It Isn't. Kkit;. WHY WOMEN LOVE (The Sea Woman) Firsf Nail.nal rvfrasc pr.']u rd and di- rected l>y i:dw n r.irnwc. .\d i-)>'''d fror.i Ihr play • Tho Kci WomiMi" hy WllUinl liobr t- *'n nia'ii-ho Sweet starrcl, 'I'ltlcH liy Kalph ypeme Reviewed at tho Hi'-a.iwav. ^'•w York, I).;o. 14. Ituniiliitf time. C". minijton. " —f"" . —Blincbo Siiect Ira MeiTji. the KnKlneer Kdw:n-1 I'Jaric iiodrcy O'Mall^y, the Captain Kub.'tt Kraze" glaf FIar.»en t;i:t Sprolte • ^""flni....:.....,,..., .tJ.ir.iliv F.-Iiafllaii "•try rinrle.) Murray First the title Is flashed. Then the fact that It was adapted from the "Si :i Woniaii": that so and ■0 did the adaritatlon; that Ralph Spenno wrote the titles. Then that Kdvln Carewe porsoii- •ally directed thin one. That ho was deeply Ind^hted to the staff for llielr asslstviiice. Then the sent of the M. P. V. D. A , the Hays organization, was shjwn. Then that this was a First Na- tional picture. Then the censor board's approval. Then two titles. And after that, the picture. At the cimcluslon it was once more called to attention that F.rst .National made the picture and that First National was a member of tho M. P. K D. A. All of which must have been very Interesting to an audience of laymen. Aside from the clutter or credits, "Why Women Love" is a good pic- ture, even If the title hasn't any- thing to do with the film It.self. It is being re'.eascd, however, both as 'Why Women Love" and as "The Sea Woman." The story concerns the daughter of a Norwegian sea captain. After she, Molla, had been rescued through a sea of burning oil by an old lighthouse keeper, she pledged that she would look after his way- ward daughter. Pearl. This meant giving up tho idea of marrying her sweetheart, Rodney O'Malley, cap- tain of a large freighter. But she stayed on at tho lighthouse until one day, the captain came back and they were packing to get married, when a letter arrived from the town doc- tor, the purport of which was that I'earl had arrived In an "Interesting condition." So MoKa chose between love and duty, and aUhough her lover's ship was sailing, she told him she'd have to stay and find the man connected with Pearl and make them marry. The ^ig scenes show the sinking of a large schooner laden with oil which catches (Ire and burns over tho water. Another ficene Is that of the burning lighthouse, nloely done. The scene of tho si'hooner breaking up, however, la badly done in miniature, a proceduro so ob- viously cheap looking It is aurttiis- ing a reaJ picture firm will resort to it. B'.anche Sweet has the leading role, and is fine, on.'e more lonvin'- Ing most of tho special irs that If s'lie isn't the most beau i'ul woman on the screen she's near it. Charlie Mur.ay, Robert Fraz:>r and Edward Karle give good performances, while the production details, aside from the miniature shot, are excellent. All In all, "Why Women Lnve" la a good audience film, thanlis mostly to Blanche Sweet, who fits the pait Ideally. Sialc TIME, THE COMEDIAN Metro-Goldwyn production adapted by Frederic and Fanny ilaiton from the nove? by Kate Jo dan. Directed by tt. b? t Z. Leonard with L^enr Cody and Mae llusch staircd. At Ca Itol, New Yo k, week or rco. 13. Runrrlng time, t.) minutes. .Vera Dakoi Mae B'lseh I-arry Brundage Lew Cody liuth Uakon Gcitru'o dm ten! ?'ith Pakon (cHIld) Rae Kthclyn M'cliael Ljiwl r Itoy Stewart Mrs. St. riermalna rmlil'e Dnvel Tom Cautley CrclRhton Hale Aufil Abbey Nellie Parker Spau'ding Anthony Dakon Hcbcit CIit Count de Crirsac David Mir Prln-e Strotoff Templar Sax- Swedish Maid Mildred Vincent This Is the first really poor pic- ture Metro has turned out in a long time. The plot, reduced to Its essentials, tells the stoiy of a iiial<> v.inipire, of Ills love for one woman and his ultimate throwing her over for hiT daughter. In the end the il.ui:;lr.er packs up, leaves homo uiul deter- mines to go to the male vam(), and when she arrives she finds her mother in his arms. Which brings the custotnary ac- ciiKationa, but the mother fiK'Is that she has triiimpiied ber-ause she lias kept the daughter from tho bad man's t hitches. Alf of this Is punctuated by nter- mlttent glimpses of Theodore Kos- loff, arrayed as a c'own p^ayint; Time, a comedian v. ho romps hither and thither lauglilng at the foibles of peo] le. Theie are many shots of Koslofi" in his panto makeup. After the entiro plot has been told, he erases a blot from the book of Time, climbs up a laigo pnndulum and disappears Into a cloclt. Whr.tcver symiJoKsin this procedure may have aimed at it lost because of the pic- ture Itself, which Is badly made, both as regards acting and the te h- ni.al end. There are too many long shots throughout the picture, and particularly in a theatre as large as the Capitol, where the great majority of the audience sits far away from the screen, the offect on the eyes Is bad. Moreover, what- ever facl'ul expressions are regis- tered by the actors are lost In these far away shots. Mae Busch, Lew Cod: and Ger- trude Olmstead have the leading ro'.es with nobody ccmtriliutlng any- thing out of the ordinary. The pre-Christmas slump period is a good time to slip this on© Into the Lapltol, and even If it had gone in dur^ii;< the good weeks It Li doubtful if it would have held up. Bisk. THE GOLDEN COCOON Wrriier nrns." production from tho novel of Kutli Cro'.«, adapted by Hope I'0:'lnK an,l l.ouls l.l.;ht r. l)lre<-ted by Millard \Vol>h, .Shown at Warners. N.-w York. week Dec. 14, lUlli. Uunnlns time. 7» minu'f I. (!r»".;oiy Cochrane Huntly Gordoa Molly Shannon Heb n« Chadwlek .\Ir. I'enfro Illeharl Tucker SpIit.Tic;<i t DUUvorth Fnink Cam; eau MrH. Shannon Margaret .Sed "on .Mrs. 1 arlier Carrie Clarke Ward Mr. Shannon Charloi McHugh The liuby Violet Kuna Pretty good melodrama of love and po.lticj that would have been a whole lot bet.er had It not been per- mitted to run to so much footage. With about 15 minutes lopped off the picture would have been far more ehtertaining. The story does give Helcne Chad- wlek a corking ch.ince to strut her stuff, and the manner In which that young woman runs the gamut from youn:r girlhood to wife shows that all she needs is a chance In a really great ro'e to prove how great she Is. The picture itself Isn't a bad one nor Is it one that RtandT out as par- ticularly good. Classifying It as a fair program picture would be aijout safe. It Is the story of a small-town girl- in Texas who educates herse'.f and (Continued on page 44) What an Exhibitor Thinks About - - by Breen WEL-C-TT41S ISTWE TIME OF "rWEYEA^j whe/vi producers treat iab.ukea Rich umcle. who's deap ano has To 8E POLireuV r- BELLOWED. AT. r\^ N/O SlR;THEY DONT WANT ME TO OlE Sot lUB FWCK op wreaths some Of=THEM ARH TRYING TO DRAPE around* my nb.ck ^ Much inspiration To LIFE, UlBER-TY AA/0 HAPPINESS I A^J^/ou^iCEMENTS' Books pucu c.^ OP BUG-HOu^e PA0LES ' PEATURES And stupor-peatuRes ' this stuff hands ME A L4U6M-. r~^^ ;^C!^ ^ie<ct4 I BEt-iEVE. WHAT MY eoy-OPFIC^ TtLuS ME, A^":) MY ,. BOX-OF-PiCe SAVS FrftST WATCOMAL AGAfM R)R 1926.7 YUP I'M-M-M SATISFIED. MAYBE THEY THINK I DONT KNOW \^H0 HAS THE REAL STARS AHO WHO GAVE. ME THE Pictures that Put MY I^^CIS* balance way UP WHERE THE BANK PRESIDENT glad-hAnds me., y BRING THE TRUCK, AWDSELL-THESEfT^' BOOKS FOR JUNK.^^V V ^