Variety (February 1926)

42 VARIETY FILM REVIEWS Wednesday,.February 3, 1926 THE RED KIMONA (Continued from i>at;e 3?) when Mrs. Wallacfs Hoid cntors tho file room of a dally newspaper and opens one of 1917 Hies to a page on Whiih Is shown the atory of "Ga- brlelle Uurley." the name of the Charaeter In the production playel by PrlsoiUa Bonner. That this is a Btory liased on fact Is the excuae under which it Is offered on the screen. After the picture Mrs. Reld Is .iKaln shown, this time making a plea for thi.s particular type of wom- en who have been drawn into a life of shame through the false promises Of man. To those houses that care not What the result in the future and Who like to go in for the ratht-r lurid Stuff this looks like a bet, hut the majority of houses, especially the neighborhood theatres and the 8ma!l-town houses want to lay oft Of this one. It seems the day when "the line" can be shown in pictures is long since passed. At the same time, before entering Into the tale as re'.ated on the screen, it might be well to suggest a bit of Judicious cutting in one scene. It is the one where the heroine is about to quit her pri.son cell after having been acquitted of murder. Just before going she points to a Red Cross poster touching the bot- tom line, which reads, "At the serv- ice of all mankind." That got a laugh from the Monday night audi- ence at the Broadway, but possibly that audience is just a little tQO "wise." However, it would be Just as well to cut that bit from the pic- ture. At the opening of the picture fol- lowing the shot of Mrs. Reid, the heroine is shown in a "crib" sup- posedly In New Orleans. She la in- formed by the "girl next door" that her lover has left her flat and Is on his way to Los Angeles to marry another girL She follows, sees him In a Jewelers purcliasing n wedding ring, and shoots him dead. At the trial her story comes out It's the old tale of a small-town girl lured from home by the vllhm'e sport. taken to the red liKbt ili.slrict and put to work. With her earnings he buys her a couple of diamoml rings, but the idea of his using the money that has come to him through her shame to buy a wedding ring for another was too much. "He was her man. but he done her wrong," as the old "Frankie and Johnny ' song runs. The Jury of 12 good men and true, native sons from Iowa and Nebras- ka who are Los' strongest boosters, turn her out a free woman. But -xhe's broke. A society dame, pub- licity crazy, takes her up, just for the newspaper space. She keeps the girl at her home until the novelty wears off and then turns her loose, flat again. As a last resort, after seeking a Job and failing to connect (her story having been too well broadcast), she at last wires "the girl next door" in New Orleans, and gets the nponey to return to the "crib."' She starts, but the society publicity hound's chauffeur has fallen In lofe with her. and he searches for her. The two keep crossing paths until she Is at work in a hospital as a scrub wom- and and he in the good old kahkl ready to go overseas. He wants to marry her right there and then, but she says she will wait until he comes back, for that is her idea of bringing about her regeneration. The picture as a, picture Is rather well directed and the detail for the most part Is well carried out. As to the "crib" stuff itself. It's really not too rough, but still it is there, and It is a cinch that small-town mothers and fathers won't want their boys and girls, even though they may be nearlng the voting age, to get a flash at this. Maybe some of those moth- ers and fathers wouldn't even un- derstand the picture If they saw It, but the youngsters would soon tell DAVIS GOODMAN Now Playing West Coast Theatres 12th Week This Week (Jan. 31), Loew** State, Los Angeles Production FANCHON A. MARCO 'em about It, and then some one would raise Hades. Mrs. Held or .someone olso may believe she is doing something for the fallen women in turning out a picture of this sort, but the chances are that she will do tremendous harm to the picture industry as a whole and to herself In particular because she sponsors It by permit- ting it to continue. The cast Is a good one, strong on names, even though for the most part they are In shots only for bits, but among those in the cast are Mary Carr, Tyrone I'ower, Oeorgo Seig- mann and others equally aa well known. And as a little side Information, pictures such as this, although not so well made, which were the Ger- mans' dream of quick money from the screen, sot tho German film In- dustry back 10 years. Fred. MEMORY LANE John M. Stahl production presented by I^ouls n. .Mayor, relp.iseii tiy First National. Kiom nn oriRlnal by John M. St.ihl and Kenjamin CJlazer. Featuring Kleanor Hoanlinan and Conrad Nagol. At the Strand, New York, week Jan. 81. Running time 71 minutes. Mary Eleanor noardmnn Jlmmlo Holt... t'onrad NaKel Joe Field William Haim-s .Mary's FathiT John Steppllng Mary's Mother............. . .Kugenla Ford The Urchin...............Frankie Darrow »f.i,i. (Joan Standing *""^ ••'^ I Pot Farley "Memory Lane" Is decidedly an old fashioned typq of feature pro- duction. It is old fashioned in its story and direction, and the only modern touch that there is about It is the cast that puts over as best it can a mediocre thought and story. The chances are that "Memory Lane" won't show up badly at the box office of the Strand this week because Vincent Lopez is at the hbuse as an added attraction, but the picture isn't strong enough to get along without some box offlce aid at least as strong as this. Those who viewed the picture on the first day started a thought as to whether or not there was a pos- sibility that L. B. Mayer was just working out his First National can- tract as best he could and not pay- ing any attention as to the type of picture that he was giving them to release. ■ The leader title descrlBes the pic- ture as "the eld story; two boys and a glrL" That's Just It A small town, two boys, both In lovo with the sapie girl. She Is ontraged to marry one. But the night before the wedding the other returns to the town after a year's absence and the next night he is in front of her house when the ceremony takes place, actually forced into the task of driving the car for the newlyweds to the station. On the way the groom sees who is driving, there are some words, the groom Is pushed out of the car and the bride is driven oft by the man she didn't marry. The car runs out of gas, the two sleeb In the machine over night and the boy takes her back home the next morning. There the new hubby awaits her with open arms and they start on the deferred honeymoon. A couple of years later, there having been happiness and a baby in the family in the meantime, the other boy again shows up, dressed like a flashy gambler, pulls a lot of hick stuff, and the husband, who asks him the why of the masquer- ade, seems surprised that he was unable to put it over. Confesses that he had to see her again and wanted to make sure of her hap- piness. Then Daddy goes home and the wife convinces him that she never cared for the other guy at all. Thai's a story! If it is, so also are bedtime stories fit for adult consumptioui. As to the cast, Eleanor Board- man, Conrad Nagel and William Haines t.ake all the honors. The balance does not stand up any too strong. An exception Is little Frankie Darrow, a kid actor who slips in* a bit that stands out. From a production standpoint the picture doesn't look as though It cost very much. It won't do for a week stand and anyone that can pass it up in the day to day change houses might just as well do so unless Eleanor Boardman stands particularly strong at their box offlce. It was a shame to waste this girl in this picture. Fred, PHANTOM EXPRESS Roy»l Pictures pres.nts "The rhmtom Express," with Ethel Shannon, David Hut ler. Frankie Darro. George Hlcumaun ond V^IUlam Hookt'r In cast. John «1. AdoUhl directed. Released via Rannor I'roducllinu Time of running, 68 minutes. Porter in Hollywood Verne H. Porter, the new head of Famous Player's story department, has left for Hollywood to acquaint ' himself with the other half of the department out there. Outside the New York Theatre the billing made by the house had David Butler featured, the man- agement evidently feeling Butler was entitled to It and that a name from the cast was necessary to make it look more like a real pro- duction. Butler plays the hero and does as well as he can with a role that didn't call for much acting until the few closing feet. "The Phantom Express" is a story of railroads. It could have been quickly served up In a two-ree.er. Seems the express ran about 200 miles on a spur of track controlled by a small railway group that pinned its whole existence on that one run and its engineer, John Lane. George Slegmann as Hardy, tower- man, looked with big eyes upon Lane's daughter who in turn loved young Jack Warner (Mr. Butler). Hardy was dead sore at heart when he found himself spurned by Norah Lane (Miss Shannon) and that the run he desired was filled by the girl's father. So HardjL flicks a switch and wrecks the express. Apparently it didn't do much damage to the train as it was soon on the Job although some passengers were killed and maimed for life. It was a head-on collision, with the engineer saved. All he lost was his reason and his Job, and In this picture, others might have lost theirs, too, without a wreck. Wasted a lot of celluloid on a commonplace story. Nothing new or novel to the film, and even the work of a little kiddie (ailed to lift It Just a picture. MarkJ.^^ LURE OF THE WILD Columbia production. Featuring Jan* Novak, with Alan Roscoe, Richard Tucker, Pat Harmon. Mario Carllo, Rillle Jeorn and the trained dog. Lightning, In tha cast. Directed by Frank R. Strayer. Re« leased by Apollo. Runnlus time, 58 mlns. Although Jane Novak Is featured <and is a screen name bearing some weight, the outstanding star is Lightning, the dog. / With this dog in tho cast, one naturally expects a story wherein a JACK COAKLEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA CABIRIA CAFE, SAN FRANCISCO ESPECIALLY ENGAGED AS FEATURE ANNIVERSARY WEEK (JAN. 23) _ _ J__ METROPOUTAN, LOS ANGELES, CAL. Bssra'jws ELEVEN MEN—ELEVEN ARTISTS ■ 7*5^^W/«rtt/sfir«<ir(8xirr»>i:wr/r;rr»xir/»"/»itrwr^ » IS k^^> a ''»*■ -tttP**^^ TaxIilmCbjporatinrt.