Variety (February 1926)

42 VARIETY FILM REVIEWS Wednesday,,Febt-uary 3, 1928 THE RED KIMONA (Continued frum page ST) when Mrs. Wallace Reld ontors the llle room of a dally newspaper and opens one of 1917 flies to a jiaRe on which la shown the story of "Ga- brielle Uurley," the name of the character In the production playe'1 by Prlscilla Bonner. That this Is a etory hased on fact Is the excuse Under which It Is offered on the ■creen. After the picture Mrs. Reld Is apaln shown, this time making a plea for this particular type of wom- en who have been drawn Into a life of shame through the false promises cf man. To those houses that care not what the result In the future and Who like to go in for the rather lurid stuff this looks like a het, but the majority of houses, especially the neighborhood theatres and the Bma!l-town houses want to lay oft Of this one. It seems the day when "the line" ean be shown in pictures is long ■Ince passed. At the same time, before entering Into the tale as related on the screen. It might be well to suggest a bit of judicious cutting in one scene. It l.s the one where the heroine is about to quit her prison 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. Reld, the heroine Is shown In a "crib" sup- po.<ed!y in New Orleans. She Is In- formed by the "girl next door" that her lov€r has left her flat and Is on his way to Los Angeles to marry another girl She follows, sees him in a jewelers purcliasing a 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 vllUiKe sport, taken to the red light district and put to work. With her earnings he buys her a couple of dianmnd rings, hut the idea of his using the money that has com© 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 "Frankle 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 .she'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 falling 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 publiciUf hound's chauffeur has fallen In love 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- era and fathers wouldn't even un- derstand the picture If they saw it, but the youngsters would soon tell -I DAVIS GOODMAN Now Playing West Coast Theatres 12th Week This Week (Jan. 31), Loew's State, Los Angeles Production FANCHON A MARCO •em about It, and then soma one would raise Hades. Mrs. Held or .someone c'se 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 Selg- 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, set the German Him In- dustry back 10 years. Fred, MEMORY LANE John M. Stahl production presented by Louis n. .Mayer, released by First National. Kiom an orlitlnal by John M. Stahl and Henjamin CJlazer. Featuring Kloanor Duanlinan and Conrad Nagol. At the Strand, New York, week Jan. SI. Running time 71 minutes. Mary .......Eleanor Boardman Jlmmlc Holt... fonrad Nagel Joa Field .; William Halm-s .M.iry's l'"alher John SteppUng Mary's Mother..... Kugenla Ford The Urchin ....Frankle Darrow w.,,1- J Joan .standing *'*''^ '"^ I Dot 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 Lopes is at tlie h6use as an added attraction, but the picture isn't strong enough to get along without some box office aid at least as strong as this. Those who viewed the picture on th© 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 con- tract as best he could and not pay- ing any attention as to the type of picture that he was giving ttiem to release. " The leader title descriSes the pic- ture as "the old story; two boys and a glrL" That's Juat It A small town, two boys, both In lovo with the sa^ne girl. She is enfTaped to marry one. But the night befi)re 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 off by the man she didn't marry. The car runs out of gas, the two sleet In the machine over night and tlie 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 lat<vr, 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. That's a story! If It Is, so also are bedtime stories fit for adult consumption. As to the cast, Eleanor Board- man, Conrad Nagel and William Haines take all the honors. The balance does not stand up any too strong. An exception Is little Frankle 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 office. It was a shame to waste this girl in this picture. Fred. 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. PHANTOM EXPRESS Royal Pictures prrsonts *Tli<> rhintom Express," with Kthel Sharncn, D.ivld Kut Icr. Frankle Darro. George .SlcRmaim sAd VMlllam Hooker In east. Jolm d. Ado .,hi directed. Released vl,i Hanner I'roductlMnM Time of running, 58 minutes. 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 t>ro> 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-reefer. 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 ita engineer, John Lane. George Siegmann 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 wua filled by the girl's father. So Hardjt flicks a switch and wrecks the express. Apparently It didn't do mu"Ii 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 e^ineer saved. All ho lost was his reason and his Job, and In this picture, others might have lost ^helrs, 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 kiddle failed to lift It. Just a picture. MarkJ.^^ LURE OF THE WILD Columbia production. Featuring Jane Novak, with Alan Roscoe, Richard Tur.ker, Pat Harmon. Mario Carllo, liillte Jeorn and the trained dog. Lightning, in th* cast. Directed by Frank R. Strayer. Re- leased by Apollo. Running time, 66 mlnii. Although Jane Novak Is featured and is a screen name bearing some weight, the outstanding star ia Lightning, the dog. / With this dog in the cast, one naturally expects a story wherein a JACK COAKLEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA ■. V CABIRIA CAFE, SAN FRANCISCO ESPECIALLY ENGAGED AS FEATURE ANNIVERSARY WEEK (JAN. 23) " METROPOLITAN, LOS ANGELES, CAL. ELEVEN MEN—ELEVEN ARTISTS fcsaSa^isROTfM^^ } k^^ •is Speciak that ^ specials >C^ Tox Jil III Corp a rat I o IL ■tMPi