Variety (April 1926)

Wednesday, April 7, 1926 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY 39 K-d to worse and that her sweetie, irlch woman's son, too. may turn to be a desperado, decides to save ''^NVlth the prison chaplain she goes into the city and frames her broth- ers and lover. They believe she is tunneling to a bank. Flrat they plan to be In at the death, but aftir try- In* honest living they turn stralKht and try to stop Molly, who at tho finale falls with a bullet flred into her by that nemeaia of city gani?8, Tom Horan, head of a detective agency. She lives and marries her rich suitor. The stolen bonds were recovered by Molly and the real thief, Lazardi, forced to confess. The picture Jumps some high hurdles and slams the merry old Imagination here and there, but withal the moral is implngly told In a way characteristic of film ro- mances. There are several corking scenes, showing that Mr. Schulberg knew his little old New York. There are moments of rfeal city realism with the grim aftermath that one finds in the morning papers when men of stealth with guns roam at will the night before. It was very easy for a confirmed bunch of bad boys and one a "chem- ist," an expert In counterfeiting, at that to Anally go straight without any of them caught during their rounds. There is one very nice feature to this picture. That's the work of Clara Bow as Molly Burns. She was In there acting all tho time, keeping the film tempo up pronto and doing a "boy" Impersonation that was wholly within premise. Kelsey's work was excellent, and Jack Wise made a mean-acting lAzardi. Messrs. McKee, Hearn and Cooper carried their roles well. But atop it all was the work of Miss Bow, in fact she was never seen to better advantage. As one watches some of the very good scenes the impression grows that Mr. Schulberg bad a corking theme for something very big. but it petered out toward the close and fizzled like a leaky firecracker. Tho story will be easily compre- hended in all neighborhoods; preaches a pantomimic sermon that seems timely in these rabid days of ^'stick 'em up." "The Lawful Cheater" adds a feather in Clara Bow's cap. The strength of the picture is in her act- ing and in the first part; after the girl goes to prison the story started to skid afid careen aimlessly. They had builded well up to that point. It seemed all too easy the way the girl fooled her brothers and they supposed to be modem wise guys. Mark, KING OF THE TURF F. U. O. production of tb« story by LouIr toaeph Vance. Directed by Jamea IIoK^n, With Patsy Ruth Miller and Ksnnnth Har- lan featured. At Lo«w'a New York Roof lAprll 2, aa half of double bill. Running time. 00 minutes. Kate Fairfax Pat«y Ruth Miller '•Red" Kelly David Klrtjy ••Soup" Conley William Fran^-y iobn Smith Kenneth Harlan The hero's name is John Smiih. Even with such a disadvantage, this film is a good, interesting and well-made feature suitable for the smaller nouses and those playing combination vaudeville bills. CoL Fairfax, southerner with goatee, mint juleps, white columns on his front porch and lots of chivalry on his insides, is a race horse owner up to the time the local banker frames him on a theft, and the old Cunnel is taken to the jail house. That he is innocent, his daugliter persistently believes. While she is alone in the world, the son of the man who framed her dad comes courting. She turns him down like a pile driver dropping tho weight. But he keeps coming around with threats, entreaties and mush words. P'inally, the old Cunnel gets out, bowed and a little older, but still filled to the brim with a love for humanity—this love being so pro- nounced that three real jail-birds, brought In for comic reliei!, come home with him, while a trusty In the Jail, John Smith, is brought back to train his horses. Meantime, the fel.'ow who framed him has died and his son discovers that his father did wrong. So be goes to the CunneFs daughter and tells her that if she'll marry him he'll m(^e public his father's con- fession. But they outsmart the bad boy and put the comedy crooks into his safe. They rescue the written confossion. About this time the great race starts. The bad boy, peeved because the Gunnel's daughter has rejected him, trlra to have the Gunnel's entry barred because tho Gunnel Is an ex-convlct and therefore not a gen- tleman. liut the confession arrives in time, and who do you think married il\e «lrl? John Smith! No? Yes. Cant is competent and production in general, while cheap in many •pots, eervcs the purpose. Moder- ately interesting, too. SUh. LOUISE DSESSEB STABBING Los Angeles, April 6. Louise Dresser has been released from her Universal contract and signed by Cecil B. DeMille to star In ' Gigolo," which WilUam K. How- ard will direcL THE DANGER QUEST Harry J. Browa produrtlon. Reed Howes •tarred. Btory and continuity by Henry Robertn Bymonda. Produced and dlre<<ted »>y Harry J. Brown for Rayart release. Shown at the Btanl.^y theatre. New Tork. March TA, as main feature. Running time. ^7 niinutrs. Rob Riillins Reed Howes Nan Coll.y Elhel Shannon Cd'.nel Spiffy. j. p MacOowan SpHts rJarrett Drtvld Klrby Roll Hoy. e mUy Franey Otto ShUKara Fred Kohler ITmhnitan Oeorge Reld InBpector Rodney Keys Another of the Reed Howes scries from the Harry J. Brown producing .shop. Howes, roguuled as an out- and-out elunt man, continues to run, hop and Jump his way through some of the stuff this handsome young man is fast becoming famous for in froiit of tho film cvnicra.. In this Htory, which has the Afrl- cfln diamond mines as Its main lo- cale, Howes finds some new slants for his stuff, but the picture seems* drawn out and becomes very com- monplace in stretches. Several thrills, but a number of the attempts to make a superman out of Howes fell wide of the mark. As an illustration, that scene where Howes turns back astride his horse and rides between two pursuers, also on horses, and upsets them as he does so. was a little too much for tho imagination. Howes at all times is pleasing in his work, having facial outlines and physical set-up that make him a typical lead in films. Once the Howes sponsors dig up some rip- snortin* stories and Howes con- tinues to follow instructions, the independents will be getting just the sort of a flashy trip-hammer romantic bet they have been look- ing for since Hek was a pup. "The Danger Que.st" has a num- ber of captions that were genuinely amusing, and it seemed a pity the pace wasn't maintained. The heavy was Fred Kohler, acceptable and hard working, but the best acting was done by J. P. MacGowan, as the wily, get-lt-wlthout-worklng gam- bler, who showed experience, skill and naturalness. Miss Shannon wasn't required to do a whole lot as the girl with whom the wall- scaling, high-fence-jumping, hut- crashing Howes, as Bob Rollins, falls in love, but she looked the part and was sweetly gracious. 'the Jungle native setting was most realistic, and one of the com- edy strikes was made in the drum- beating bit, when the white man got dizzy and started to beat a jazz rhythm instead of the one-beat pat as done by the Zulu drummer. Photographically, "The Danger Quest" measures up to snuff. Howes repeated some of his athletic tricks of previous films, and in the neighborhoods where Howes is building up a following the picture will rate high. Otherwise, Just ordi- nary, and Just a feature. THE LOVE TOY Warner Drothers* clanlc. Lowell Sher- man atarred. Aothor anonymoua. Scenario by Sonya Horey. Directed by Krle C. Kenton. At the Stanley. New York. April S. Running time, 65 mlnutea. Peter Remacn Lowell Sherman The BHde Jane Winton King Lavorls Wlllard Louis Prime Minister Albert George WHITmnn Queen Zita Kthel Orey Terry rrlnceaa Patricia Hclene Co.stello Lady-ln-WaltlnK Maude Ooorge On Broadway recently was shown a film wherein Lewis Stone took to slapstick comedy scenes, with custard pies supplanted by herring, which Mr. Stone flung Into the outstretched arms of an army of delicatessen bargain hunt- ers. Now comes a picture with Low- ell Sherman doing daredevil stuff. However, "doubles" work much of the time. And it does not seem amiss to charge some of the gag writers out Golden Gate way with being pretty close readers of all the comedy writers employed by the newspapers. This picture fs an admixture of travesty, romance and whatnot, gauged on present day slang manu- facture in the United States. The story takes place in one of those foreign countries where rich young Americans make googoo eyes at un- married princesses, overthrow a couple of rebellious dynasties and lick bewhiskered throne contenders. It Is the same country that George Barr McCutcheon and Harold Mac- Grath have worked overtime in yes- teryear. Lowell Sherman plays the young American who becomes the right bower to another American, a former bootlegger, now a king in one of those take-your-pick coun- tries ruled only for novel and pic- ture purpo.ses. Before the lo:^l war is over Lowell is a hero and has copped the fair younp: prlnresfl. There are somo funny scenrp; there is muc h th.'tt is stn tched to the bursting point, and all the way them are slangy captions boflltlng stlrrinp timen within purple hall.H. The story almt»Ht loses Itsolf at times, with Rh'^rman taking a good rest and ' doublon" worklnpr In somo lively chnscs via au(<^ and horror and outwitting a pursuing bevy of soldiers. The main try In for broad, farci- cal comedy. It hits and It misses. For a part that glvoa Sherman a chance to wear si)ic-;ind-spnn uni- forms and ha.s him far removed fr »ni the film neat of his ufu.vI villain:., It will sufQce. But expecting an audience to believe Sherman goes through all that rough work io the open is beyond conjecture. •The Love Toy" Is a hodge-podge of slang titles, a sandwlihinc: of outdoor slapbang comedy etiifi: and a two-ply yank at the Inio^llnatiuii. Mark, THE BLACK GUARD Jane Novak etarrcd In I^-Uradfor l pr.>- duction of Qrahain CutlM' atury. Itirt^led by Raymond Falto. At the Arena. Now York. April 0. RuuulnK time, mlnutea. Michael Gaviol, a young violinist, is hit on the head with a bottle he emptied of boo;^ to balk hi^ drunken grandmother in her attempt at get- ting more drunk. Grandma swings the bottle. Urcm then on every- thing, including Michael, rests in a daze. The bottle knocks out Michael, causing him to mount the heavens, where he swears to Mallol, the God of Music, to devote his love to noth- ing but his art. With the aid of an- other man's purse, Michael becomes, as he is next seen. Gaviol, the mas- ter vioIinisL But Mike's oath to Mallol looks' bad when Jane Novak, the Princess Maria Idourska. walks in. Being In love with t>oth Maria and his fiddle, something must be done for Mike. So Maria marrio.s, unwillingly, her cousin, Prlnco Paiil, who, being a rake, is a prince in title only. Vtaria and her cousin, ruling a proviiuo In Rust^Ia, are troublod with revolting subjects led by Lev- inskl, Mirhael's old music tcarher gone mad. Michael steps In aa the people are about to break In tho Idourbka palace, succeedB In get- ting Maria to safely, stabs the naughty Prlnco Paul to death, and is in turn stabbed, but not to death, by Lcvlnski. At this time it ap- pears that tho God Mallol is for- gotten, everyone being intere.<'ted in possessing Maria. An invalid from his wound.s, Michael is found by the searching princess in Paris and the agony ends. The story has possibilities but Is woefully botched. Continuity is ab- sent. "The tale becomes interesting at times but verges toward the fanatic and is cut short by a change which takes place not only in the story but in the Aim. With three seta of titles, each in different styto of lettering, this picture bos evi- dently been handled by too many people. From appearances it baa been made and remade. Walter Pilla, aa Michael. th« musical genius, emotes too heavily. Hi.M acting often sways to femln« Inity. Jane Novak also heaves too much. BeiriK Itadly gowned thrnngh- oiit the film she is at a handicap bM to appeajance. The mob scenes and interiors look like m«iney, but the picture is bad all around. Drunk Again! Los Angeles, April ff. Declaring that she had to put her husband to bed about 1,000 times when he arrived home Intoxicated, Mrs. Eifltelle Campeau, wife of Frank Campeau, screen player, was awarded a divorce by Judge Walter S. Gates. The couple were married three years, the court calculated. It was alleged Cami>eau was drunk every night lordi i»lk«4 by Klkrii m$ for thW CMMtd KYr\ you can't Mot noar it for crowdfZ almadqt KIKI aONALD COLMAN ^jSi y"