Variety (May 1926)

1« VARIETY FILM REVIEWS Wednesday, May 5, 1926 BROWN OF HARVARD Metro-Hold w> n-Mityer picture dlreolt-J by Ja< k Conway. Hased on tho play of the •ante nnine by HI la Johns >n Younsr. Fea- tures William Haini's with Jack IMckford and Mary Brian un<lcrlint>d. Ira Morigan, photographer. At the Capitol. New York, week May 2. Running time, 80 nilna. Jim L»oolittle Jack l ickford Mary Abhor t Mary Hrlnn Hob McAndrews. .Francla X. Dushman. Jr. Mrs. Urown Mary Alden Mr. ltrown David Torrance Prof. Abbott K.lwnrd dmnellv Hal Walters CJulnn Williams IleKKle Smythe Ernest Glllen Tom Drown WHMafn Haines Moro genuine college atmosphere here than any other film of the type has contain* d, and the younger element among the picture patrons should eat it up. It's entertainment all the way. William Haines, in the title role, playa it for full worth. The Harvard undergraduate body and the Cambridge alumni could and probably will pick many flaws in the technicalities of the life na they know it at their alma mater, but to an outsider it smacks of be- ing sufficiently genuine to waive all minor doubts. In fact, all college men will give the picture, its di- rector and cast their due. The sin- cerity with which it has been made and tho striving for detail are *.oo obvious to be ignored. Plenty of credit all around for effort on thin one. Adapted from the play of the same name, it may be recalled that it was booed oft' the stage in Itoston by Harvard students when it was done there a littiemore than 20 years ago. Previous to that, the piece was installed at the old Princess theatre, below 29th street on Broadway, with Henry Woodruff In the title Red Hot Summer Wallop Sizzling With Profits Representation of the most amazing melo- drama ever screened! A UNIVERSAL PICTURE Starring PR1SCILLA DEAN Supported by LON CHANEY A TOD BROWNING Production A SMASHING SUCCESS EVERY- WHERE! "BROKE H0U8E RECORD FOR SATURDAY, EXCEEDING ALL expectations." Criterion Theatre, Los Angeles, Cat. •TURNED AWAY OVER FIVE HUNDRED ADMI8SION8. PA- trons enthusiastic. Look for big week." Liberty Theatre, Kansas City, Mo. -ONE BIG BOX OFFICE BET. CAPACITY BU8INE8S BOTH Kings and Rivoli Theatre for fuil week." William Goldman, 8L Louis, Mo. "OPENED TO CAPACITY BU8INE8S SATURDAY AND 8UN- day." Broadway Strand Theatre, Detroit, Mich. OPENS MAY 9th At B. S. MOSS' COLONY Theatre, Broadway, New York CONTINUOUS—NOON TO MIDNIGHT Matinees 35 and 50 cents Evenings 00 and 75 cents role. It followed in the wake of "The College Widow," was ahead of "St.ongheart," and enjoyed a suc- cessful run. At that time there was no reference to football in the script, the athletic kick centering around the annual crew races with Vale. Now it's a picture and in def- erence to the modern trend, a grid- iron victory over the traditional New Haven rival is the big punch, although the crew race is still re- tained. That spells actlcn, and there's an abundanco of it. A fist fight, the crew race and tho football ;ame take care of this angle. Outside of that Brown (Mr H; lnes) is cflarac- teri/.'-d as tm extromoly fiv.ih fresh- man who doesn't "arrive'' until the last quarter of the Yale game dur- ing his sophomore year. It's not one of tho;se college hero things. On the contrary, Brown is Just an aver- age student with a pretty good idea of himself upon coming up from prep school, especially as concerns tho girls. This leads to his going out for the Frosh ':rcw when learn- ing that Bob McAndrcws (Mr. Bushman), his rival for the pro- fessor's daughter (Miss Brian) is out for a place in the shell. Becoming second string stroke, Brown gets happily drunk in New London the night before the race, is called upon when McAndrews de- velops a pair of sore hands and strokes a loosing en because be collapses before reaching the finish line. Generally snubbed for having broken training, he determines to quit school, but returns at the fall term on the suggestion of his dad to fight it out. The following sequence is in the Harvard stadium with the boys in moleskins at practice. Not able to make a varsity back field berth, Brown trails along as a scrub back until the Yale game, when he is sent in during the first half, but gets a bump on the ankle, and has to leave the field after his first play. More mutterings of "quitter," but Brown goes back in the Inal lar- ter with tho score 3-0 for Yale, car- ries the ball almost tha length of the field in a series of rushes and then McAndrews goes over for the winning touchdown. Both the crew and football stuff have been well handled by Jack Conway. It's evident that be had an abundanco of aid in these chap- ters. No doubt about the gridiron battle being the best the screen has yet held within a picture story, and the sweeping of the oars in the shell is authentic, too, even though Ira Morgan, camera man, made the mis- take of grinding too slowly, so that the crews look to be pulling 100 to the minute. However, that's the only glaring slip. Jack Pickford is in a purely sec- ondary role, Albeit the pathos of the story centers around him. As the undersized country boy. Ignored by his classmates but rooming with Brown and worshipping the latter, he jumps from a sick bed and into a rainstorm to chase Brown and tell him that he has not been dropped from the squad, as his roommate has read in the college dally paper. This leads Doolittlr (Mr. Pickford) to the infirmary, where he dies during the game, and to which Brown rushes Immediately the final whistle has blown. Brown weeps himself into Mary Abbott's arms, but the finish light- ens to show him elected to an hon- ory society and marching along arm-in-arm with McAndrews. Haines is corking in the name part. He not only looks collegiate and like a halfback, but paces his performance to a nicety. In which glib subtitles are more than the usual help. Pickford convinces as the underdog, and young Bushman. Jr., makes a likeable "heavy," if he can be termed that. It's a fact that during the early stages of the foot- age the sympathy is all with Bush- man, even during the fight he has with Haines over the girl because of the latter's presumptuousncss in kissing her. And that's what should "sell" the picture. Brown is made neither a collegiate idol nor an ath- letic marvel. He's ju^t seconi- string material, flops once because he's a foolish kM and cashes in after making up his thlnd to make good if the chance offers. Miss Brian is Btrlctly milk and water as the girl, but Mary Alden makes her mother role stand up, as does David Torrence as the father. Imldtntally, Miss Alden's work while her son is supposed to be playing will get under the skin of many a mother. For a college town "Brown of Harvard" Is a cinch. The boys won't get much chance to kid it, for it's down to rock bottom on dramatics and Haines smacks too much of the genuine to be scoffed at. For young- sters from 10 to 15 it can't miss. The football passages presumably were shot last fall at Cambridge, when Harvard eked out a stubborn moral victory by holding Yale to a no-score tie with the Blue a heavy pre-game favorite. Hence the cele- bration on the field was probably from the heart as far as Harvard was concerned. The "shots" of the stadium, campus and New London are "location." It is understood the unlversltv co-operated with this M-. G.-M. unit during the "shooting." The game carries its flashes from the actual contest, and Cor>way pre- sumably had his own cameramen grinding, while the yachts at New Ixjndon are all there to add to the realism. Besides this, Conway has inserted a dance where the boys are in soft shirts and collars with tuxedos. They dance in the accept- ed collegiate manner. Verily, the picture Is a treat as to the endeavor to be as true as possible. A "sweet" picture, an outstanding performance by Haines and a mat piece of work by the director that the censors can pass with their ey* «* closed and which will "sell" itself upon the viewing. Bkig. the exposition of a theory that the World War caused many changes, and that when those Four Horse- men of the Apocalypse (War, Fam- ine. Pestilence and Death) mounted their horses for a careening ride through the heavens their influ- ence was so great that normal people did unheard-of things. The medium of a single and well, boutid-together family is used to exploit the theme. Thus, there is the old aunt, Hde, and her brood of relatives. A musician, a professor, a doctor, a military man. etc., and* her two nieces, Fanny and Curinne. The war wears them down to pov- erty, takes Connne from the man she really loved and sends Fanny to be the mistress of a gross war profiteer. But in the end her aris- tocratic lover won out, and the sor- did influence of War lost out when pitted against tho ennobling influ- ence <5f love. Boiled down, that is the rudi- mentary plot of a very complicated scenario, which is still planting a story as the film nears its conclu- sion. The great fault w.th the sconario—and it is there that the fault lies—is that the entire family is manipulated throughout the story. Thus, unimportant people and unimportant things take up much footage in an attempt to drive home a point which the actions o£ the principal character, 1'u.nny, drive home alone. Which means (Continued on page 20) THE GREATER GLORY First National release, produced by Jun« Mathls. Adapted by ner from IvVn'i iVShauKhnesMy'B novel. "The Vlenne c Medley." Directed by Curt Rchfeld. Con- way Toarlo and Anna Q. NUt^on featured, with May Allison. Ian Keith, Josin Hernholt and Lucy Beiturnont co-featurer'. To bo released as a npecl.il In 11 reel. 1 . At the Strand. New York, week of May 2 Running time. lOtl minutes. Ccint Maxim Von Ilartlg.. .Conway T«»arlc Fanny Anna Q. N'llBKon Corlnne May Allison Paull nirbach Ian Keith Tante Ilrte Lucy Beaumont Oustav Schmidt Jean Hernholt Dr. Herman Von Her#r... .Nlprol de Hrulle.- MImI. his wife Brldicetta Clark Prof. Leopold F.l»erhardt. .. . John Salnpolln Kaethe. hla wire Marcla Manon Otto Strlner Edward Knrle Uosol .his wife Virginia Southern Anna. Fault's wife Isabel Keith Irma Von Berff, the stepmother Kathleen Chambers T>on Krum Hi<le Hamilton Mar!e Cora Mncoy Cnnntess Ton Hartiir Carrie P:.uniery Theodore von Hartlg 1 Thur Fairfax The S^tswrs Grinder .....Boris KaslofT The Cross Bearer Qeonje Pirlnz. 1 Helura Be*s Flowers Maid Mircelle Corday SEND US YOUR DATES Legit Managers Keep Your Houses Open We Just Closed Two Weeks to Capacity Crowds TULANE New Orleans NOW PLAYING 3ELASCO, WASHINGTON FORD'S, BALTIMORE "Percentage Dates Only" When this film was first an- nounced it was to be a super-spe- cial for legitimate showings. Its title then was "The Viennese Med- ley." But a few woeks back orders were given to cut 't from about 30 reels to few enough for regular houses. One cutter who had worked on it said he didn't see how it could be cut any more, but at the Strand this week it is Bhown in about ll reels, a swiftly projected film with an epic theme. It misses both as a special and as a program release, and the salvation is a cast filled with "names" plus a production which cost somebody a prodigal sum. Its claim to being an "epic" is K NAKED TUl A Motion Picture Sensation Featuring Helen Chadwick and Jack Mulhall State Rights For Sale Public Welfare Pictures Corp. 723 Seventh Avenue, New York 806 8. Wabash Avenue, Chicago ^ f AFGQCW «VMUf AIM WOODS pla* bu WHUON COUIJON ax/ OTTO HAR8ACH (it'reciect by E MAJON HOPPW PRODUCERS DISTRIBUTING CORPORATION TED DONER BEGS TO ANNOUNCE THE ARRIVAL OF 8 POUNDS OF EDWARD WINSTON DON SHEWED HIS ACT 11 P. M. APRIL 24 AT THE DONER MUSIC HALL, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. MOTHER AND boy DOING GREAT—FATHER DOING FIVE A DAY Starring in FANCHON & MARCO "IDEA" Playing WEST COAST THEATRES Permanent Address: 1627 1 /-. Hudson Avenue, Los Angeles, Calif.