Variety (Aug 1926)

Wednesday. Aiiguel 85, 1M9 FILM REVIEWS VARIETY It te -turned en tor « hnppy aolutloR when the hiding place of the stolen money ia revealed in a burning desk, %nd blasirfv timbers bury the heavy past all. hope of salvage. Maurice Costello plays the flre- ytaa* tether ci the fireman hero, and Florence Turner has only a bit as ' ttie wife of the warehouse proprie- tor,-who serves as comedy relief. The acting Is almost as labored as ' t the story, but sufficiently convincing ' lor the type of play. iMh, Return ot the Lone Wolf Cdliimbia prodvottoa of a crook drama troaa th* MnNi Iqr Louis JoMph Vance STb. C). Adaptation by J. Orubb Alex- «Bi«r and dlroetod bgr Ralpli Inco, under ^ attpcrvlsloa of Harry Coha. Ranains tlmo. el mlnatos. Tho Lone Wolf .....Btrt Lytoll 3farcla May fair BIlUo Dovo yalllaon t ....... Freeman Wood Morphew Onstav Von Snyffertitz Llane Delorme Gwendolyn Lee > Crane Alphonae Esthter Well-managed polite crook story, ione in the polite and casual style • and with the high-toned society ^ background of the "Raffles" series, ef whleh thit Louie Joseph Vance ■ eerfee is a later rival. A capital ex- ^ lunple of this type of Action, admir- ably produced IB all technical de- tails and splendidly acted by all principals. From the boz-oHlce angle the story has value from the lar^ire fol- lowing built up by Vance for his romantic hero through enormous V BiagaKine circulation. The picture will attract and make good on all soreene* Several Interesting angles nrc used in this chapter of the exploits •f the society thief, such as the fact ' that the super-crook turns detective In order to recover from a rival gang ef operators the fortune in Jewels they stole from the woman the Lone "Wolf loved and who turned him .. from his career of artlatio crime tnto the paths of righteousness. The atmosphere of de luxe society ii skilfully established and well maintained, and It gives the rather unreal story a glamour of romantic setting which operates to its advan- tege. It is this aspect of the Raf- 'flee fletien formula that gives dis- tinction to screen stories, lifting them above the level of mere crook talea and giving them a tone of romantic drama rather than crass - melodrama. In thia case the ro- ' tttance and the suspenae have been tetremely well sustained, so that ^e unreality of the material does sot Intrude. \ All such tales are obvious make- believe, but here the Action is so ■ ^ blandly naive that it almost escapes attention as the spectator's interest . is held. The start is a ilne example - of compact exposition. Almost in the flash the foundation is laid and the story is well under way in terms - of action promptly. From then to the Anish progreas of the atory is ■teady and compact ^ v ■ The Aim has a number of good surprises. When the Wolf Is at bay In the crook's luxurious headquar- ters, he retreats behind a heavy cur- tain, through which he seems to poke a revolver barrel to hold off the crooks. When the hiding place la rushed, there is no Wolf in sight, the revolver being wedged into a piece of furnTture so that it appears . to be held by a hand. HUNGRY ARMS Independent ptodaction written and dl« feetod by Antbonjr Moran, aurrins Prla- cllla Moraa. Specwl preview at the Bunny thsatrsb N. T. (Waahtnfton Heigbta). Auk %. Raaaiaf tlmob W mlavtes. PrlscUla (rDur Prlacllla Moran Otandid CTDiy......... .Wtltlam V. Mong The Mother Dorothy Pevore Roomlnjt House Keeper Bmily Fltsroy Bocial Worker Clsay Fltsforaid Colleea John Richard wjjpk er l^ i tt ^y eee»e«oooeeoeoe«eseefeeee«««t« e^iftidd V brings It home with her and smug- gles it into the rooming house where she and "granny dad" make their home. She insists on keeping the little babe, but after the two young- sters are asleep the grandad goes forth to apprise those on whose st^p the child was found that it is safe. On the way he is struck by an auto and taken to the hospital. In the meantime the mother of the child returns to the home of her biother. where she deserted it. and demands the infant be returned to her, being distracted at its loss, and a^ search is immediately instituted. Priscilla with the baby is earBlng a living for both by selling papers, and Anally enters the kiddie in the baby contest, where it wins the prize. But Just at that moment the keeper of the rooming house in which she has been living and a social worker who have been search- ing for her and the baby appear on the scene and something of a chase ensues. In the end the little one is captured and the baby taken from her. The next day she slips into the orphanage where the baby is and kidnaps It Just in time to prevent it from being adopted, taking it to the home where she originally found It. A reunion is effected between the distracted mother and her ofFsprtng, and as a result both Priscilla and her grandad are adopted, he to be the gardener asf «||# ItflULiiiMs for the baby There are Aaws Ib fhii story to be sure and there are also some im- probable moments, but what of It when the picture as a whole carries a corking heart kick. It undoubt- edly shows that little Priscilla Mo- ran is capable of some real things on the scr e eB» Wnd, Anthony Moran, former Oklahoma iiichibltor, now producer and direc- tor Of features starring his talented little daughter, Priscilla Moran, has come from the coast with his first production turned out independent- ly. Last week the picture was given a preview in one of the neighbor- hood houses on WasblngtoA U^ights, and the production seemed to strike a responsive chord with the audi- ence and especially the women folk. The story is replete with heart In- terest and fits the little star. It is one of those winsome affairs that creeps into the heart, brings a lump to the throat and follows with a lit- tle human touch that will bring a smile or a light laugh. The picture isn't one that any one « would want to slip into a Broadway house for a de luxe presentation. But it certainly classes witl? the average program picture that Is shot into the neighborhood houses and the daily change bigger theatiws on the Main Stem. At that, it might even stand up for a week at the •Cameo or even the Colony if a spe- cial wallop of publicity was put ber hind. Some sort of a kid stunt with the "Daily News" and a tie-up with their Orphant Annie strip would get • this picture a lot. Incidentally Pris- cilla Moran as "Orphant Annie" on :?rccn with a countrywide ti^- Up with the papers usintf the strip Would be a mighty good bet right now. The Moran yoiin?rster seems to be particularly fitted for the role, more so than any one else that comes to mind at this time. In thi.s picture slie is a little or- phan who is living with her grandad, a luir!(strr of green groceries. F?h«' W mCK-OFF Excellent Pictures Co. release. Distrib- uted renrionally by Commonwealth Ehcchanse Story by H, II. Van Loan. Directed by Wesley Rugf^les, and titled by Jack Cos- way (Variety). I>iew'8 New York, Aus> IT, one as halt oC a doirt»l« bUL RiaanlDg This film, starring George Walsh, is a college yam of the bad boys and the good boys. In other words, the hero comes to the school, a hick from the country, and is imme- diately rejected by the smart-alecky element but is taken up by those whe brieve in and trust his athletic prowess. The girl angle, too. Is strongly played, for the villain who plots the ruin of the hero is after the same girl who likes the country boy the minute she sees him. The crux, of course, is a big foot ball game with the hero ordered Into start, relieving the villain, who is disgruntled. The latter frames a wire to the hero and iM'onto, the lad leaps home expecting to And his .mother dying. But his mother is actually at the game, waiting to see her boy rush down the field doing two touchdowns per quartM*. Find- ing he has been tricked, the hero races back to the field, using an automobile 'and wearing that out; taking a buggy and driving that un- til the wheels eohie off, and making his last dash on the back of an old gray mare. F9 reaches the field. Jumps into the game, and In the second quarter ties the score with a great touchdown. Then he's knocked out'iMI 'taken to the Wuimmtu hut a few minutes before the game is over he recovers and on a fake pass just rompi db#n the fleld hi me Meet approved Red Grange style. George Walsh has the leading port, while a little stiff Ui Some of the straight playing, does nicely In the football scenes, for here his ath- letic reputation takes oare of itself. The leading feminine Interest is Leila Hyams, and what a sweet- lookiiiff dish she is In the gallopinc tintypes! Looking like a million and coming through handsomely on what is probaUr her flrat SOMM Ap- pearance is her record. There's a lot of punch In the titles for this one, which were turned out by Jack Conway (Variety's critic and slang expert). Here Mr. Con- way has turned most of the titles into readable slang which got laughs at the New York. Ifs his first titling Job and a good onou "The Kickofff," as a picture, has sufUcient action toward its conclu- sion to make It stand up, but It would seem more cutting would eliminate some stuff which slows up the approach to the climax. Other- wise oKeh and nice for its field. shows a shWet of copy paper with a story on It, the story having been written by a brand new cub reporter. He not only wrote the story but his own headlines as well, and then the story is shown, typed with no spac- ing between lines. Mwmt s; movie managiair editor shovM set sore at that But the serious part of silly mis- takes like that Is not that they are Just mistakes. When a picture con- talniiit such a **buir gets into cir- culation and begins drawing re- views every newspaperman will call attention to and dwell en the error. And type wasted on explaining a fault will detract from the value of a good notice in the dailies, and "Racing Blood" is so good a yam that it ought to get good notices. The story concerns a boy and girl love affair during college days, but this affair is broken up when the boy receives a letter that his guard- Ian has lost his entire estate betting on a horse race—and the winner is bis sweetheart, for her father made the bet for her. So the boy cuts out as a cub reporter and at a circus auction sale has a horse handed him. This horse actually is Blue Boy. a famous racer, and lost by the girl's father in a train wreck. By coincf- dence the girl and her father come to the town where the boy Is work- ing to enter a handicap race, and he puts his gift horse, really the girl's, in the race as oppoaitioa to their own entry. At the last minute he finds out that the horse is the girl's He won^t ride. Be die, anxious to have him win back his estate (and the betting has been fixed so he will) puts on a Jockey suit and rides the steed, winning the raoe ABd the large purse. That makes things up and up, so the pair do that well-known clinch fade-out. The picture, where acting is concerned, goes to Anne Cornwall, a fine representative of a fairly sen sible flapper. Agnew does the sort of acting AgMvi always does. May be some people like it. Charles Sel Ion, as a combination editor-auc tioneer, gets laughs, while John El llott and Clarence Geldert turn in excellent performances as the elderly men of the film. The racing stuff is liberally sup- plemented by Inserts from a library service^ but audlencea probably won't worry over that. '*iiacing Blood** should enttrtaia the ezhib- itort RACING BLOOD Gotham proiuction presented bf Saa and produced by Lumas. From a story bjr J. B. Smith. Directed by F. RIcbardaoa. Robert Acnew, Anne Cornwall and Charlea Sellon featured. At Loew*fl New York Roof. Aug. 18. Rennlng time, alMOt 00 minutea. Jimmy Plemlnr Robert Aynew Doc Morton Charleii Sellon Muriel HIerMng: , Anne Cornwall John Sterlinfc John II. I<:illott Harris Fleming Chariea Oeldert An excellently producpd film, inso- far as external appearances go. With an unusual twist to its racing theme, it is thoroughJy satisfactory as enterti'inment for the intermedi- ate and smaller houses. Ronaud Hoffman did the super- vision on this, according to the titles, but it looks like another of those supervisory Jobs done with the eyes shut, for the newspaper section of the film is just as awful as are niost ne wspaper soquoncos in edge of the situation, the hero at the last minute taps the tolophonc wires, arrangea to bloclc the de- ivery of bad materials and have supplies of good concroto rushed to the spot in a big fleet of trucks, ^ust in time to defeat the schemers, avert a scandal from his father's name, and. of course, win the girl. The progress of a fleet of power- ful trucks through the mountains, rushing to the goal against time, makes a capital leading up to the climax and round.s the picture off to a hiprhurrah iiaaljS to * (jsnera! flght. ;;■ ■ 'y THE MYSTERY CLUB Unlveraal production from the story by Arthur 8. Roche. Directed by Herbert Ulache. All-atar caat. At tl\e Brosdway. New York, weih ASf. Ifi USSalf^ time. O.') minutes. Dick Hirnard M.^tt Moore The Steward Oi.-irloii ruffy Nancy F^hth H^btrts Mrs. Vandervcer.Mliilrod Harrla Thomnii I>urke ...;'».a;^.«'^ .Mfred Alion EU Slnsabaugh.,.«.f•*•••••.• ■'VV.xrnor oland Club Meoibfrs.f.»%r«*«i««*t. |Hen|||^llerbert A DANGEROUS DUDE Harry 1. Brown prodoctloa sader tlM Rayart banner; directed by Mr. BlOWil. Presented by W. Ray Johnbton. At the New YorlK aa half of double bill Aug. 9. ' |M% H minutes. A stonr of maiu strlklBClr food poittH^ H is of ths tjrps that sAlght bo «l|isifled as an industrial melo- drama, typlcallr American and holding extraordinary ia|srfst in iU speclacular moBBSiits. The reason is not altogether plain for giving the story a background of newspaper life, for that phass of the story i> altogether subordinate and does ths produetloa BO particu- lar good. As a straight melodrama the story Is great. AU the real action takes place in and around a huge irriga- tion dam in course of construction, making a spectacular setting, with its impressivs scenie setting in ■MMtsItt MttBtnr, ths yast. haif- flnlshed concrete dam and huge piecss of machinery used on the Job. « The heroine, Dorothy Dwan. is a daughtor of the contractor, and although ths romanUo interest Is light, the feminine element con- tributes to ths situation. One thrill comes whsn ths cirl goes up in the concrete bucket raised 100 feet or more. The cable has been tampered with by plotters, and the girl is In peril at the top of the dizzy tower until ths hero climbs up hand over hand on ths oesffeid work to the rescue. Tho camera work is especially good for this in- cident. Shots are UksB from some great heights and the progress of Ihe hero toward the rescue show him against the mountain landsca^ at angles that smph—1s4 ths fiddy height. At another placs ths hero Is chased by his enemies and swings from the towering wall of the dam across yawning valleys and fear- some chasms like a super-acrobat sweeping through the air. All these stunt feats are neatly worked into the plot and make the picture. It would have been a better story if tho newspaper .Angle had been left out. This part of the tale compli- cates a simple and direct narrative. There are good comedy elements. The reportsr-hsr» has a companion, an Irish taxi driver, with a fighting disposition. It is ho who uncovers the plot aad hsips ts dsfsat the plotters. There are two rival, newspaper publishers in ths town, pns of them, father of the hero, also Is a contractoi^—KhO bOS tha job of building ths dam. Ths othsr editor attacks hfm In his newspaper, and schemes through his political Influ- once'^to impedo the work on the dam. The contractor-f»diter's son gets employment* 6n the dam Job, learns that concrete shipmcDts are being held up and rottSB BMtsrlalS are being dellvered- A mystery story with a weak de- nouement. That explains "The Mys- tery Club," and- something else that isn't so good—Matt Moore minus his mustache has the leading port. In- stead of the usual character sap stufF he plays a straight Juvenile hero. Very unfortunate casting and not one in a dosen wlU recognise Moore. A group of wealthy clubmen sign an agreement, with $25,000 posted, that each can commit a crime pun- ishable by law and yet escape detec- tion. They make this pact following an argument on the ease with which crooks get away with things. Once the pact is sealed, mysterious things begin to happen. It Is soon plain to them that some crooked gang on the outside has their num- ber and is stealing their stuff. First there is a Jewel robbery, and it costs them $25,000 in dough to get the Jswols bask from a crook gang. Next a child Is kidnapped, and it costs $25,00.0 to squars that. Next one of their OWii ttomhsrsil^ Is ap- parently stricken with paralysis and he, on what the others believe to be his Mtfh-bod, ffoltsiTMi thsm of $60,000. Tho blowolT comes when their president Is said to havo %sen mur dered, but that is phoney. Shortly afterward one of the crowd, Dick Bernard, captures the girl who pulled#tll the Jobs. It turns out that she is a niece of one of the club members whose pet hobby was'an institution to reform criminals and the various crimes she committed were ,dons with the purpose of ex- tracting money from the club mem- bers. This money was turned over to the Institution, the hero kisses the girl and the old fellows admit they have been trumped. It's fairly exciting at times, but the action is slow and this, taken with the fact that the element of sympathy is absent for ai^yone in the story, combines to make "The Mystery Club** a SO-so film for the smaller houses. The main fault, however, is that Matt Moori should try to play a Juvenile hero. He has identified himself so thoroughly with anothefr brand of playing that hlh return to ths gtMOgilt it«C Is iUwMTieed. Honesty—Best Policy Fox comedy feature. Cheater Bennett production. Htory by Howard Hawke. In ihe CHBt, Johnnie Walker. Pauline Hiarke, HocklifTe Fellowea and Urace Darmond. At Loew'a Hmw York as Mt of double feature prtglMl^ At*. M, RSSSlSg tine, 50 —'— and sgain feels he Is being hoaxed ami niiule foolish by the picture. It*S never t>;tCe to josh an audience. It*> 7ot to be extremely clever if dons It Mil. Tlie dramatic scenes are exceed- inly well done, both as to settings and actin.e:. Tho nrtion. too. is en- tirely plausible. If only they had overdone the flnmboyant thrlH stuff, I'iiat very c.\<h^ss of thrill mlcht have served as the tip-oCt that would have guarded the spectator from taking it SOI iously ev(>n for the mo- ment. Hut the crook incidents un- folded logically and Interestingly, even to the ititioduction of a roman- tic finish to the crook story itself. A travesty flnale was brought In, havlnpr the author's wife crash the editorial Jury room for a knockout conclusion in which ths infuriate^ wife beats up ths' beauties oC Um jury box. UNNAMED WOMAN BmbaMy releaas dlstrfbslliiB throusb Arrow rictures. Storr by Leah Balrd. with H. O. Hoyt director. Cast includes Leah Hntrd. Katherine MacDonald, Wand* Hawlejr. John MilJan, Herbsrt lUWilaaon. Mike Donnn, Oraee Qordos sad J* % Beck. At the Arena. New York, as telf of double bill, one isr, Asg. U. IMMIpg time. 62 mlnS. Here Is a picture of strangely mixed purpose. Somebody in the cutting room must have realised that It might confuse tho fans, and they wrote a title early in the plc- fure explaining that it was a broad burlesque, so there couldn't W#U be any misunderstanding. What it amounts to is a travesty on the crook melodrama, done in a vague way. The trouble is that the points are too subtle and then, real- izing the mistake the other extreme Is In horseplay. The idoa is good enough, but the handling goes wrong. The ausplolon comes up that there was a conflict between the studio and the editor, and the origMid In- tent was chan*red when it came to the hands of ihe cutting room fin- isher. The story plan is this: A comedy author brlncr < hlH story to a magazine editor. The editor—a knock-about comedy character—- aprees to buy the story If the au- thor will read it to a jury of his stenographers and make them like it. The Jury Is brought In and the author goes Into the story, a crook thriller. As the action of th»^ tatr ' rr)f:r< .s.sen the effect of thrill, ten- sion and suspense Is indicated bv the way the short-skirted girls tie their legs around the ch-vir.s, thesf YAfm koiwy flashed hack frum th( Rather a feeble celluloid attempt to be risque. Poorly lighted and photographed, the moral at the fin- ish doesn't hold much interest after an hour of hokum. Written by Leah Balrd. ths ssript gives her every opportunity to stroll before ths lens, for Miss Baird Is , in the cast. There's actually more prominence for the authoress than Katherine Mac Donald, who, if ths heat waan't too much, seems to have been featured In the billing. Either way both are negllglbls as to per* formance. Miss Balrd plays an upper mlddls class money seeker, while Miss Mae* Donald is the innocent wife drawn into a compromising situation with Miss Baird's screen husband. ' Incidentally, the. shanghaied hub- by, rushed to the altar while drunk, is as much in debt as his steerer. The moral is customarily at the con- clusion when the hard-drinking and sensual man about town and his mercenary wife decide to turn over a new leaf. The motive for this is the spotless woman's feigning to take poison. There is the usual Impossible house party, swimming pool, cos- tumes and alL Nothing in the pic- ture Impresses as above the ordi- nary, comedy touches included. Strictly a hoks film for ths ssuOl* est of the small emporiums. In cast names ths lineup is not without quantity If they mean any- thihg to the houses which this pic- ture, of necessity, must find itself limited. Wanda Rawlsy does ths accomplice of Miss Balrd, railroad- ing the supposed money man into marriage, and RerbsrI Rawlinson Is the Simon pure lawyer-husband of the socially embarrassed Miss Mae* Donald.- V Constructed on the pattern of the "class" drawing room intrigues, this one misses a mile. Ths lighting ki particularly atrocious for this day and «dute. Knough to make it a .second rater without anything ilss. Miss ManDonald, as prevlouslir noted since her i-eturn to ths sc^'een^, is still somewhat overweight. On appearance she Is at her best in hats' and should adhsrs ts them, Especially pour le sport. ▲ eoupls of closeups showed her thus crowned to be the sams good-looking girl -he tormeriy was. - flflriy. Fightiiiff Thorobr«4' inaisi a *'»mf Bitir italllvan ^to^ether serious dramatis scenes Wliat happens in the mllld# of the spectators is that the crook net lor heromes so nb«orl)in?r t^int serious 'nterest Is aroused In the make- l>elfeve thrill aetion of the erook nn<l ills girl pal. This more,or less in- •erest Is from time to time jolted by *he Rud(Vn rettirn to tho burle.snue Open market pietare RuIMvan" productk>n. BitiT »tart<Ml. Direction by Forket K. BheMon. I.,«a(llnir woman. Marie Aetalre. At the Stanley, Nuvr York idsHjT eheBt#t nins time, &0 mlna. »■ / Roughneck melodrama framed In haphazard manner, but acceptable feature for dally change type of house. Billy Bullivan is a mild edi- tion^ of Ueorge Walsh and a^kakcs a likeable Ughtfiig h'sfo. The picture belongs to a certain type In its construction. It has two incidents—a horss raes hn4 h prtos fight. To get these over a crude story structure has been erected en- tirely without finesse or skill, ths point bcMng to get the plot planting over with as soon as possibls and spread unlimited fsotsgs SB #!§ t#i« action episodes. There is a three-round prise light, nhown practlcnily blow for blow and a well managed hor.'^e rare. The lat- ter takes up what seemes to be an entire reel with close shots of ths speeding horses, distant views of the grandstand and perspectives down the track at the quarter poles. This kind of matrrial, of course, makes for a thrill and In this in- stance is very well managed. The Ktory takes a Kood deal of value from nicely handled comedy whi<!h somewhat compensates for its implausibility of detail, and It is this ele ment and t ho emph asis on the hlirh spots that give the pro- due t Inn .strength In its appeal U> the nr i^hhnrliood class of fans. Ths fharaetor of the rural sheriff la splendidly developed and there Is a cvMirt room scene with a country iij'l;:e doing a character bit that Is wdiiliv of notice. Titling is skil- fully (lone. M(^st (if !ho Ut'fet^ts ars