Variety (Aug 1927)

W«dneklay. Augutt M. IMT FILM REVIEWS VARIETY Oie pitched battle between tlie machine-gunning officers of the law and the trapped convict, and Jhua proves hia loyally. With escape in his grasp, ■ Uuil" recoB- nUes the greater claim "Uulls Rbyce" has on "Featluis" and agses them out throuKli Hie sciiet MSgflg^i surrenders himself to aoeept bia penalty. "ITnderworld" runs 7S minutes and ^ile it mltrht stand a little cboppinc it grips Tight through. Batween Bancroft, Brook, Brent Bad Semon It shouMi do great gate. AM. MOCKERY UStro-Ooldwyn-Mayer i>icture HtarrlnK T^on Written an.i dirpi t.-.l l,y [tfiijumin ^llMnsen. Titi.M by Jo., K^r.ihari, At dw Capitol. N. v.. wet'k or Aus. ao. Itun- BlDK time, 60 min*. Serffel tx>n fh.iTiey pimitri Ric^rJo Coitejt a^liaas Barbara He.lfur(i fislllsntff Mack Swain tosi Oaldaroff Emily Fit/tx>y (ras... Charles PufTy Ptiir. Kai SchmitU It would be difficult to select the factor contributing most forcefully to tlie int^fTcrtivonesa of tlie produc- tion Ii -^ ;i ii.'ri, , -[H.:!^o mixture of half-formed Ideas and emotions, morbid but not Introspe ctive tiii.tmh to register aa art; sli(,'tiLi>- pathetic but striliinK nu syiiiii.ttliciio chord or line of thoufjlii with wl.ieh the customers would be in accord. ' I>on Chaney Is put through a rou- tine of pug-ugly muyging, but even tills flops, as 80i)iehow he hardly achlevea the ferocious power of fa- cial eharacteriaatlon he has often managed to convey In otlicr produc- tions. The theme Is dull, trite and uni- splrlng on account of tli<- limiiaiions In handling. KeToluiiunaty stones have proven of v.tst ap|)ial onlv when picturizcd on an elaborate scale. Uacksround and preparations fall to carry. Hut for the costumes the revuluiion might have been in South .Vmorica; tlicre is nothing except the titles to tell that Russia Is the locale. Christensen tried to show that a walkout of three or four servants, a solitary uprising of discontented vlllagera and two or tbree shooting scenes contained the essence of the untold number of bloody battles, murders of women and children and haphazard attacks on women of every class, which followed the over- throw of the cxarlst regime. This la a difficult aubiect. Iiowever —a I'.uhslan peasant of such intel- lectual limit itions as to t>« bordering on itnliei Uity. iliven an individual of tills siirt. the director Insisted on maliiTig lain l>eliave quite rationally InsttaU of takfng advantage of the situation thus created for th« pur- pose of making Impossible situations possil^le. Tatiana, the counTfss. was on d.in- gerous territory, aisj^uised as a peas- ant Woman. Slie had to get to a military stront:liold. Seeing a peas- ant Kiiawini^ a intiif. isho itroinisod him food and a job If he would acconiiKiny lier. At the border she lold i>erf,'fi (Ciianey) to say they Were married. L,ater they entered a hut whore they were to spend the night, and Sergei was flogged by Bolshevik! for refusing to revwU the Identity of his alleged wife. For his services Sergei was later given a Job a* a servant In the house of GaldarotC. Sergei became Jealous of Dlmltrl, the captain. He felt that the countess had betrayed or forsaken him. The cook told him how to get tlie countess in the end. There was to he an uprising. The idea couldn't sink through to Sergei. Finally the feebly staged revolu- li.m. following some slight hesita- tion Sergei threw off the bonds of mental serftom with a mighty effort and constituted blmaeltaqual to any- one on the top floor. With the pro- motion he elected himself a tic can- didate for an unpremeditated attack on the countess. The beauty and. beast effect Is en- tirely lost In these scenes. The con- trast is not strong, enough, since Chaney does not look as repulsive nor-Misa Bedford as beautiful as It is intended to convey. Mostly a chase tlirough a couple of well-fur- nished rooms, and then the soldiers arrive. \\ hen se\-eral of the villagers were hoM t,> be sliot. tlie countess is uskod about Sergei, and she ad\ ises that he l>e .illowed to remain un- harin*,Hl tw<'.auso he !iad remciiiu-d faithful. Put Sergei almi>st lose^ his life in tlio following scenes in a su.ofssfui elTort to save the count- ess fnmi another attack from the male kitchen help. The picture ni.iy be figured to draw on the strength of t'haney's box-office value the first half of the week. It lowers the star's batting average considerably. Isadora Bernstein has sold an "original." "And God Smiled," to Sterling Productions. llario Carlllo, Tom O'Brien and Bert Sprotte added to "Private Life of Helen of Troy," F. N. Hard Boiled Haggerty Plrst Katliina: picture varrinc Mlltosi itlllfl. .\dapte.l from "BeUtM )<>idenet.'* by Blllott W. Sprlncs. Scenario br C*ar«y Wil«on. with Charles Brabtn ilirectlnc. At tlie stranl. N'. Y.. week of Aus. 30. Run- nind t:m.' 71 inlii^ l.l-iil. i> int ILiSBiTly Mllt'in Bills il.Tnialne Molly O'Day K;a\.in Arllnir fltona Major Cotton. M.t-liel! I ewl« H-ij.,!'er (general Oeoine K.i«^ett I'afo I>i,r.cer Yoli il .vttII A well so isoned aviation I outen- ant who gvls a jvair of twin daugh- i tors mixed up and Is almost court I martialed because of ths mlstak«> j That's ''Haggerty," and nt has a goo4 chance to survive at the various box oI!ices despite the anchors Bra- liin has tied to It every time a lov« pt>rt heaves in siglit. Urabin. not the speediest director in the world, has sprinkled this on* with enough closeups to take car* of two normal pictures. Don't tell a director where to place his close- ups. They say. Well, U the ethloa of the studios iiermtt, somebody should taks the subject up wttk Charles in a general way. No kid- din', there are enough heads at Molly O'Day In this on* to (Continued on psgs H) ROSITA COMMUNICATIONS TO PHIL LOTTMAN, 1607 B' WAY, N. Y. i