Wid's Filmdom (1920)

, o/s, 2 oi ce AIL Sunday, June 6, 1920 SEE SOT Lack of Proper Atmosphere Prevents This From Achieving Real Strength “THE COURAGE OF MARGE O’DOONE” Vitagraph Special DIRECTOR ......00s.« «se enene eee David Smith AUTHOR, (223i Site James Oliver Curwood SCENARIO BY .oee7.<. cee Robert North Bradbury CAMERAMAN |... cn.) i422 aa eee Not credited AS A WHOLE..... Lack of proper production values keep this down. SLORY nr eee Doesn’t contain atmosphere of “bigness” for which author is famous. Welch natistactaend SUPPORT’... 0.3. eee eee eee me CADADIC EXTERIORS... 3...) eo Satisfactory snow stuff INTERIORS <2. . 5253 ow eee eee Negligible DETAIL, 2:....:. iteeete see Hardly any of it CHARACTER OF STORY...... Romance of the far north. é LENGTH OF PRODUCTION..... About 6,447 feet They haven’t been altogether successful in communicating the atmosphere of “bigness” to “The Courage of Marge O’Doone.” This is an atmosphere that James Oliver Curwood always strives for in his stories of the northern snows and was doubtless part of this one in its printed form. The producers, however, haven’t quite succeeded in catching this element. Perhaps the chief fault is that they left the job for the subtitles to undertake. But Curwood’s descriptive color should have been injected into the action itself to make it convincing. 3ecause of this inability to catch the spirit of bigness many of the story’s situations lack the required dramatic force. For instance, in the beginning they introduce Michael and Margaret O’Doone, who live up in the big snows. Michael is a friend of all and when an Indian comes to him because his wife is sick, he makes a long trip to see if he can mend matters. Because he stays away overnight Margaret goes momentarily insane and believes that a licentious trapper is her husbnd. -They lead you to believe that the mebiey takes advantage of Margaret. This whole sequence doesnt register as true. Anyway it causes the separation of the O’Doones and throws their baby, Marge, into the hands of rough characters. Years pass and Michael has become doctor of souls and bodies of the whole north. He meets David Raine, a youth from the east, disillusioned in love. David has found a picture of Marge leit in the railway carriage seat by Margaret and decides to go north to find her because it says on the photograph that “she is alone.” The rest of the picture is taken up with David’s finding of Marge and his fights to keep her from falling into the hands of the “brute.” After a bear fight has been rung in and a man and dog fight is told of in the subtitles the happy ending is brought in with David and Marge together and Michael and Margaret reunited. It seems after all that the trapper didn’t take advantage of Margaret. The exteriors of this are true enough snow scenes, but somehow they don’t suggest the bigness and expanse that has often been communicated to northern stories. The action, for the most part, takes place in semi-closeups, many of which are none too well lighted. The fight between David and the “brute” is well staged and the bear fight is a novelty, but just why Marge had to run across the snows (in the distance) and in her birthday clothes is hard to understand. Maybe this is the courage referred to in the title. Pauline Starke appears as Marge, while Niles Welch is David. George Stanley, Billie Bennet, Jack Curtis, William Dyer, Boris Karloff and James O’Neill complete the cast. Author’s Name Is Best Bet in Advertising This One Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor This picture is to be noted more for faults of omission than mere errors of commission, so on the surface it passes as a fairly satisfactory feature. The majority of audiences will probably accept it for what it is and so you'll have few kicks coming. Naturally register Curwood’s name in all the advertising and also mention the fact that Baree, his famous dog character, again has an importnt role in the story. Curwood has many readers and his stories are famous | for just such novelties as the dog character and the bear fight. You won’t go wrong on playing up Pauline Starke, for, though she hasn’t an awful lot to do here, past performances have made her quite a favorite. Niles Welch, too, has a reputation and you might use his name to advantage. ; : A :