Wid's Filmdom (1920)

Rete Sunday, June 6, 1920 ILw : Splendid Light Comedy In Which Star Registers Big Hit William Faversham in “THE MAN WHO LOST HIMSELF” Selznick DO LIATOCE CS oo, Mins ss S 2. .4..eorge D. Baker eieeea yer) 2. eee. os. soe H. DeVore Stackpole ariEMrc ICL IS Yeen: .. cuce pemae, Not credited Rev EO INPUT ALN, Chet src sero. w eee -.....Not credited AS AWHOLE...:.. . Splendid comedy—star registers every minute. S EO Your... High impossible even for comedy, but star and production make it highly enjoyable * PRE COE LONG |p Sei: | eR aES ie Very good Pe ALY i ies.» «as ee ane Very good ME CEEIEMUIN CS cia, CHEMO ES. . os Commendable CAMERA WORK........ Great double exposure in dual role scenes. ¥ SPAR 272... . Registers a wonderful hit as a comedian SUEPORI. 7... Hedda Hopper splendid opposite— all commendable. EXTERIORS...... Just a few street scenes to sug-~ gest London.. BEY ERC LOO. 7. eee Wats so Glee ee te sae Bxcslfens Pera aes: © Many fine touches in star’s perform ance make it very unusual. CHARACTER OF STORY... Breezy American takes ruined English €arl’s place and straightens out his affairs. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION..... About 5,500 feet “The Man Who Lost Himself” in which William Faversham appears in a comedy role is a surprising treat. In the first place you have the idea that you're in for an hour of melodrama because of the title. Instead the picture establishes itself as an excellent light comedy with the star doing some wonderful business in a dual role. least a picture producer has awakened to the fact that Faversham has few superiors in light comedy roles. They knew this on the stage long ago, but the picture producers have felt obliged to put him in “classics” in the past. As a comedian Faversham can out-shine any other screen star doing the light type of stuff. He’s working all the time and registering some comedy bit in every scene. He puts originality into his bits of business and he registers his comedy by facial expressions immediately recognizable as the result of long practice and ripe ability. The story of this is highly impossible even for comedy, but the star, backed up by the entirely sympa~ thetic. ‘production, put it over with a bang. This impossibility evinces itself in the original premise of the story—an American drummer outwardly the counter “part of ‘a ‘dissolute Englishman who has run his for tune into the’greund, disgraced his title and caused his wife to leave him, assumes his place and gets away with it before family and servants: ;, Lhe comedy that Faversham gets over as the American being initiated into the Englishman’s altogether strange sphere is immense, and both the interest and theshumor quicken when the drummer straightway proceeds to straighten out the lord’s business and do“thestic. affairs. His scene with the blackmailer when he snatches the forged check from him and eats it, the while holding the fellow off with one arm, is the climax of a long sequence of hearty laughs. : Nor is.the love element neglected. The romance between the Englishman’s wife who appreciates the change in the American ovét her dissolute husband is delightful and. developed with a dash of suspenseful piquancy that is charming. confesses his real identity and breaks the news to the In the end the American Englishman’s family that the real lord committed sui ; ; ; me _ cide. But the romance comes. to a happy end. Incidentally it’s time to rejoice. At: © Faversham has an admirable supporting cast headed by Hedda Hopper, who cuts a charming figure as the wife. The others are Violet Reed, Radcliffe Steele, Claude Payton, Mathilde Brundage, Emily Fitzroy and Downing Clarke. Here’s One That You Can’t Go Wrong On Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor Yon can’t go wrong on “The Man Who Lost Himself.” Two more pictures like this one and William Faversham would be established as one of the screen’s foremost light comedians. No matter what luck you have had with his past pictures, don’t fight shy of this. Your audiences are going to enjoy every minute of it. You can make a big thing of this, too. Advertise it more heavily than you do the average and give it an extra day or two in the booking., Play it up as a comedy with such catch lines as “William Faversham in a comedy of luck, pluck and romance,” “The story of an American drummer who assumed the place of an English earl and In fact you make all the noise you want on this, confident that no one will accuse you of overestimating your show after the picture’s been on a day or two.