Wid's Filmdom (1920)

Sunday, June 6, 1920 id DAILY ALLS IE ESE DDO IAD EES: IES IL ROE NLS ER A IEE EIA 15 Episodic Story Handicaps This One Considerably Robert Warwick in “THOU ART THE MAN” Paramount-Artcraft Ls 5 «MEMES <n yo oce ate os Thomas Heffron SG LS Ce ie A ae F. E. MillsYoung Margaret Turnbull CAMA MAN ....gee. i. sooo Victor Ackland AS A WHOLE...... Very jerky and episodic production that fails to hold the interest. ee Vier. . Certainly wasn’t a good picture story DIRECTION :.....: Hasn’t much chance to show with such an episodic plot. PEO LOGRA PH Yorerae ss! Ske meee Very good USECIEA LINGO, . . AOeat oy. aes oo es he Commendable paving ORK Yeas. clare ee Satisfactory BAe a 5% Is also handicapped by story, though role of gentleman-adventurer fits him. pera COTS Leste. , can c's. is peek ae Oe Capable Bae ei LOIS)... emeeen | Suggest Africa well enough ENTE RIOR SS. cae? joe nee ae Satisfactory eC Ae ees; ARS ce. Bons Bee os Little of it CHARACTER, OF STORY...... Innocent man carries stigma of shame to save name of innocent girl. BUNGLES OH: PRODUCTION 2.2... 7. 5,003 feet “Thou Art the Man” is a picturization of a book entitled “Myles Calthorpe, I. D. B.,” and from appearances it was rather an unfortunate choice for feature material. Not that it is lacking in action by any means. Quite the contrary, for here is a picture that goes far in the other direction and contains altogether too much. This is evidenced in the exceedingly jerky and episodic character of the production. The lapses of time during the story are nearly as frequent as its subtitles. holding the interest and “Thou Art the Man” fails in this time and again. Myles is first introduced on an Australian ostrich farm. His suspicions that his employers are dealing Such a picture always has a difficult time. in diamonds stolen from the mines cost him his job. Later in a nearby city he obtains a clerkship in the feather packing house of Farrant, Farrant being in league with his former employers, A romance develops between Myles and Farrant’s sister, Jean, also unaware of her brother’s illegal occupation. After a while Myles plans a journey to another city and Farrant has Jean hand him an envelope supposedly containing legal documents to deliver at his destination. He is searched aboard the ship and diamonds are discovered in the envelope. Rather than bring shame on Jean, whom he is sure is innocent, Myles goes to prison for three years and suffers the ignominy of having the initials I. D. B. (Illicit Diamond Buyer) attached to his name when he comes out. Myles secures another job under a different name, but after a time at a reception he meets Jean, who accuses him under his own name. Myles would seek seclusion but the brother of Jean’s best friend helps him to bring the real I. D. B.’s to justice, after he has been assured that Jean will not be implicated. Then Jean goes to him and begs his forgiveness. This brief outline of the story fails to convey an adequate idea of the picture’s trying episodic character. No sooner is one sequence of scenes fairly well launched than a title indicates a considerable lapse of time, the interest is consequently broken, and the action begins all over again. It looks as if Margaret Turnbull had made an exact adaptation of the book, but in this case holding so to the original has not resulted in good picture material. The role of Myles Calthorpe suits Robert Warwick but both he and the large and capable supporting cast are unable to do much with the story handicap. Amonz the others are Lois Wilson, Monte Dumont, Clarence Burton, Clarence Geldart, Harry Carter, Jane Wolfe, Dorothy Rosher, Viora Daniel, Richard Wayne and Lorenza Lazzarini. May Get This One Over With Those Who Like The Star Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor If your patrons are particularly strong for Robert Warwick pictures you may be able to get by with this, but it can’t measure favorably along side of the average feature af the day. If you’ve got it all booked up lay stress on the fact that the action is laid in South Africa and that it deals with illicit diamond traffic. You might employ the initials I. D. B. in your advertising in the way of a teaser. They’ve got some good stuff at the very start showing how it is possible to smuggle diamonds out of the mines despite all the care taken by the guards. This is real detail and it.registers as very interesting. Afterwards, however, the action jumps around so much that the director didn’t have many opportunities for more color of this sort. Lois Wilson is quite a popular leading woman and she might be billed along with Warwick to advantage. They’ll remember her from her many appearances opposite Bryant Washburn.