Wid's Filmdom (1920)

leit COs a> ag 18 & DAILY June 6, 1920 NURS OS OE To TST TS Sunday, Realistic Backgrounds Generate Some Interest in Poorly Handled Story Madlaine Traverse in “THE IRON HEART” DIRECTORS....Denison Clift and Paul Cazaneuve AUTHOR ....))35=22 eee Denison Clift SCENARIO BY4)-)-. = eee Denison Clift CAMERAMAN (237.20) 225) ee Walter Williams AS A WHOLE... Good backgrounds arouse interest in this, but story is poorly handled STORY....Very simple plot; not developed expertly DIRECTION: .& 0. ce eee Shows no contrast PHTOGRAPH Yo .02. tierce acto cee neta 0.1. Good LIGHTINGS) oi ces eres ieee 2 tee Plain CAMERA WORK eevee eee Satisfactory STAR S49 % Seen to average advantage in “man” role SUPPORT 3... 00 te ee Satisfactory EXTERIORS Sas eee Contain fine atmosphere INTERIORS «972 Good iron foundry scenes DETAIL. «... {ecm ee, eee ee Not much of it CHARACTER OF STORY...... Woman fights iron trust because of loyalty to her employees. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION..... About 5,000 feet “The Iron Heart” is a melodrama with a colorful iron foundry as the setting for many of its scenes, but which contains a very small degree of heart interest. This is due probably to the fact that in making this they paid hardly any attention to character development or plot details and went right ahead developing the elemental story in plain and commonplace style. Never during the picture’s run are there lights or shades to be observed, there is no building with accumulative interest and suspense to the climax of scene or sequence. “The Iron Heart” was evidently written and produced in monotone. The central character is Esther Regan, to whom has been bequeathed the management of the Regan Iron Works, famous for its stand against the trust. McAllister, agent of the trust, comes with arguments to buy out Esther, but instead is himself convinced of the benefits resulting from the independence of the company. He sees the contented condition of the workers, their happy children, etc. So he resigns from the corporation and works for Esther. Moulton, head of the trust, starts a fight to break the Regan Works, using Cullen, Esther’s superintendent, as a tool. An attempt on the life of McAllister is frustrated. Esther has contracted to deliver a shipment of iron to a building company on a certain date. Unable to disrupt the mechanism of the iron works, Moulton purchases a branch railroad running to the main line and thus believes the defeat of his rivals accomplished. Cullen blames this conspiracy on McAllister, but he convinces Esther of his loyalty. They finally triumph over the opposition by appealing to the loyalty of the Regan workers, who thereupon proceed to take the train of iron over the line to the main railrad despie the fight waged against them by Moulton’s men. 7 The various scenes laid in the iron works possess a certain interest that is stronger, in some respects, than that generated by the rather poorly handled plot. These scenes are well photographed in the bargain. The author has slapped big business on the wrist quite severely throughout the picture. Evidently he wished to balance matters up a bit at the end, and so stuck in a brace of subtitles that condemn the I. W. W. as an organizaion of crooks and thugs. Experiences of other pictures show that it is best to leave established political and economic organizations out of screen fiction. Madlaine Traverse handles the role of Esther fairly well. George McDaniel is natural but not exactly the Melbourne McDowell, Edwin Booth Tilton and Ben Deely are well cast. type for McAllister. Should Get Over as Average Program Feature Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor This doesn’t rank very high because of its rather poor treatement, but at the same time it is well to consider as a good program feature because of the interest its background will cause together with the fact that it is the first subject produced in some time that gives a sane picture of workingmen. So many producers have made this class of people out as raving maniacs that the change is welcome. If you play this you might play up the various scenes in the iron works as features of the production. These will certainly arouse considerable interest. Regarding the story it would be a good idea to bring out th fact that it deals with an employer on very good terms with employees. A line such as “The story of a woman who fought a trust and won because of the loyalty of her workers” could be used advantageously. They seem to be putting this star in “man” parts. If your people have taken kindly to her in such a role before play her up in this character in the present instance.