Wid's Filmdom (1920)

Some Short Reels “Let "Er Go”—Mack Sennett-Famous Players Followers of the slapstick comedy will find more than one opportunity to whoop it up in this Mack Sennett riot. A farm is the scene of the action, and the knockabout king has overlooked few opportunities to*insert bits that draw laughter, Louise Fazenda, Bert Roach, Charlotte Mineau, John Henry, Jr., Billy Bevan and Billy Armstrong revel in a series of. incidents which, while not linked together with very much of a plot, register in satisfactory style. The scene in which the fire-water and gasolene are imbibed by members of the cast, the escapade in the hay, wood cutting bit and final chase, with Teddy, the dog, figuring prominently, makes a fast finish. An improvement over some of the recent Sennetts. “Impressions of Italy”’—Mentor Rome, the Gulf of Spezia and several Italian lakes furnish the scenes for this Mentor production, which unlike most of those turned out by the organization, is not hand-colored but tinted. Most of the famous landmarks of the Italian capital are seen it, the capitol, Basilique of St. Peter, Villa of the Medicis and others being included. Quaint houses of the shore are shown in the section devoted to the Gulf of Spezia, and that in which the lakes are seen has some excellent double and triple exposures. Commendable light effects and excellent photography feature the offering. : “Moonshine and Jailbirds”—Universal Mexican border bootlegging activities, burlesqued, comprise a considerable portion of this two-reeler which has the laughs distributed judiciously over its footage. There are numerous original bits in the production, the scene in the prison, the escape of the inmates and others being funny. Billy Engel is the most prominent character and works zealously enough. The scheme of having the turtles carry the liquor and incidents directly near the border line help hold it up. “Bear-Skinned Beauties”—Universal Bathing girls appear in a scene dreamt by one of the characters and some of this takes place in a modiste’s shop. Practically all of it is slapstick comedy, and while there are a few laughs in it, the greater part is of little value and consequently this fails to register very solidly. What is probably the funniest part of it is the portion in which the fellow carrying a number of boxes rolls along on a pair of skates quite nonchalantly. While not essentially new, it includes several laughable bits. “The Emotional Miss Vaughn’”—Pathe Mrs. Sidney Drew, who is producing the “After Thirty” series for Pathe, is the central figure in the third of the set and gives a highly creditable performance. Together with John Cumberland, she puts the two-reeler over in fine style. At the finish they have stretched it out just a trifle too far, but that detail is easily remedied. Several situations of merit are included in the offering. The one at the theater, that at the restaurant after the show, he one in which Mrs. Drew suddenly displays a flow of emotion, and several others hold interest. The titles have been written well and enhance the production which is quite up to the mark. It is a really human comedy. Pathe Review, No. 48 Of the six parts making up this Pathe Review, two have been used in previous issues of this screen magazine. The sec.tions devoted to the cleaning of silverware, and slow-motion study of the French athlete, colored, have already been seen. One respect in which this reel is unusual is in that it has three colored portions. First comes one devoted to the Sequoia forests of the west, after which is seen the stuff dealing with the silver-ware. Following that, the manner in which the Frenchman handles various weights and the javelin is shown, and Dr. Ditmars discusses bats and the elephant, which interests. Spanish kiddies frolic about in another tinted bit of footage and like most other groups of youngsters, make up an appealing scene. “Dropped Into Scandal”—Gayety Although much of this Gayety single reeler does not arouse great enthusiasm, there are a’ few ideas in it that should be enough to put it over. George Ovey, featured, is seen as a flirt, who after being warned by the husband of a youthful bride to remain at a distance, is continually placed in positions that justify suspicion. Some of these incidents are humorous and the scheme of having another of the characters constantly looking into a key-hole, without an explanatory title, until almost the finish where the bit of liquor he is watching is seen, also helps. Craig Hutchinson directed. “Dry and Thirsty”—Gayety Lacking a meritorious theme and commendable incidents, this sirgle reel comedy in which the short Billy Fletcher plays the ieading 1ole, fails to register very heavily. Most of it consists of a pursuit of some liquor by the featured comedian, and the finish sees him reclining on a chair in a hotel while a hel! hop serves him with the desired refreshment. The plot has no particular climax and the incidents in most cases are not sufficiently unusual to merit praise. “A Home Made Hero”—Christie Several situations of value and a clever theme make this a highly satisfactory reel. Earl Rodney, J. Corey, Dorothy Devore and Eddie Barry are prominent in the piece in which several beach beauties are seen. Barry in the role of life-saver gets along entirely too well with a girl whose affection Rodney and Corey would capture. By a ruse the fact that Barry cannot swim is disclosed and his wife is also brought to the scene of action. Result: Barry is yanked out of the foreground. The girl, however, takes a liking to the man whose rescue Barry could not effect and sympathetically strolls off with him. . “Calling His Bluff”—Gayety W. Scott Darling, who wrote the story for this reel in which George Ovey is featured, has again used the scheme of the big card game with wifey out of town, about which to build his theme. While there is only one incident in it that is entirely new, the rest of it has been woven cleverly and an acceptable comedy has resulted. Lillian Biron appears in this as Ovey’s wife and holds her end of it up well. Towards the finish there rao good chase stuff and this should get over nicely as a whole. “Waters of Destiny’—Robertson-Cole One would be led to think by the title of this Adventure scenic that it is made up of water stuff. As a matter of fact, however, mountains and clouds have furnished the material for a considerable portion of it. The shots of the clouds are probably the best bits in it, one scene being especially good. A sombre note is struck in the production, both the atmosphere and titles being solemn. It is a dignified offering and a scenic in keeping with the standard set in the series.