Wid's Filmdom (1920)

Short “Spike”—Un’versal | Although this is a trifle inéongruous and hds some paints Open to question, it has a few thrills. The hero, Leo Maloney, is seen footsore and penniless it the Opening séene, wandering in the direction of his mother, who is ill. Fred Kohler, professional bad mah, meets him and induces him to help him rob somebody. Molaney agrees, but discovers that he is breaking into the house of his best girl and reforms. After that he rounds up the villain and his crew—beats them into submission single-handed (what's a little thing like that to him?) and rettirns to the object of his affection and mother. Magda Lane in the femiinine lead pleases. “Topics of the Day,’ 58—T-mé'y Films-Pathe When “Topics of the Day” first made itS appearance; it was greeted with enthusiasm in all houses. At first the various reels corisisting of humorous and timely subtitles were well received. Since then, however, there has been a considerable quantity of this stuff turned out, some godd, some bad, and some iidifferent. For this issue it can be said that from a point of view as to quality, it is acceptable. The thirig that will militate against its success-is the fact that it has lost its novelty, that audiences will no longer grect this type of production with roars of laughter or salvos of applatise, unless it is exceptionally good, and even then will seldom display the olil time satisfaction. This does not measure up to a stifficiently high standard to insure stich a reception. If your audience shows a liking for the series, this can r'de along, tor it is abdve the average. a “Forests of Australia’”—Mentor How Australian lumber-jacks chop down trees is shown iu the initial portion of this Mentor reel, which is colored unusually well in places. The title is apt to mislead and create the impression that a scenic taken in the forests of the Antipodes is to be offered. Instead the manner in which the logs are handled is taken up, and while hardly different from the manner employed in the United States, frequently pictured, holds attention. “Old Parts of Brittany” is the title of the following section, which is picturesque and of more than passing interest. Closing are scenes taken in Seville, Sapin, and these are as may be expected, quaint “Ride Along, Kid”—Universal George C. Hall, who furnished the story for this two-reel western, did not work toward a very powerful ¢limax, but has inserted several interesting incidents, of which the horseriding contest stands out as the one that holds attention. The ride after the man who steals a water hole and defeat of the wrong-doing party may have been intended as the punch, but the spectacle of a group of horsemen engaging in combat with another bunch, the discharging of revolvers and falling of some of the unimportant members of the rival bands are all familiar. Magda Lane is the cause of the rivalry between two of the men, the One who sticks to the proper course winning, of course. An acceptable film. ; “A Money Mix-Up”—National-Goldwyn Goldwyn is featuring a new type of comedian in the person of the elongated Buddy Post, who from his toes to his head measures more than any contemporary screen luminary. Undoubtedly, Post’s appearance is unusual, but in this he has not been given the opportunity to demonstrate whether or not he possesses all of the qualifications necessary for a comedian with stellar ambitions. After getting off to a very slow start, this moves along at an ordinary rate and but for the complications caused by the exchange of valises and situation in which the various depositors start a run on the bank in which Post is employed, there is little meriting praise. The scheme of the prearranged hold-up and interference of real thieves is not a new one and as for the other incidents, they scarcely provoke mirth. In more than one spot this is dull. Mark Goldaine directed. “The Scarlet Rider”’—Universal Circumstantial evidence has been dealt with in screen.dramas of various types and in this two reeler of the northwest, the first ofsa series which Universal is issuing, that theme again forms the backbone of the offering. Jacques Jaccard has struck the right idea in starting a series of this sort, for the atmosphere which he is maintaining and the characters who are appearing in these pictures will interest and beyond doubt fans will take to them. The second of this set was reviewed Reels previous to this and was a supefior offering, this being a trifle incomplete and rather jerky in places. As soon as the heroine, Virginia Faire, writes her own accusation in her diary, and villain Charles brinley murders another of the characters, everyone knows what to expect. Leonard Clapham, member of the Royal Mounted Police, the star, appears, trails the girl and her abductor, rounds tip a whole crew of those who would interfere, frees them to please the lass, takes it for granted that she is innocent and clasps her in his brawny arms. It is rather obvious in places, but the finish is a bit different and will prove satisfactory. “Wild Lions and Ferocious Cheéese”—Universal Lions roaming about in two reels have become more or less common spectacles, but for various reasons they always maintain interest. Usually, the felines are the wildest things seen in these productions, but in this there is a quantity of cheese which justifies the adjective given it in the title and proves just as fierce as the animals. And there is more than one reason why this will get over. To begin with, they have inserted numerous unusual bits of business, with a considerable amount of hokum of the type that registers. In the store scene there are several stunts performed that register well, but the big punch portion takes place in the theater where a lion act goes on. The riotous tricks through which different members of the audience go and the imitation of one of them by one of the assemblage (it looked like George Ovey) all score. A varied collection of actions by the animals when they get loose (by this time every fan will expect them to) hold it up in excellent shape until the very finish. William H. Watson directed and Charles Gay kept the jungle cats from getting too gay with the actors. “Worries and Wobbles”—Vitagraph Barring some well photographed souse stuff at the start and a few commendable bits of trick photography, there is little to recommend this Vitagraph production. Thematically there is scarcely anything to attract notice, the little bit of a plot being unimportant. They have failed to clothe it with incidents of real value, this petering out after a satisfactory start. A number of coppers appear in the otfering and a mix-up begins with a husband and burglar being confused. The men in blue uniforms start running up and down ladders, stumbling, falling, tripping and performing as one would expect them to after having seen a few slapstick comedies. This fails to rise to great heights-in any respect and is at the best an ordinary short reel offering. “The Desert Vulture”—Reelcraft Texas Guinan has been at it for a long time, but when it comes to injecting the scrappy stuff into a two reel western, she is still there with the proverbial goods. A heavy of ability and T. N. T. Harvey, who has been seen opposite Miss Guinan in several of her recent releases, appear in this to advantage. The villain is unusually good, the manner in which he depicts the desert criminal being splendid. Of course, a great deal of this follows conventional lines, but there are a few touches at the finish: that help. Photographed well throughout, this registers considerably above the average western. It has a set of proportions in the saloon scene and much that will interest those who follow this type of film. Jay Hunt directed. “Little Comrades”—Ford-Goldwyn ee A school, the location and identity of which is not made known, is the scene of another Ford reel which shows how blind children are taught to read by the Braille system and others nursed back to health. It has been photographed well and the children at play and studying hold interest. This reaches the usual Ford average. It’s value as screen entertainment is not very great, but its instructional qualities help it considerably. The fact that numerous youngsters are seen also adds to its value, for youngsters are always popular in pictures. While a great deal of it strikes a sombre note, some of it will register as “cute.” “A Gold Star Pilgrimage”—Burton Holmes-Paramount This picture was on the Strand’s program as a Memorial Day special and the reverend silence in which it held the audience was proof conclusive of its effectiveness. It consists in the main of scenes showing the thousands and thousands of crosses marking the graves of America’s fallen heroes in France. Panoramas of literal fields of these crosses have been photographed. Glimpses of historic battlefields, strangely silent, are also included.