Wid's Filmdom (1920)

@ <<< <_<. 26 & DAILY . Sunday, March 14, 1920 Se LS TAA ET ET RS Amusing Complications and Star Make This Satisty Constance Talmadge in “IN SEARCH OF A SINNER” First National DIRECTOR 5 2. 0 gushes c 0 a eaiete ere David Kirkman BUGCHOR 22.0 06sec Charlotte Thompson SCENARIO BY a.32 5% John Emerson and Anita Loos CAMERAMAN 2. .o:ga4 ea ene Oliver Marsh AS A WHOLE...... A disappointment in comparison with the preceding releases; good in spots. | Ng GD Sa AE ees Could have been used to get in a good deal more fun without overdrawing. DIRECTION, 7322. Allowed situations to be overdrawn too often in an effort to get over com edy stuff. PHOTOGRAPHY ifs g2n. eee oe Fair TeLGH TINGS fo. ocscsas = Not up to the usual standard CAMERA WORK. <item o> 35) oer eee Fair SATs gates < Forgets to be cute very often; slipped up a little on the art of vamping pleasingly. SUPPORT. tag Rockliffe Fellows doesn’t match up well with the star; others suitable. ADE RLORS 2 cates a8 Many shots in Central Park FNUEERTIORS Gece vs + cise nent eee Adequate DEPAT DL es oss Titles come in for a large share of the laughs. CHARACTERIOF STORY. ok. Butterfly wife tires of her “good” husband and seeks a sinner after his death. LENGTHOF PRODUCTION: ~ oma 5,485 feet Why do authors, especially photoplay writers, insist upon making their characters so unreal and so untrue to life when there are people in the world who in themselves, naturally and without exaggeration, are just the types they are after? Why not make the characters in their plays real, lifelike folks instead of overdoing it? Henry Chadbourne could just as well have been a “good” husband without being a freak. He could have been a home man and fond of domestic life and at the same time bore his young life-loving wife without having the added impediment of being a scientific nut who had his wife accompany him to the museum while he studied the geological expressions of the various museum specimens. The comedy element does not live up to expectations. There are some highly amusing situations brought in by the star’s efforts to make a good man wild and her success. Georgiana Chadbourne goes through the period of mourning uneventfully until she throws off her black and arrives at the home of her brother-in-law Jeffry, in New York, to start her search for a wild man, and to make it more convenient her host and his wife are quarantined for two weeks on Long Island. So Constance carries on her campaign undisturbed. Strange enough she finds the man she is after in Central Park, only to learn later that he is a very good man from Denver and an old friend of Jeffry’s. Nevertheless Georgiana really loves him so decides to reform his good ways by pretending she is Jeffry’s wife. He rebels at the thought of betraying his pal but after much strenuous vamping he succumbs and the results come very near turning the tables on poor Constance but Jeff returns from Long Island in time to straighten things out. There are many good laughs in the production especially in the complications that follow when Constance starts her reforming schedule and some of the titles get over in great style. Those in the cast were Coriiss Giles, William Roselle, Marjorie Milton, Evelyn C. Carrington, Lillian Worth, Arnold Lucy, Charles Whittaker, Ned Sparks and William Boshell. Slightly Weak Material Should Prove No Drawback Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor From the box office angle there is very little doubt but what “In Search of a Sinner” will pack your house if you can judge from the first day’s run at the Strand when they were standing them at the last show. Besides having Constance Talmadge for its star and the decided hit made by her two previous pictures, “Two Weeks” and “A Virtuous Vamp,” the title will get a good many in of its own accord. The fact that the story isn’t as strong as it might be need not give you great worry by this time, providing you have played the former Talmadge com edies, the star has enough drawing power in her name and what she has already done to overcome this shortcoming. The title and theme of the story offer almost unlimitéd possibilities in the way of exploitation and there are many original and helpful suggestions in the press sheets distributed by First National as well as a selected and suitable musical score. You will find many of the current popular songs fit the action delightfully. ;