Wid's Filmdom (1920)

$$$ it? DAIL Sunday, March 28, 1920 Strong Melodrama Enriched by Unusual Production Values E. K. Lincoln in “THE INNER VOICE” American Cinema DIR EGE Riis Peeters ccs Males sures R. William Neill AUTHOR: 7.5. 5 See vas Cae eee Elaine Sterne SCENARIO. BY:.33....:. fee. cee Elaine Sterne CAMERAMAN <8]. .2, See... oe Ernest Haller AS A WHOLE...... Very well told melodrama made unusually interesting through lavish and realistic production. SCs eer. Starts with a wallop and maintains fair degree of interest at all times. DIRECTION 2.00.5 Has handled varying sequences tastefully and stressed production values. PHOTOGRAPHY « .ceeee co rs Usually good LCIGHCGUNGSe ae can All effects tend to improve the action effectively. CAMERA > WORK Sec. 2 Many good angles START Sf eo.t coos ee Gives telling performance UO bee sn ee Good; Agnes Ayres registers distinctive heroine. HADHRIORS oe. Some unusually pretty mountain shots. INTERIORS...... Varying and always appropriate DHEA Lies. sc Everything very satisfactory except three or four subtitles that poorly expresses thought. CHARACTER. OF, SLORY a2: Adventures of miner who is swindled by guardian of girl he loves. LENGLH OF PRODUCTION: About 6,000 feet “The Inner Voice” is a picture big enough to outshine the average product released these days and its bigness is due to Director Neill’s clever handling of his production values which time and again enrich and enforce the story. The plot is melodramatic and full of stirring action and the manner in which it has been staged really creates its various punches and suspen sive sequences. Neill was obviously allowed to spend a nice bit of money on the production. The story has as its central character Mark Reid, who is guided at various crucial moments in his life by the voice of conscience. It is given to an old man called the Good Samaritan, to awaken this conscience each time, and this introduces a figure in a way symbolical. However the action for the most part is straight melodrama and in its great variety and many ¢climaxes it always holds the attention. Mark is swindled of mine profits by Morrison, uncle of Barbara whom he loves. Morrison, who wants the girl to marry Dawson his partner, lets Mark believe that Barbara was implicated in the swindle. He goes to the dogs and finally gets to knocking around in a low dance hall in San Francisco. Barbara visits it as a member of a slumming party and that night the Chinks start a tong war. Mark rescues her from the mob. This whole sequence is staged lavishly and realistically and creates a strong suspensive interest. Later with new wealth Mark returns to the city under an assumed name to break Morrison in the market. But even so he is unhappy and it remains for Barbara to revive the human spark in him. She goes to him at the suggestion of the Good Samaritan and thus the happy ending is reached. The picture opens with a very good fight between Mark and a claim-jumper who later becomes his faithful partner. Besides being realistically put on and stirring in the extreme this fight serves to plant Mark as a hero slightly out of the ordinary and they have well succeeded in keeping him away from the usual type until the very end. FE. K. Lincoln acts the role very well and with good direction he gets here should make a big impression. Agnes Ayres, opposite, has a distinctive personality and makes the part very appealing while others are William Riley Hatch, Fuller Mellish, Walter Greene and Edward Keppler. Ought to Be Good for an Extended Booking Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor They’ve succeeded in producing an unusually good picture in this, one that in its varied and spectacular production values contains a universal element of appeal. go of it. You should have no trouble in making good Handled well from the exploitation end it ought to be good for a run of extra days over your usual time. E. K. Lincoln hasn’t had any great success with his recent pictures but his performance here is enough to bring him right back in good standing with those who remember him from the old days and it ought to win him a lot of new friends. In your advertising dwell on the fact that the action here takes the players from the Sierra mountains, to San Francisco’s Chinatown and to the big business offices of the city. This variety will appeal and if you picture the various phases of the action vividly, the crowds will surely come—and be thoroughly satisfied. f