Wid's Filmdom (1920)

SameeaiesT pe Sunday, August 22, 1920 é ce DAILYW 9 Carmel Myers Returns to Screen in Wonderfully Human Picture Carmel Myers in MIN) FOLLY’S TRAIL Universal Ee SEL ICM oes. 6 5 sis 5 ee Rollin S. Sturgeon Para PAIS a. tees wk we Katherine Leiser Robbins SEG LORY ate. a oc ee Doris Schroeder AERA VLA Ne itonts <5 6. 05 ota aes Harry Harris AS AWHOLE....... Very human little picture deal ing with married life; appeals and entertains SLOR YS a wg Very realistic; holds interest steadily because of its true situations (SS OCCT MILO § oe 2 I cerca Very good BEES) CRAP tres cane. n AUS ewes bus Very good Pert NG See ae feiss os. oe 2 ee Some striking effects CAMERAMW ORK EC. «#50. ieee. cae Commendable DS A Rarer se. Creates unusual and appealing char acter; beauty offset to best advantage BSR PO) We Lager tek cast «+ Headed by Thomas Holding Br DE IST CTR etn vice ss «sss tenierese © ud Few used DINE BE LOOINS Bites commen ss "sss adis el eae we ies Just right DWLAL fa De ccc 8 ore) cb een eal ee Excellent CHARACTER OF STORY ...... Incompatibility of husband and wife who come from totally different sets BONGLEHORPRODUCTION .......... 4,825 feet More and more it seems producers are realizing the value of the little human story, that small but strikingly dramatic “slice of life” that is so difficult to communicate to the film but which, once communicated, is fit matter to rival the far more pretentious production in entertainment value. Of course these stories are very hard to find. It’s easy enough to point out that there is drama in the life of the milkman and the family in the flat downstairs but there are comparitively few authors willing to search for it. C. Gardner Sullivan did, and found it, in “Stepping Out” and “Hairpins” and now Katherine Leiser Robbins has accomplished the feat in “In Folly’s Trail.” Here is a simple little story, the central characters of which are a flighty little show girl, with small education and tastes that fairly lacerate finer sensibilities, and an artist whose refinement and culture are just a bit over-developed. Their marriage occurs after a brief and glamorous courtship and then the incompatibility of the two temperaments begins to reveal itself. Lita is careless, eager for the companionship of her former roustabout friends, Howard seeks a quiet existence and devotion to his art—every act of his wife, the simple soul and heart of whom he loves dearly, grates on him. Finally his inability to meet her half way results in a breach and it is only through the severe lecture read Howard by Lita’s erstwhile suitor, Goldberg, a man of big purse and big heart, that he wakes to his selfishness and begs forgiveness. The detail of this is splendid, the scenes between husband and wife being enriched by expression, acts and bits of business that give them the indelible stamp of reality. Nor has the director forgotton his production values. There are a number of extravagent and lavish scenes in the Goldberg home with revelry at its height that afford remarkable balance to the less spectacular level of the main action. Carmel Myers creates an unusual and appealing character in Lita. She appears to live the part. Her beauty, too, is offset to its full advantage. O’Farrell is the last name they gave her which seems to strike a very minor discordant note. Thomas Holding plays the selfish husband excellently. George B. Williams as Goldberg does some delightful character work while others are Arthur Clayton, Viola Lind, W. H. Bainbridge and Beth Ivans. Can Stand a Lot of Boosting; They’ll Love It Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor “In Folly’s Trail” is another little “human document,” to employ a rather bromidic description. And like the other pictures that have confined themselves to the realities of life, in which there is a world of drama, it is bound to highly satisfy all audiences. It’s drama is never clashing but always potent, coursing along beneath the surface and making itself felt at all times. Certainly. Miss Myers could not have wished for a better picture in which to be re-introduced to her fans. And she seems to have improved since her earlier screen appearances. In advertising this stress the fine human quality ol the story to the utmost and dwell on Miss Myers’ return to the screen after a year’s absence on the musical comedy stage. Such a line ought to attract, and certainly the picture has the goods to please all audiences and to back up the superlatives that you use in exploiting it.