Wid's Filmdom (1921)

Short Reels “Square Deal Cyclone”’—Universal Type of production Jeqayeaewe.. wee. ae. oe 2 reel Western Eddie Polo retains the character of Cyclone Smith in this two reel Western. Cyclone is a good fellow in a bad town. He gambles in the Red Ace saloon and discovers that the cards were marked. Therefore he takes his money back, and with the aid of his fist gives the unshaved boys fair warning. ‘In the street he meets a preacher and his daughter who have come to bring religion to town. The bad man is willing to pay the usual $100 fer a kiss from the preacher’s daughter. Cyclone fights him, and drawing his revolver, makes the gang contribute towards building a church. He falls in love with the daughter, and after obtaining the deed to Red Ace he smashes the saloon and cleans up the town. There is nothing in this Western that has not been done many times before. The story and plot are of the most ordinary, and the sets of the small old fashioned variety. Much of the continuity in the second reel needs revision in order to make the action clear. Very little time was spent in making this and careless rather than faulty direction is evident throughout. ee 1 “The Lioness and the Bugs”—Aesop’s Fables—Pathe Lypesot production“). nee en eee cs 1 reel cartoon This animated cartoon of the “Aesop’s Film Fables’ is based on the old saying that quality, not quantity, is what counts. <A prize for the best children is offered to the inhabitants of bug village. The frog hurries into the pond and leads out a long line of tadpoles. The mother mosquito gets her children all dolled up and marches them before the beetle judge. The prize goes to a rather small family and the disgruntled mothers appeal to the lioness who proudly says— “IT have one child but that one is a lion.” There are some good bits of animation in this, but it is not up to the standard set by the previous reels of this series. There is not as much action in this as in the other productions, and the idea behind it is also much weaker, “Movie Chats” No. 53—Kineto Type of production: Ale ee eee ese fs 1 reel magazine This Kineto magazine opens with some views in Italy. Then it shows the city of Pisa, made famous by its architecture and the well known leaning tower. The camera is then turned upon John Shell of Kentucky, who is 136 years old and married to a woman 100 years younger than himself. He is shown reading without glasses and playing with his six year old son. Back across the Atlantic the camera is turned upon the French city of Lyons, where the silk industry smploye a good portion of the population. Laying the woof and other processes of weaving are all illustrated. The nature section of this magazine mingles with some of the uncommon animals in the zoo. Here are shown the zebra, emu, crossway, penguin, monitor lizard, wild boar, coypu, and the yak of Tibet. This number of the “Movie Chats” is well balanced and would make a suitable program filler. “Left at Home”—Famous Players Type of production. i), 2) 9.42 ee 1 reel animated cartoon Felix the cat is left at home in this cartoon. His master and mistress ride out into the country, and leave behind a note which says that a tin of salmon has been left on the kitchen table. Felix sleeps soundly and his purring is well indicated in this cartoon, but a mosquito appears upon the scene, and the following forty or fifty feet of negative is devoted to the various methods that a cat can use to scratch himself. In the kitchen the salmon jumps out of the can and evades the cat by running under the rug. A struggle follows and in the end the fish dives into the tub. Felix phones for help and his brother arrives. They decide to poison the fish by pouring the boss’ private stock into the tub, but they think better of this and use the stock internally. The returning master and mistress see the house shake from the distance and realize that the hiding place of the private stock has been discovered! The cartoon is quite funny and has some new stuff. «The action drags a bit in spots and speeds up abnormally in other places. These minor details, however, may easily be adjusted. The production as a whole will deliver a good many laughs and is up to the standard for this kind of work. Pathe Review No, 113 Type of production... 2 aaa eee eee). 1 reel magazine This reel opens up with views showing the manufacture of objects that shine in the dark. Luminous radium paint is shown in preparation and being applied to watch dials and other objects. This is followed by some slow motion photography of boxing, which shows in detail how a little fellow can defend himself against a much larger man. Sketches at the zoo come next. The artist draws them on paper before they appear in reality. The owl, Yokahama fowl, zebra and peacock all pass before the camera. This reel ends with hand colored views of Mount Blanc taken from the French side of the Alps. The glaciers and snow peaks appear in the distance and also in close-up. Small mountains, valleys and villages are shown in the last feet of this varied review. This magazine is up to the standard of the series and holds the interest throughout. oo “Edgar’s Feast Day”—Goldwyn Type of production... eee ee 2 reel comedy This is one of the Booth Tarkington series of boy stories. . Edgar and his friend are just plain boys on a farm. They get tired of eating and are not very particular as to what or when they eat. Sour pickles, ice cream, gum drops, cake, pie, apples and a dozen other things are eaten and munched by the boys in one afternoon. Result—stomach-ache and comedy. While there is nothing very startling in this it nevertheless makes a pleasing production that carries through a ripple of sly laughter. The boys give a good performance and your people are certain to recognize them as boys that are the same the world over. An amusing bit towards the end shows the food that the boys devoured turned to life and chasing one of the boyS across the landscape. Slow motion photography is used to make this effect more dreamlike. This nightmare gives the production a suitable and amusing ending. Judging from the attention that this received when played at the Capitol Theater in New York, you should have little difficulty in putting it over. This comedy is particularly suitable for special performances composed of women and children audiences. It is light and clean and would offer offense to nobody.