Wid's Filmdom (1919)

@ «<————_— rrr 22 rahi BAILA’ “Sunday, December 8, 1918 Strong Meller of North Woods. Star Goes Over Big. | Mitchell Lewis in “CODE OF THE YUKON” Select DIRE CDO Ree AUTHOR . SCENARIO BY CAMERA MAN Jos. Brotherton AS A WHOLE...Strong me'ler with rapid action and plenty of punch scenés. SiO RiYereeee Concerns gold diggers in the Northwoods. Nothing new in plot, but still holds good. DIRECTION © teen: Missed occasionally, but generally made most of situations. PHOTROGRAD EW gage Good on a number of long shots. Some scenes out of focus. LIGHTINGS fe... Too harsh at times; composition of night effects. CAME RARW.© Riker sei ae Generally satisfactory. missed in SiRAR Gaerne Gave virile performance; will get the crowd, SUPPORTHey =: Tom Santschi good running mate for Lewis; others satisfactory; Margaret Landis may get a laugh as society girl. EXTERIORS ce Picturesque effects in beautiful mountainous country. INDE RIORS eer Very few; those in dance hall will pass. DETAR ore eee ake Nothing out of ordinary. CHARACTER OF STORY rs. A bit rough at times, but won’t offend. LENGTH OF PRODUCTION 5y72 Tite Mitch Lewis does what is expected of him in his first Select picture. He is as virile and strong and dominating as ever, and your fans who remember his performances in “The Barrier.” “The Bar Sinister” and more recently in “Safe for Democracy” will eat this up, and probably ask for more pictures of the same type. If you want a good old-fashioned, rough and tumble meller with the obvious sort of heart. interest to accompany it, get this by all means and you won't have to worry about your regulars being disappointed. Anthony Paul Kelly wrote a story that recalls some Make Lewis Main Feature of the Alaskan one-reelers of an earlier day, but he managed to fill it with enough interest, suspense and excitemcnt to hold the attention through six reels. It is.the type of plot that fits in well with the personalities of Mitch Lewis and Santschi. Mitch is a French-Canadian: prospector who leads a lonely life, while he is accumulating enough gold to go in search of a willun who wrecked his sister’s life, years before. Arthur Morison, in the role of “Faro” Telford, is helped by Mitch when he is hurt in an accident and there the trouble begins. Morrison becomes a partner in working the claim, and not content with the profits, soon summons willun Tom Santschi and his gang to take over the property... A mushroom mining town springs up in the heretofore peaceful locality, and with +t we have all the accompanying vices—a dance hall, booze and women to stir up trouble among the goldseekers. There is no need to go into the details of the plot, because it is pretty old stuff, but most folks will lose sight of this in following the quick action and. the able characterizations of the principal players. Naturally, the incidents lead up to Mitch’s finding of the man who wronged his sister, and as might be expected, this man.is none other than Santschi, who is the ringleader of the plotters aiming to steal his valuable claim. Having prepared the way for the inevitable fight, they bring these two men together on a stormy night in Santschi’s cabin, and stage a rough set-to. Out of the cabin door, and down the bank into the river, the two men roll; then to keep Mitch’s hands clean of murder, a tree conveniently topples over and drops on Santschi’s head. This ends the story, except for a few. wind-up scenes. Beyond tke performances of the leading male characters and Goldie Caldwell, who does very well as a dance-hall girl, there is no one who will attract particular notice. The direction, however, kept all of the figures in the atmosphere of the story, and through the use of close-ups, brought out the menacing expressions which Mitch Lewis knows so well how to assume. The exteriors are attractive, but more care should have been taken in the composition of the night scenes. of Advertising. Will Draw. Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor. It is hardly necessary to point out that Mitchell Lewis is the big advertising point in this feature, and if you are a regular Select customer, who has been using a succession of female stars, it should be worth while to mention that Mitch is the first male star to be taken up by this organization. Don’t forget to call attention to Lewis’ many past successes, some of which will surely be recalled by your patrons. Thomas Santschi also offers good advertising possibilities, not only because he will be remembered by oldtimers in innumerable Selig photoplays, but because recently he has been coming to the front as a popular actor in elaborate features, and just at this time is receiving plenty of notice as Geraldine Farrar’s leading man in “The Hell Cat.” I would also be careful to mention the name of Anthony Paul Kelly as the author, because among fans who follow the writing end of the game: he is pretty well known. “Code of the Yukon” is a good title to work with in that it expresses the wild, elementary nature of the story, and I wouldn’t worry about the fact that it may suggest “The Flame of the Yukon.” There is no law against using titles of a similar nature. If you run this for a special attraction, it would be well to go to some expense in dressing your lobby to indicate the type of picture you are showing. This can be done cheaply cnough if you have some one around your establishment with ingenuity in getting effects. For catchlines I would try something like this: “Would you spend your Ife in seeking the betrayer of your sister?. See what Mitchell Lewis does in ‘Code of the Yukon, ” or “Do you believe the honor of your family is worth the sacri%ce of your life? See ‘Code of the Yukon’? Still another line to use would be: “Sift'ng for gold sifts the good and the bad out of men.” | 1g 1 , y » ae nae ats er lity Mia SF re