Wid's Films and Film Folk (1916)

WID'S tion is not classy as to artistry of the settings or lightings, but there is a sufficient amount of interest in the development of the detective mystery to make this an acceptable offering in houses which desire action rather than art. According to the novel, the wonderful crook Crochard was not captured but made his escape, sailing away to France for further adventure. This is the ending which should have been used because _ the capture as shown on the screen was quite pain ful, owing to the fact that the police casually picked out the particular steamer on which Crochard was to sail when there was certainly no way to determine the name of this boat. There were several boats sailing that day, according to the advertisement screened, and it gives the picture a very lame finish to have this bromide capture brought in at the end, because it surely is unconvincing. I understand that the censors insisted on having the villain captured, but this seems decidedly ridiculous to me because it is the intention of Mr. Stevenson to write further adventures in which this crook is to figure, and I certainly cannot see the difference between allowing Sheldon Lewis to escape as Crochard, the crook, and having him escape in “The Iron Claw” serial as the Iron Claw. Possibly the censors feel that there is a difference between a serial and a series of features. Personally I cannot draw the line that close. It is too bad that more care as to the finer detail was not used in making this offering because it had sufficient merit as a plot to make it tremendously impressive had it been produced perfectly. Thursday, June 1, 1916. As a sample of how bad the titles were it might be mentioned that in giving a name to a duchess who was yobbed of her jewels, they called her the Duchess Michaelovitch. This ought to be good for a laugh almost anywhere. As a sample of the bad editing it might be mentioned that there was one place where a dead man, one of the wetims of the Mysterious Cabinet, blinked his eyes while the attention was centered on his face, with a very confusing effect, because the story carried so much mystery that it suggested for a time that this man might have shammed death. I would say that this can be safely billed as a fastmoving detective mystery of fascinating developments and surely you can say that it has action that thrills and mystifies. ' Even with the production as ordinary as it is from a technical view-point, it could be materially improved were it properly edited. It is quite possible that this subject will be improved somewhat before putting it on the market, by the insertion of better titles. In advertising this | would not say by any chance that it is a wonderfully artistic production, nor would I say much about art from any angle. I would talk mystery, action, and feature Sheldon Lewis because of his prominence in such serials as “The Exploits of Elaine” and “The Iron Claw.” Others in the cast were Jane Meredith, Henry Mortimer, Henry Cargill, Grace Hampton, Ernest Cossard, William Frederic, Fred. Annerly, Alfred Hese, Emil Hech, John Gray, Margaret Forrest, Margaret Woodburn and Frederick Rogers. DELIGHTFUL PERSONALITY OF STAR SAVES CRUDE MELO PLOT Blanche Sweet in THE THOUSAND DOLLAR HUSBAND Lasky—Paramount ee eC) ER Pt. c Co niue « <deatete ss James Young MIEN No heats ts De ec htete cesses Ma Margaret Turnbull META WLAN EGA. citi. «5s Secs alee Paul Perry RMON FTO ISiG ss coe Noeleinle's. sabe ee wee. Star saves it OE so) A a nn | a ee Very bad ReeeeaLe des USING Sis rc cito ch. he 1. SMe eos. edge Good ee OGRAPHY 28 e 0.6. a Bee... Fine and fair MRETER ALIN GS sc tlaes socks Same effective, artistic memrA WORK. 8300... . See eet Very good Ree -.Very pleasing personality MEETS Tos kiss eewes. & Inclined to over-act SEO Te: ee, a Good SATE IRS aire ks Micali owe ewe Good 0 PU en ae Good POURS SES a, | rr Five parts HIS is not as good a production as we have come to expect from Lasky because the story is painfully melodramatic and rather ordinarily acted by all except Miss Sweet. The situations are thoroughly understood long before they are developed and all of them are decidedly hack neyed. In several places we had comedy touches such as the packing of a trunk and the moving of same by a negro porter and the searching of an empty flat by some police who came face to face in a door way, which were painfully bad and certainly did not register as comedy. Tom Forman, .as the young hero, was rather a good type for the part of a weak young man, but he over-acted so badly in the more important scenes that his work was not impressive. Theodore Roberts was very good in a small part. The rest of the cast were too melodramatic in their actions. We did get from Miss Sweet in this, however, some exceptionally human and pleasing bits, particularly scenes in which she worked alone registering more or less unimportant points. There were a number of very pretty bits, some of them being exceptionally well lighted, and these alone would have saved the offering. The usual Lasky introductions of characters were present and they were particularly good. The story concerned a young servant in a college boarding house, who loved one of the boys, who needed money. She was conveniently left a fortune by an uncle who died at the right moment, there being a proviso saying she would get $10,000 if she martied before her next birthday. The young man needed the money and so married the girl for $1,000 with the understanding that he was to leave her immediately afterwards. The uncle’s estate was conveniently located in the home town of the young man, so that Miss Sweet, now under the control of a villainous fortune-teller and her poker-playing son, adjourned to her estate where she became a lady under the tutelage of the crooks. Here she nonchalantly met her hus 613