Wid's Films and Film Folk (1917)

: | | WID’S VAMPIRE STUFF WITH UNUSUAL ATMOSPHERE SURELY INTERESTING Cleo Madison in BLACK ORCHIDS : Bluebird POLE CO R peta cee ie. MNES ck Rex Ingram PU HL © Rime reer ae ae Rex Ingram GAL HReAUVAUN Geen eee |. Duke Hayward AS PAS Wi OL Bee Interesting and unusual, with good moments STORYGSe 2:2. Rather different; will impress generally despite depressing incidents DERM GTI ON oi3 552 ec. Effective atmosphere provided made offering register PHOTOGRAPHY............ Generally excellent; occasionally ate just good TeUGHIRIIN G Siar cee co! Very effective; often artistic; mostly spotlight effects CAME TR A@W OR Kose... a eS Very good BS LAN Fees eae nea Distinctive vampire characterization SURE O RIS eee. ete... re Some good types PPC METRRLOR SS 2 es... Good; not remarkable INTERIORS................ Decidedly distinetive, except for a -few which were very ordinary Meer atoiesroi a ok ae One or two bad points Pee ne ele ee .... sixty-four minutes LEO MADISON is a beautiful girl and knows right well how to handle a vampire characterization. In this offering we get an unusual story decidedly suggestive of the more daring French produetion. It is a story within a story, with the author of the vampire tale telling his daughter of the novel he has just written in order to explain to her the danger of trifling with men. This story-within-a-story idea takes the curse off the fact that the vampire tale is a tragedy, since it brings the characters back to modern times for the finish. The vampire tale tells of. a erystal, gazer, played: by Gleo Madison, who is loved by both father and son. The father arranged it so that his boy would be sent to war, in order to get rid of him, and he even saw to it that his regiment was to be the first. on the firing line. Meanwhile, the vampire began to favor a, friend of INTERESTING BUT ORDINARY MELO WITH POLICE CHIEF AS CROOK Emmy Wehlen in VANITY Pop. P. & P.-Metro aL CAO) Ree eet ee. John B. O’Brien PAP Reese Meni . A Aaron Hoffman SOHINARIOTR Yoweri Wallace C. Clifton GEAINTE A PAIN etree te. Harry B. Harris AS A WHOLE............ Interesting, although unconvincing, crooked police-murder-mystery stuff STORY..._...... Conveniently planned melo holds fairly well DIRECTION... Many scenes lacked class; dramatic moments didn’t grip, but offering will be accepted PHOTOGRAPHY......Varied; frequently lacked definition TO GHEEOEIN Grose ee A few good; many rather poor CAMiteAs WO Riots. ot oe. Ce Sek Varied gO a Meee bee cs Pretty; kept emotions in check SUPPORT..2.... Helped action quite a bit; some good types EXTERIORS.........2...... A few very pretty; others ordinary PCN RIORS see et Lacked real class; a few poor EY eA eae ae tone. (cn Cig»? * Dae a Acceptable PP TIVE gee oat series 2h Tess ENE Sixty-five minutes 29 Thursday, January 11, 1917. | the father, and he attempted to poison him. Learning of his attention, the vampire switched the gla:ses so that the father was poisoned, and she then married the father’s friend, only to leave him when the son afterwards returns. The vampire made her husband believe that her lover had insulted her, so that a duel would be fought, trusting to her lover’s skill as a swordsman to save him. The husband was left for dead and the lovers went away together, but what had been described as “the best sword arm in France” seemed to have lacked the killing power, because hubby got up and walked around for a couple of days in the same blood-stained shirt, while he trailed the lovers, until he finally locked them together in a dungeon to meet their doom. The introduction of a hunchback and a chimpanzee, employed by the vampire in her plottings, gave an added touch of gruesome distinction to this offering. While there were a few moments which were quite impressive, the situation showing the walking about of the husband, for two days after he had been left for dead will cause the story to lose its grip. Nevertheless, it will be considered interesting. There were some very good types in the sun»orting cast, the entire action, however, centering about Cleo Madison, the others simply providing a frame for her characterization. In the supporting cast were Richard La Reno, Francis McDonald, Wedgwood Nowell, Howard Crampton and William J. Dyer. The Box Office Angle If Cleo Madison is a favorite in your community— and she is generally—you should be able to do particularly well with this, because you can announce that she appears in an exceptionally powerful vampire characterization, which is effectively contrasted against a characterization, also done by Miss Madison, of an innocent, carefree young beauty. The story is rathor heavy in’ spots; but is unusual enough to be interesiins. It is quite possible that some of your regulars will take exception to the final scenes, following the duel, but you can feel pretty sure that they'll consider the offering as a whole worth while, if for no othe: reason} than that it is different. HE author of this has prepared one of those} murder-mystery-suspense things that never} really worries anyone as to how it is. going to} finish, although the characters are presumed} to be greatly excited over the danger of the! consequences. The chief of police is presented as all kinds of a crook in this, and in some places I believe the story rather oversteps the bounds in this regard. : Miss Wehlen is a little girl he fancied, with the result that he “framed” a charge against her and made her act} as stool pigeon in collecting evidence against the hero,! who was suspected of murder. Of course, the star and the hero fell in love, and then,} when she betrayed him, he thought she was all wrong,” kut all through the story the author had an ace up hi sleeve in another character, who had been carried along for no other reason than to bring to light after her death) the fact that she was the second wife of this crooked police chief, which made it possible for the hero to be set free, because the chief of police was a bigamist and could not afford to prosecute. . Of course, the hero had never committed the crime, it —