Wid's Films and Film Folk (1917)

important personages, without having the least idea as to how said important personages might act. This artifiial “dignity” was very unconvincing. Winifred Kingston as the shero was satisfactory except hat in many ol her closeups her makeup was very much 1 evidence. In the cast were William Burress, Wm. E. Lowry, ‘Chas. Clary and Edward Gaye. The Box Office Angle. This is rathe’ a good title, and the advertising in conection with the production promises the film to be a evelation o. the Kaiser’s methods in this country, which would probah!y be enough to get business anywhere. The question to be considered is whether or not you q Margery Wilson in WILD SUMAC Triangle een eee. ee ee eS William V. Mong eee mene. ee OS a ES Elaine Sterne HET ANINY iA Va 5 ee Eddie Gailer AS A WHOLE....Director made it interesting and human, and some of characters quite forceful eee reat Northwest story of stolen girl ee eben i 5155 Gave many good little touches RIEL) Gate Ate TNs coke. oe ice eee eecseces Good Ae eee SS OP Beene aeenac: Fair ees 2S: Very human and pleasing; looked well in burlap dress MesO Tt Dee tt .ce. Good types; Frank Brownlee fine BBR TRIE CD Pete oc cco doc ev ceed onde ck cecceee Fitted atmosphere ELSES S057 LS ieee ern _ Satisfactory Very good; one sequence needs cutting Sixty minutes (5 parts) LTHO not presenting any really big scenes, this did suggest in some ways having come from “The Barrier.” We had the halfbreed girl who turned out to be white and a character such as Mitchell Lewis did in “The Barrier.” This story concerned a roughneck halfbreed, Frank frownlee. who was bootlegging liquor into a railroad amp in the Northwest. He started a card game with he son of a mine owner who was building this spur railpad and was found cheating, which started a fight in which the son was shot. ; | The halfbreed blamed the murder onto his daughter, Pplayed by Margery Wilson, and incited a mob, who thought she was a witch, to take her out of jail and | urn her at the stake. ‘She was rescued by the happy-go-lucky French-Ca ART DRAMAS PROGRAM Blood of His Father Devil McCare | A ‘ Eye of Envy Unto the End , Just Jim WID’S TREATMENT HELPS TO LIFT ROUTINE NORTHWOODS MELO Thursday, October 11, 1917. have the sort of patrons who care for this cheap melodramatic appeal when the story and action is unconvincing. In some communities and in some theatres this should go very big, because the American hero triumphs all the way, the Germans are proven to be awful boobs, and they torture the hero inhumanly and finally shoot lii., which is enough to make some men want to go out and enlist. | fear that well informed people will resent the crudeness of this, but again it is possible that they will accept it and pass it by with the thought that it might do some good in arousing those not so well informed. It is too bad that the efforts for lightines and the players in this were not used in a similar sort of a production with a more convincing plot development. nadian, then we learned that the girl was not the daughter of the bootlegger, but was really a niece of the mine owner, the girl having been stolen when a mere child. ‘Lhe finale was a love scene between the girl and the French Canadian. . the director provided many good little touches and made his players human and pleasing. George Chesebro, who did the French-Canadian, gave a very pleasing characterization. Frank Brownlee certainly made the willun a wicked wun. Miss Wilson was decidedly well fitted for the type of the halfbreed girl, and the burlap dress that she wore added to her beauty rather than detracted. If she is given some good productions her name may become worth real money to you. Edwin J. Brady, as the Mounted Police sergeant, had poise and repose, and he gave a more human characterization than we usually find in such portrayals. Others who appeared were Percy Challenger, Wilbur Higby and Ray Jackson. The fight between the French Canadian and the halfbreed lost quite a bit of its effectiveness by not being cut properly. It pulled a laugh where not intended, and I believe a few feet less would have helped materially. The Box Office Angle. This is good enough to please, and the characterizations of all the players were very satisfactory. I would lay particular stress upon Mr. Brownlee’s portrayal of the halfbreed villain. I would suggest that, in your billing, you use a line something like this: “Would you shoulder the blame for a murder which your brute father had committed, and still hold to it if you were to be burned at the stake? Or, you might say: “Do you know how to cheat at cards? Margery Wilson will give you a pointer or two in ‘Wild Sumac.’ ” You will be able to say that this is a human story that gets over, and you will not have any kicks coming when they came out. : ERNEST STERN, Inc. THE TITLE MAN Specializes in MOTION PICTURE TITLES OF THE HIGHEST GRADE 129 Seventh Ave., New York 655 Phone Bryant 8913 ee ange ae et