Wid's weekly (1923)

* (P"1 ' TJUU SATURDAY . OCTOBER 20, 1923 _ Lit; ^^WEEKLY xtr _ _ _ Very Pleasing Comedy, Splendid Hokum and Titles The Near Lady Universal Length 5 Reels DIRECTOR . Herbert Blache AUTHOR . From the story by Frank R. Adams, adapted by Hugh Hoffman. Titles by Robert Hopkins. CAMERAMAN . William Thornley GET ’EM IN . Make a fuss about comedy values of this. You can promise pleasing entertain¬ ment. PLEASE ’EM . This is sure-fire light entertain¬ ment. The romance is slender but has good twists, and comedy business is excellent. WHOOZINIT. . . Gladys Walton dominates with very pleasing support. SPECIAL APPEAL . Bill this specifically as enter¬ tainment. Tell ’em to come along and have a good laugh with you. STORY VALUES . Characters are nicely devel¬ oped for comedy values, with romance twisted pleasingly. TREATMENT . The little touches were very nicely placed and the titles helped this wonderfully over all the rough spots. CHARACTERIZATIONS. .. Miss Walton quite beau¬ tiful and thoroughly pleasing. Jerry Gendron made young hero rather human, with other play¬ ers putting across comedy values unusually well. ARTISTIC VALUES . Sets were satisfactory, but lightings on long shots not always so good. Close-ups and medium shots were very good and general effect quite satisfactory. This is ’way above the average run and can be figured to register anywhere as corking entertainment. The titles helped this most decidedly. They set a mark as comedy titles because they pull laughs with great regularity without reaching too far. The story was a slender little romance that had excellent values because they took the old-time theme of newly rich family deciding to marry into aristo¬ cratic family, with the aristocratic family trying to do the same thing because of poverty, and twisted it at just the right moments to make it carry good val¬ ues from start to finish. The playing of Miss Walton and young Mr. Gen¬ dron helped a lot, because these two actually made you believe that they were falling in love, each with the other, while they were pretending to be in love with someone else. They pulled scores of hokum gags that got laughs, but the one outstanding kick that will really stick with everyone for a long time was a little old lady who smoked her pipe, no matter where she might be, and frequently proclaimed, “I’m just a poor lone widda.” The bit where the little old lady caught on fire as a result of going to sleep with her pipe in her lap is a certain scream anywhere, and her tag line, “Oh, St. Patrick, send me a sheik,” will send them out of the house with a smile on their face. Personally, I think Gladys Walton is a real bet. This young lady screens remarkably well and I be¬ lieve can be carried ’way up the ladder in a hurry if given the right opportunities. Ever so often in this game there has been a little unostentatious comedy like this one that has slipped in and cleaned up a lot of money because it was good for a sure-fire evening of entertainment anywhere. The “Skinner’s Dress Suit” series came in unheralded and “Twenty-three and a Half Hours’ Leave” was started off on its bookings without the firm knowing that they had a real picture. I believe that Universal has turned out a little comedy here that can step into any house and deliver 100 per cent plus entertainment value. I would advise you to get this and sell it as an evening of joy rather than as a Gladys Walton program picture. Some of the things I have seen Miss Walton in in the past have limped badly and I believe you will do better with this if you sell it as a picture that has special comedy values, playing up the fact that beautiful Miss Walton is in it, but carefully avoid¬ ing the inference that it is just a routine Universal program picture starring this young lady. Everywhere folks like to laugh. If a film of this sort delivers enough laughs to them they are going to like it and tell their friends about it. Just remem¬ ber that they don’t have the same knowledge that you have regarding the routine manufacturing process, so that if you handle your advertising carefully it will lie no problem whatever to put this across as an un¬ usual attraction worthy of special consideration. They get this away to a very good start by open¬ ing in a Greek barber shop where Miss Walton func¬ tions as a manicure artist. The close-ups of this little lady registered in this sequence will win any gang, and when the barbers get started with their argument, which is registered on the screen with Greek words, your house will be started with a gale of laughter which will put them in the right humor to keep tag¬ ging along with this all the way. The quick swing into the “newly rich” hokum keeps up the comedy tempo and whenever it threatens to lag a bit they pull the sure-fire “lone widda” so that it pretty well hits on high right down to the finish. Give ’em credit when they turn out a little winner like this and don’t be backward about paying for it. When you make this sort of a production a real finan¬ cial success you definitely point the way for the pro¬ ducers to concentrate on the making of better films.