Judge — June 4, 1921 — page 22: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

N EW MOVES Deception Justifies Itself LARGE, robust, and fearless king Henry VIII—kinging along through a large, robust and fear less photoplay, has appeared in this free land, and apparently taken more or less by storm the bulk of such free landers as have yet seen it. Just as its predecessor, “Passion,” scored an un questioned Babe Ruth, “ Deception” wins an opportunity to circle the bases, or the whatever else it wishes to country, or circle, at its own gait The popular word most frequ used in connection with this particular thy burst of screenery is “masterpicce Another time these official encmies, the land with one wn Germans, have invaded thi of their pernicious films, and us up. Considering ourselves, as freeborn free well, s landers, the last word in all matters per taining to the making of wars or photo plays, we have been in the habit of estimating our own film dramas on a certain set basis of technique. So much hy, so much f for photogra story, so much for titles, so much for lighting, so much for human appeal, so much for direction, so much for exploitation value Then, along comes this nervy and so on. Hun, and with little regard for all our nicely established rules for excellence throws out a masterpiece! No particularly nothing exceptional in the no apparent regard but still a master good lighting way of photography for exploitation angles piece In current phrase—How come? Here is Henry VIII, natural as if he'd just walked off a Holbein conception of h Here is a court, and scenes of Merric England more or less as we've perhaps conceived them to be. What liberties have been taken with actual historical detail I don’t know, never having been elected historian or clerk or anything but let that pass. are there, in good faith Well, then, Henry gets tire wife. So he The seeming actualities of always living with just the one picks out another. She happens to be in love with some one else—but he doesn't let that bother him for a minute The Pope decides to back what New York newspapers would call Wife No. 1 forbids the divorce. And that By Myron M. Stearns (“LeNso”™) bother Henry either. He charges the Pope, as far as England is concerned, and clects himself the head of his own church. Then, being God's rep. resentative himself, he sanctions — the divorce, and takes on the new consort merely dis Anne Boleyn This Anne lady is large, but lovable Having been torn from her own true love. » make the most of fitions, and in the course of time man ves her best new cor ages to love truly her swashbuckling lord the king. Then she is unfortunate cnough to give birth to a baby girl instead o baby boy, and the King of England turns his attention to a later flame—Jane Sey mour, Wife No. 3. And here the story ends, with the un fortunate convicted, a Anne, conveniently to make room for her successor, of un- faithfulness, of which she is of course entirely innocent, walking into the death- chamber, to be beheaded. Wherein, then, does the superiority of this photodrama rest? Certainly not in the basic. story itself There are countless others as good—many even better. But in the treatment—the handling The own defense; Pictures Worth Watching: SENTIMENTAL TOMMY A photoplay with something of Barrie. DECEPTION A German masterpiece GYPSY BLOOD Another PASSION ‘Another WAY DOWN EAST ‘An American masterpiece DREAM STREET ‘An attempt at another. THE QUEEN OF SHEBA The Fox conception of an American masterpiece THE KID AChaplin masterpiece THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI A futurist masterpiece A YANKEE IN KING COURT. Mark Twain amid the scenerists. THE FOUR HORSEMEN Drama of life and incident BOB HAMPTON OF PLACER Marshall Neilan tries mesterpiecing the point of view fearlessness of the film is its we can take it or leave it, and very ARTHUR'S be danged to us! It is in’ the spiritual image of the resolutely dissolute king himself —c with a single ideal { doing the thing as he wants it, the way he wants it de Rough, almost brutal at times with touches of tenderness, we are watching a portrayal of life itself. When Henry sces the sil houctte of a nymph, riding on a great float in a pageant, against the sky, he declares to himself that he is for her, and being king, slips from his place with elab ate carelessness, to be at the float-land ing when she And then when he hears that the Queen, with whom at the time he is much more in love fainted, he starts up and spills the poor nymph off his lap onto the grass—never even stopping to notice where she falls. Oh, that precious Henry is a bad eg but every inch a king! may be spittin’ one at times coarse comes ashore all right For us, the gr “Deception” “at point here is conceived and executed in almost total disregard of “what the people want.” And the people want it Take it or leave it, accept it or let it be the screen is an instrument of leadership. Unescapably. Ask people what they want to have and then give them what you understand their expressed wish to be—entertainment, pure and simple—and you get exactly what you are after—their money. Inci- dentally, in time, their contempt And give people the product of your own best artistic endeavor, and if it is worthy—if vou have the necessary ingredi ents of leadership—you will get both money and respect, the ultimate dollar instead of only the immediate one. Without question, such a film as “De ception "— or, from our own film-makers, “The Four Horsemen”—beggars the com- parison offered by such claborate efforts as “The Queen of Sheba” or “Man Woman— Marriag: Incidentally, though a tithe—the American name for a German film—is as deceptive Passion” before it. It typifies the one thing that the film itself lacks (and the lack of which gives the film its intrinsic and financial valuc)—the touch.” In next week's JudGE—“Where Directors Come From” “Deception,” as as was vox-ofhice