Judge — March 4, 1922 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

A x As Bertram Hartman sees “The Silent Call” at the Capitol Theater. The Dog Star stage and screen are fond of say- ing, “Of course, I never read the notices.” Most of them do not really mean it. The star of “The Silent Call” is different. He actually fol- lows the rule rigorously. Indeed, he neither reads what is written about his performances by others nor does he talk at all about himself. This re- markable motion picture actor does not mention his salary to a living soul, and he plays with utter indifference to the question of whether or not his hair is well slicked down. Yes, the star of “The Silent Call” is a dog. As a matter of fact, in spite of his own reticence upon the subject, we are in a position to reveal his salary. He gets six bones a week, and on the seventh he has puppy biscuit. It is a little disconcerting to a mem- ber of the human race to observe Strongheart in the pursuit of his art, because he is almost as eloquent in expression and far more beautiful in appearance than any of the stars of the screen. Best of all, he seems entirely oblivious of his good looks. He makes no attempt to capitalize them, and is never caught carefully holding his profile to the camera. Still further to his credit is the fact that he man- ages to be virile without sticking out his chest and thumping it. The motion picture actors of America have much to learn from Strongheart. Of course, there are things within his power which mere men cannot hope to attain. Douglas Fairbanks himself would fail at some of the fences over which Strongheart leaps. Other stars can- not run with him, or fight, or prick up their ears. He also wags his tail unusually well. PP itese and scree all the stars of A BEAUTIFUL picture has been built around the big Belgian police dog. Mountains have been By Heywoop Broun used as his background, and we know of few things as thrilling in the films as the sight of Strongheart outlined against the sky as he stands peering from a high peak. There are other marvelous moments in which we watch him charging down through snow- drifts like a speed-boat plowing through spume, and a final climax in which he leaps from a jutting cliff to get at the villain and drown him. Which more or less naturally re- minds us of the old and honored vaude- ville encounter between the fat come- dian and the thin one. The thin one had a dog, and the fat one used to ask, “Is that dog amphibious?” To which, like a shot, would come the answer, “I should say so; he’d bite you in a minute.” Strongheart is like that in “The Silent Call.” Once he got into the habit of biting the villain he kept it up. Whether they met on land or water, the result was invari- ably the same. Both dog and man deserved praise for their persistence. Ash Brent, miscreant, contracted an ambition to abduct Miss Betty Hous- ton, the heroine of the picture. In- stead of going about it in a nice way and asking permission of her parents or of the dog, Brent attempted to tush matters and employ violence. Time after time he was thwarted by Strongheart. Brent must have be- come sick and tired of that dog before he was through. “Just the day for an abduction,” Ash Brent would say to himself on a clear, cold morning and saunter around to the little shack in the woods intent upon evil toward Miss Houston. Generally, he found her alone. After a short, sharp strug- gle he habitually tucked her under his arm and started away through the forest. But every time there came a crashing, bounding body through the thickets, and Brent would be obliged to drop Betty because of the incon- 14 venience of carrying a heroine and being bitten by a dog at the same time. OMEHOW or other Brent never learned. He was a primitive brute, and as soon as his wounds had healed he would come back to abducting again. Maybe Strongheart thought it was a game. At any rate, it was-just as good for the dog as organized sport. It kept him out in the open air, re- duced his weight, and was good for the teeth. Undoubtedly, he could have kept it up forever. Miss Hous- ton, too, ought to receive a certain amount of credit for her fortitude. Other heroines would have moved away after the third or fourth bold attempt at kidnapping by the villain. But she did not seem to find the neigh- borhood unpleasant. Indeed, we were a little inclined to believe that she must have given Ash Brent, the villain, some encouragement. However, if she did, it does not show upon the screen. Of course, by and by, the life of adventure came to an end. Ab- duction is well enough for police dogs and villains, but it is no career for a heroine. Eventually she married the hero and settled down. So did Strongheart, which seemed rather tragic. After so long a career of tracking villains through the wilderness he must have grown somewhat weary of sitting in front of the fire and chasing his tail. ROUND OR FLAT? An applicant was before the school board applying for the position of teacher in the local school. “Do you teach round geography or flat geography?” queried the head of trustees. “I am prepared to teach either,” came the reply. He got the job.