Judge — September 18, 1926 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

Are you an unsuspecting public? Long ago, I decided that the only time anything got wished on an unsuspect- ing public was when the public, down underneath, was wishing for it. That certainly explains Mennen Shaving Cream. Men everywhere were cursing the torture of shaving and wishing somehow— You know the answer. Today, Men- nen stacks up a lather that makes the wiriest, bristlingest set of whiskers soft and limp. Dermutation! Evena dull razor can’t help just naturally giv- ing you a quick, super-clean shave. Same way about Talcum for Men. A human-nature instinct for a little more comfort. Well, Talcum for Men was made to blend with any masculine skin. It doesn’t show, It’s antiseptic, shine- dispelling, soothing, protecting. Good, honest he-man comfort which the he- men are falling for by millions. Which brings me to the third item —Mennen Skin Balm. Filling one more long-felt want. A little squeeze on your finger-tips rotated gently around the shaved area—a little tingly bite— then a zippy, fresh, fragrant coolness spreading all over your face. Grease- less —absorbed in half a minute. Get the Complete Mennen Shave Habit. It’s as delightful as a raise in salary 7 te Henup (Manne Salesman)! MENNEN SHAVING CREAM N THE week just preceding this re- view the principal event in the movie world has been Valentino's death. Beyond the expression of a very genuine regret that Rudy should have been taken from us, I want to speak of the egregiously bad taste with which the thing was dramatized —in a manner suspiciously typical of the movies. Even in death, appar- ently, the movie star must function as a vehicle of cheap sentimentality and brazen publicity. How other- wise explain the decree that he should lie in state for a week while a huge mob fought for the sight of him, as if his bier had been a bargain counter? It is easy to believe that a great many fans were sincerely grief- stricken at his loss. It always hurts to see well-favored youth cut down at the height of its powers and oppor- tunities, and Rudy had a personal charm quite apart from his talents and pulchritude. But for every genuine mourner there were bound to be thousands to whom the dead star was merely an object of vulgar curi- osity, or morbid sentimentality, or worse. To pander to the appetites of such a public was something which even Barnum, I believe, would have shied from. It is only fair, of course, to remem- ber that Valentino’s manager did cut the show short when it had become a police problem and an open scandal. Let’s hope that Hollywood has learned its lesson. There were other items—floral tributes too gross for any other object than to advertise their donors, which they did, and faintings that we heard round the world. Poor Rudy T 18 a distinct relief to be able to turn to something showing the restraint of good taste and self- respect, in this case to “Battling Butler,” with Buster Keaton. Here is a farce comedy handled almost as deftly as any in Adolphe Menjou’s repertoire, but with a humor none the less robust, or roBuster (do you mind so much?), for its sparing use of slapstick. Buster Keaton di- rected it himself so that its merits are a measure of the progress that young man has been making since first he began clowning for the screen. He has, indeed, improved on the original “Battling Butler,” JUDGING. ‘ne MOVIES: Williom Morris Houghton the musical comedy that ran for a year on Broadway. There is more of a story to the screen version, more subtlety of gag and circumstance, | better setting, better acting. What it lacks is only that something that alas! never comes in the can. “Battling Butler,” it seems to me, lifts Buster Keaton into the front rank of funny men. It is also a splendid advertisement for Snitz Edwards, who takes the part of his valet, and to a less degree for Eddie Borden, the real Battling Butler's manager. Sally O'Neil, who takes the only female rdle of consequence, is undistinguished, due partly to the role. It is worthy of note that movie comedies strike a much higher aver- age of artistic excellence than movie romances. The world being what it is, the attitude of the kidder, I suspect, is the wiser and safer in any art, unless its practitioner is fairly confident of genius. To be sure, most movie actors and directors are confident of genius, but their confidence is misplaced. Guide to the Movies “The Big Parade"—S ttaboy! “Ben-[ur"—Spectacular. “Moana of the South Seas”—The South Seas as they were “La Bohéme"’—Lillian Gish and tears. “The Black Pirate” —Douglas Fairbanks. “For Heaven's S Harold Lloyd. “Aloma of the South Seas"—Gilda Gray. “Wet Paint”—Smelly. “Paris —Underworld hokutm. “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp"—Harry Langd& Richard Dix farce. “Ella Cinders"—Colleen Cinderella Moore. “Say It Agai “Good and Naughty" —Clever farce with Pola “The Volga Boatman"—Red melodrama. “The Brown Derby" —Good idea got wrong. “The Palm Beach Girl wild Bebe. “Lovey Mary"—Sugary ~The Road to Manda on Chaney, “Wariety"—An UFA masterpiece. “Up in Mabel's Room”—Bedroom farce. “Mantrap”—Sinclair Lewis snuffles. “Nell Guyn"—Neatly done, Limies! “The Waltz Dream” * The Duchess of Buffalo" —Chester Conklin 1s there. “Oh, Baby”—Old stuf. * The Amateur Gentleman” —barthelmess. “The Loves of Ricarde"—Slush, mush, gush. sh out of Germany. comicbooks.com