Judge — January 29, 1927 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

JUDGE JUDGING, ‘re MO 1ING like six months have passed since Warner Bros. in- troduced at their theater on Broadway the combined bill of Vitaphone features and John Barry- more in “Don Juan.” As it is still playing its two-a-day there, or was at this writing, it must be that the public likes it and that what I have to say about it is belated and super- fluous. Nevertheless, for the sake of the record, here goes: In the first place, the Vitaphone in this particular show was a dis- appointment. This may have been due to the position of my seat which was far back and somewhat raised, corresponding to the front row of the balcony in the older type of play- house. At that distance the voice of the speaker or singer seemed to take on a little more of the hollow sound which betrays its mechanical origin. And, more important still, it became diffused, so that instead of issuing “Now, you—ha, ha—cut that—haw—out! illlinm Morris Houghton, “Variety"—The Emil Jannings classic. “Battling Butler" —Buster Keaton triumphs. “Beau Geste”—Good in spots. Scarlet Letter"—Lillian Gish at her “The Strong Man"—Harry Langdon ditto. “Sparrows” —If you love Mary Pickford “One Minute to Play"—Enough for Red Grange. “The Campus Flirt”—Bebe, the “Tin Gods" —Reniw Adorée loves not wisely “You'd Be Surprised”—Subtle Griffith. “The Temptress” —Miss Garbo is excellent. “Kid Boots” —It won't bor “The Ace of Cads" “The Better “Ole” “The Magician"—Well photographed bosh. “London”—Poor British film “The Sorrows of Satan" —O1 “Bardelys the Magnificent "e're In the Nary Now" ocre Menjou. A side-splitter. pstage” « ° patter. | “The Eagle of the Sea “Potemkin” —Splendid. “What Price Glory?” —Pictorially great. “The Canadian” —Dra “Faust” —Beautiful. “Old Tronsides” “Michael Strogoff “The Gorilla Hunt “Stranded in Paris” Ain't nosech pirates “The Fire Brigade” distic —Exciting but propagan- fotel_Imperial”—Pola deserves better. “Valencia” — Mae Murray flees Roy y's teeth. ‘A Little Journey” —But quite long enough. from the lips it seemed to spring from the circumambient atmosphere. But these are minor mechanical flaws. A much larger fly in the oint- ment of my joy was the appearance of Will H. Hays, on the screen of course, in a speech of introduction. Mr. Hays at any time exhales an odor of sanctity that comports very indifferently with the average movie program. On this occasion he out- does himself, ending with a perora tion on “service. he intones, arms stretched out, eyes rolled heavenward, ‘‘is the greatest commitment of lif There follows “Don Juan. Even so, “Don Juan,” for all its overdone interiors and Roman orgies, might have qualified as “service” if it contained any of the elements of honest drama. It doesn’t. We are most of us fa- miliar in a general way with the (Continued on page 28) You're getting me—ha, ha, ha—in a helva shape to— har, har—go to that—wow, whee—Indignation Meeting.” comicbooks.com