Life — March 31, 1921 — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

468 te SILENT DRAMA East Lynne UGO BALLIN has shown that he H possesses a real flair for artistic cinematography, but he has also proved that he is not entirely unconscious of the box office by selecting “East Lynne” as the picture with which to make his first big splash in the big puddle. Mr. Ballin has hitherto been known as a progressive and constructive force in motion-picture development, and it is un- fortunate that he should have found it necessary to avail himself of the tawdry material furnished by this senile relic of the dramatic dark ages. “East Lynne” on the screen is slow moving and dull, and relieved only by oc- cazional interludes where Mr. Ballin’s artistic sense has managed to assert it- self. The action drags fearfully up to the end, when the wayward heroine struggles home to die, and the organist pulls out the tremolo and vox humana stops and steps on the accelerator with both feet. Mabel Ballin and Edward Earle attempt to impersonate impossible characters, and the fact that they fail to achieve this end is rather to their credit. “East Lynne” and “ Way Down East” have been removed long since from the theatrical time-tables, and their revival in film form is only a means of reviving un- pleasant memories. Westward the course of empire takes its way, and all the David Wark Griffiths and Hugo Ballins in the world can't controvert the force of that famous platitude. The town-hall-to-night melodramas should be relegated to the eternal graveyard, along with the gold brick, the shell game and the notion that Boston (Mass.) is the Hub of the Uni- verse; and those ghoulish producers who seek to dig up that which is better buried are wasting their own talents and imposing on the public. s Stay West, young men—stay West. Scrambled Wives “@CRAMBLED WIVES” somewhat better film form than it did on the stage. provides entertainment in Mar- East Lynne and Points West guerite Clark and Ralph Bunker have the parts originally occupied by Juliette Day and Roland Young, and their opportunities for broad farce are much greater on the screen than were those afforded by the play. The story is rather slow in getting under way, but the action gains rapidly in speed and dashes along to an effective climax at the end. This is a pleasant con- trast to the usual long comedy, which does all its spurting at the start, and then slowly dics on its feet, or rather, on its footage. Miss Clark is petite and pleasing as ever, but perhaps a trifle more impish than is altogether necessary; and Mr. Bunker, a comparative newcomer, displays great talents as a polite comedian. Lois Webber Productions OTION pictures have undoubtedly tended to kill the old-fashioned stock company; but, in the case of the Lois Webber productions, the stock com- pany idea has been adapted and carried much further than it ever was in the theatre. For she uses not only the same players in each subsequent photoplay, but the same story and the same scenery, so that, after the third or fourth picture, one practically knows the formula by heart. “What’s Worth While?” and “Too Wise Wives "—both recent releases from the Webber factory—are so much alike in conception and execution, that one could take them apart, throw them into a hat, and make an entirely new picture out of the jumbled mass of characters, situations and scenes. Moreover, it would be just as logical as either of the originals. “What's Worth While?” is the better of the two, but that statement should not be interpreted as an unqualified indorse- ment of either. The Nut Dovetas FAIRBANKS has tempo- rarily (we trust) forsaken the ro- mantic drama to try a few experiments in the realms of utter insanity. These ex- periments have resulted in “* The Nut,” and although it is unquestionably amusing—in an idiotic way—it is an awful drop from “The Mark of Zorro.” Fairbanks thing, which constitutes an actual incu. sion into Buster Keaton’s territory, “The Nut” is undoubtedly a hit, but it isa hit below the belt. The Gilded Lily ISS MAE MURRAY is not a very versatile actress, nor a particularly profound one, but she is in a class ty herself when it comes to portraying the Broadway butterfly rdle—so dear to the heart of the verbose subtitle writers. In “ The Gilded Lily,” Miss Murray bas almost unlimited scope for the display of her specialized talents, and the result is a performance more spectacular than any- thing we have seen for a long time Starting as a dancer at the “ Club Royale” she falls in love with the first man who mentions the word “marriage” to her (be is a New England simp who doestt know the ways of the great city), and she immediately decides to give up the gay life, seeking forgetfulness in the conventional love nest, down on the farm (Central Park West). The object of her affections, however, raises the natural ob jections that a gilded lily without git must be rated as a total loss, and his ie difference drives her back to the sham and shame of Broadway, for which we were truly thankful. For it was only during her period of virtue that Miss Murray failed to be interesting or convincing. Lowell Sherman is excellent as a case hardened roué who eventually does the right thing by Our Nell; and the pro- duction, under Robert Z. Leonard's diree- tion, is lavish and extravagantly effective has no right to do this sort of The No Longer Silent Drama ORD comes from Stockholm that # Swedish inventor, Sven Bergleuse has perfected a talking motion picture: Now that he has accomplished that much, he can set to work and think up @ new title for this department. Robert E, Sherwood. (“ Recent Developments” will be found on the tenth page following.) comicbooks.com