Life, 1924-01-24 · page 28 of 36
Life — January 24, 1924 — page 28: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains reviews of four silent films, written in Life's characteristic sardonic style. The critic dismisses most efforts: **"Big Brother"** and **"The Courtship of Myles Standish"** receive brief mentions—the latter critiqued for attempting epic subject matter (the Pilgrims) without sufficient commercial discipline. **"West of the Water Tower"** is harshly mocked as "dull," despite Glenn Hunter's acting. The reviewer suggests the film, based on Homer Croy's novel about small-town life, is tediously boring—hence calling it "stupid." **"The Rendezvous,"** a Russian-influenced Moscow Art Film directed by Mickey Neilan, fares better. The critic acknowledges its imaginative ambition and the talented acting (Sydney Chaplin, Lucille Ricksen, Elmo Lincoln), though it's "wildly improbable." Still, the reviewer respects it as a genuine artistic attempt, even if Russian cinema's introspective style doesn't suit American audiences' preferences for lighter entertainment ("pollyannaline dyes"). The page reflects 1920s Hollywood's dismissal of artistic pretension in favor of commercial appeal.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THES|LENT “Big Brother” TH RE have been i s of the erable old “Turn 1 tion theme—f wn the Tine ut there has never one, to my mind. as “ It is he shoulders written by Rex rected by Al displayed Beach and » have Dwan, and sympathetic understan wies. all things re n actual life instead of hare part it of every successful s the Ips enorme T watched this pair d h the underw io IDENTALLY, contains a moral | gh guy to nt add that it takes “The Courtship of Myles Standish” worthy intentions Charles Ray set ¢ Pilgrim The Courtship of Myles He wanted to do for the settlers what the heroism of James Cruze he pioneers of the he Covered Wagon.” Myles $ “The honors, Oregon ship of I never crowd represents the Pi Hollywe Klieg light Neponset Inc ingly uneven. Charles Ray himself is a fine actor and one who is supremely eager to do big th 1 a big way; but he needs the guiding hand of some strictly com- mercial producer who can teach him the bare facts of motion picture manufac- of them is that you can’t pr 1 a studio, “West of the WaterT ower” *[ HOSE have read Homer 2 y’s novel, “West of the Water wer,” will Ui ed by the that popular book. who actively enra screen version of Those who have not read it will merely ' GLENN HUNTER IN “WEST OF THE WATER TOWER.” Although adorned with some excellent g and a number of effective Main Street backg “West of the Water Tower” is actually as dull a picture as you could hope not t Hunter what he endow the story with life—and vunds, Glenn does Torrence does somewhat more than that—but their efforts are fruitless; the inspiring narrative n and finally ir feet. For those who have read the be or have heard that it deals with certain T hasten to add that fully one hundred per meanders expires limply at censored subjects the picture is cent. pure. stupid. “The Rendezvous” HE Russian influence, which has dded so much flaming so much ph Perhaps that’s why it's so and caviar to our national life, has at last reached Hollywood ; the first of the Moscow Art Films to arrive a cheerfully dismal piece called “The Tt was directed by that eminent Slav, Mickey N Mr. Neils almost any pi Rendezvous. artist, his name is sure to ec There more o} “The Rendezvor and marks of genius. them th usual in It is a firmly built highly imaginative representation of life in the Siberian wastes, marred ry that is wildly improbable at strengthened by the eloquent acting of Sydney Chaplin, Lucille Rick- sen and Elmo Lincoln. I doubt whether the Russian influence will go much farther on the sercen; the Moscow type of sombre and too cerebral to be a fit s ject for the pollyannaline dyes of Hollywood. But “The Rendezvous” is at least a worthy attempt to reproduce the elemental of the plays—and Mr, Neilan deserves more credit for it than he will ever get Robert erelopments twill b drama is a bit too power Russian herwood. comicbooks.com