Life — November 11, 1926 — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

Life “The Magician” BOUT three years ago, Rex In- A gram shook the gold dust of Hollywood from his feet and departed for the Riviera, announe- ing that he had retired forever from motion pictures, and would devote himself from then on to sculpture. Whether Mr. Ingram has produced any sculpture during his retirement remains to be seen. He has, how- ever, disgorged two films from his hermitage on the Céte d’Azur, and the indications are that he is not through yet. HE latest Ingram product is called “The Magician,” and is based on an old thriller of Somerset Maugham’s. It is the weird tale of a modern sorcerer who discovers, in an ancient book of alchemy, a formu- Ja for the creation of life—the most important element in this formula being the heart’s blood of a golden- haired, blue-eyed maiden, (Even sorcerers, it would seem, prefer blondes.) I leave it to the reader to guess whether or not the blue-eyed maiden of the picture turns out to be Alice Terry. R. INGRAM has directed “The Magician” with some of his old artistry, but with little of his old intelligence. The picture as a whole is an inexcusably sloppy piece of work, Here and there, Mr. Ingram has manifested some interest in his subject and has poured forth his best efforts in the creation of startling pictures; but between these bursts of brilliance are scenes and sub-titles of appalling stupidity. The monstrous magician of the title is played, with terrific force, by Paul Wegener, who once stalked across the screen in “The Golem.” Here he is just a shade too deliber- ately sinister to be altogether effective. “The Ice Flood” T has been a long time since I've seen a picture in which the hero- ine is engulfed in a mass of studio ice. Having viewed “The Ice Flood,” I have come to the conclu- sion that it will be an even longer time before I see another. “The Ice Flood” tells of a young Oxford graduate—and a_ poet, to boot—who goes to a lumber camp and there develops the earmarks of a he-man, When the rugged woods- men poke innocent fun at his effete ways, he responds with lusty socks in the jaw; his tormentors should have realized that no movie hero has lost a fight yet. At the end, the heroine is trapped in a frail boat when an avalanche of ice descends upon her. “Terror,” says a sub “grips her heart.” (Close-up of Viola Dana in boat. Terror climbs into the boat and grips her heart. Fade-out.) R. E. Sherwood. Recent The Temptress. Well, folks, I just can’t begin to tell you what I think of Greta Garbo, _ The Ace of Cads. Adolphe Menjou in something to be forgotten quickly, Kid Boots. Several good gags, held together by die Cantor. The Better 'Ole. Sydney Chaplin as the greatest hy the Great War in an uneven but generally funny comedy. Gigolo. Rod La Rocque gives a fine performance—but for what? It Must Be Love. Romance among the liverwursts, with Colleen Moore and Jean Hersholt. The Waning Sex. Pretty stupid. Tin Gods. Thomas Meighan and Renée Adorée make an excellent team. You'd Be Surprised. Mildly hilari- ous mystery, with Raymond Griffith. Diplomacy. Not recommended. Hold That Lion. Douglas MacLean runs riot in Africa. So This Is Paris. A somewhat phony Lubitsch farce, enlivened by Patsy Ruth Miller and André Béranger. The Strong Man. Harry Langdon proves that he is the only really great lover of the screen. Don Juan. A silly but diverting ex- posure of flaming youth in medixval Florence, with John Barrymore. i eee ° aE 2) Developments The Show-Off. Ford Sterling as the great American blow-hard in a fine comedy. Mare Nostrum. Pro-ally propaganda, ably directed by Rex Ingram. Battling Butler. Buster Keaton uses both fists to excellent effect. One Minute to Play. A nice little collegiate story, with Red Grange. Ben-Hur. Scenes — scenes — scenes; men—men—men ; horses—horses—horses. Aloma of the South Seas. No one can ever say that Gilda Gray isn’t an eyeful. Beau Geste, The Scarlet Letter, The Black Pirate, Variety and The Big Parade. Sce them all. comicbooks.com