Life — June 9, 1927 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

“Is Zat So?” THE mad-wag who first said, ‘ so dumb she thinks Rex Beach is a summer resort,” has a great deal to answer for. He ere- ated a formula which has been used and misused in the manufacture of thousands of subtitular wise-cracks; whenever a joke becomes a formula it ceases to be a joke. “Is Zat So?” in film form, carrics an overwhelming burden of such ma- chine-made witticisms. Indeed, the sub-titlers have seen fit to eliminate the gorgeously funny lines writ- ten by Messrs. Gleason and ‘Taber in the original play, and to sub- stitute “humorous” conceits of their own, They have even neglected to use the grandest speech in cur- rent dramatic literature—“He’ll eat it and like it or take a sock the nose’’—and have replaced it with such as, “He's so mean he’s got hardening of the artilleries.” HERE, has been no play on Broadway in a long time so thor- oughly adaptable to movie uses as “von P . “Is Zat So?” It could have made a superb picture; the fact that it is no better than fairly good is an evi- dence of the stupidity with which it has been treated. ‘The production is early-Fox in style and the gags thoroughly unin- genious. Of the cast, George O'Brien stands out with an excellent performance; the others range from just all right to just terrible. For those who didn’t see the play, “Is Zat So?” as a picture will pro- vide sufficient entertainment. Those who did see the play will find it lamentably disappointing. “Resurrection” AI.THOUGH he has never been highly considered as an artistic director, Edwin Carewe has _pro- duced, in “Resurrection,” something that is worthy of the Germans at their most express and, I might add, at their gloomiest. Mr. Carewe’s achievement herein is surprising and admirable; he has captured the real spirit of the Rus- sian’ Drama. “Resurrection” is ’$ SAKE, WHY WOULDN’T YOU LET HIM TAKE YOU TO TIIE DANC “WELL—CAN YOU IMAGINE TIE EFFECT OF TILA WFUL SUNBURN OF 1118 WITH MY NEW RED DRE: charged with genuine anguish: it shows, with relentless realism, the blind groping, the desperate, inay- ticulate questioning of the hopeless, It is y moving and very depress- ing, and it is superbly played. Dolores Del Rio and Rod La Rocque are the stars, but it is Miss Del Rio who has all the great op- portunities. She wrings them dry. She gives us an example of tragic acting that has been equalled by no one on the screen, with the inevitable exception of Lillian Gish. Being merely a frivolous and inconsequen- tial critic, I can’t do full rhetorical justice to her work, but I can at least say that it is magnificent. HERE is in “Resurrection” scene in a Russian prison on visi- tors’ day that is sufficient, in itself, to stamp Mr. Carewe as a man of genius. I invite the artists in Berlin to look at this and to learn some- thing from Hollywood, for a change. R. E. Sherwood. Recent Developments Annie Laurie. Lillian Gish as a High- land lassie who gets mixed up in fratricidal strife, with raucous bagpipe accompaniment. Mr. Wu. Slow-moving melodrama in Syd Grauman settings, with Lon Chaney being very dignified and v vindictive. Venus of Venice. Constance Tal- madge at her sprightliest as a girl who knew her crawl stroke. Camille. They're giving away cough- drops at performances of this, he King of Kings. You may con- sider it beautiful and impressive, or you may consider it no more than beautiful. Either way, it's worth a visit. The Sea Tiger. Woodman, spare that tree—it might be Milton Sills. The Rough Riders. Another epic. Casey at the Bat. Wallace Beery. the constant oaf, in_a loudly funny gag comedy of the Gay Nineties. When a Man Loves. Those great neckers, John Barrymore and Dolores Costello, in an amorous melodrama. __ Chang; Stark Love; The Fire Brigade; Slide, Kelly, Slide; What Price Glory; Beau Geste; O!d Iron- sides and The Big Parade. They're all recommended. comicbooks.com