Moving Picture World (Dec 1917) - Learn About Movie Posters

1802 THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD December 22, 1917
love tn suit them are pleased and tee! that they have got their
monej ' u orth.
The hero Is a rich leader of fashion, n ml the director handles
the people around him as though he were a prime. The heroine
is a poor niece of a moderatelj well-to-do family with social
aspirations. She is Ill-treated, The hern finds her tinkering
with the family automobile. He is smitten and takes a job
as chauffeur to the family — well, the rest is romance, and in
the end everybody, even the hateful cousin whose treatment
1
Scene from "The Square Deceiver" (Metro).
nf lier was so rude, is forgiven, and everybody is happy; but
especially the heroine, who is now not only rich but the leader
of fashion, and her young husband is willing and ready to go
to war as soon as he is called.
"The Tenth Case"
June Elvidge in Five-Part World Photoplay That Contains
Quick Moving Events of Considerable Interest.
Reviewed by Edward Weitzel.
EXPERT playing by the entire cast and efficient direction
by George Kelson are among the merits of "The Tenth
Case," a five-part "World photoplay in which June Elvidge
has the stellar position. The story is dramatic and. if the
mental blindness of Jerome Landis can be overlooked, of considerable
interest. The person just named is a man of wealth
and more than average intelligence, who marries a young and
beautiful woman and is quick to believe her guilty of infidelity
upon circumstantial evidence. He turns her and his child
from the house and then sues for absolute divorce. The judge
who presides at the trial also has great faith in circumstantial
evidence until the wife of Landis and a friend of hers convince
the honorable judge how easy it is to be misled in the
matter. The friend secretes himself in the room belonging
to the wife of the judge, just as the nephew of Jerome Landis
did in the room occupied by his uncle's wife. When the learned
judge received a practical illustration of the value of circumstantial
evidence it causes him to modify his decision. He
grants the divorce but permits the mother to have her baby
with her part of the time. Harry Landis, the nephew who
caused the trouble, is killed in an automobile accident, but
confesses before he dies, and his uncle and aunt are reunited.
There is an underplot involving an experienced vampire,
who has entrapped the heroine's father and who also gets the
nephew in her toils. The interest around the friend is also
important, and some spectators will regret that he does not
win the lady after the divorce. But she is only anxious to go
back to her husband.
Mention has already been made of the excellence of the
acting and direction of "The Tenth Case." June Elvidge as
Claudia brings out all the attractive womanliness of the character,
and John Bowers, George MacQuarrie, Gladden James,
Eric Mayne, Eloise Clement and Charles Dungan are deserving
of mention.
"The Marriage Speculation"
Vitagraph Blue Ribbon Feature Written by Cyrus Townsend
Brady Belongs to the "Strawberry Mark"
Class of Fiction.
Reviewed by Edward Weitzel.
STARTING with a highly improbable but none the less intinK
theme. "The Marriage Speculation," a five-part
Vitagraph Blue Ribbon Feature written by Cyrus Townsend
Brady and directed by Ashley Miller, gets switched off
. a network of familiar complications, and ends as one of
the brotherhood Of the order of "strawberry mark" fiction.
This brand ol story still has Its admirers, however, and the picture
is well directed and acted, it opens most promisingly:
An eccentric old bachelor who has worked all his life in a
pickle factory and saved ten thousand dollars conceives the
plan of educating some poor but attractive girl with his money
so that she may make a wealthy marriage. In return she must
see that he is taken care of during the rest of his life. The
scheme is put into effect. Clara Wilton, who has been engaged
to Billie Perkins, a shiftless young chap, grows tired of his
want of ambition, and accepts the old man's offer.
When she finishes her education and the last of the money is
being spent at a fashionable watering place to get her into
society, Clara finds herself surrounded by suitors, attracted by
the report that she is an heiress. The usual bogus nobleman
is among them. In the meantime, Billie has not been idle.
The loss of Clara wakes him up. he pitches in and earns a few
dollars for himself and grows a mustache. Thus disguised
he goes down to the watering place and poses as a man of title
himself. Clara is able to penetrate his disguise, and finds that
she still loves him. She feels it her duty to marry an Italian
count in order that she may keep her agreement with her
matrimonial backer, however; but Billie shows that his rival
is only a waiter. As he points an accusing finger at the man
one of the spectators notices a ring on his finger, and demands
to know where he got it. Billie informs him that it belonged
to his father, and has the tables turned most agreeably by
being informed that his grandsire in England has just died and
left him a title and a handsome fortune.
Charles Kent gives the character of the old bachelor just the
right touch of eccentricity, and Mildred Manning and Wallace
MacDonald are pleasing as Clara and Billie.
"My Little Boy"
Skillful Blending of Two Famous Works in Five-Part Bluebird
Photoplay Written by Elliott J. Clawson
and Featuring Ella Hall and Zoe Rae.
Reviewed by Edward Weitzel.
was a happy thought on the part of Elliott J. Clawson to
IT
combine Charle Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and Eugene
Field's "Litle Boy Blue" in a five-part photoplay for the
Bluebird brand. Both story and poem are noted for their
heart interest, and Elsie Jane Wilson, who directed the production,
has handled it with sympathetic understanding. The
entire cast show the same appreciation of their work, and a
charming screen story, told with great charm, is the result.
From "A Christmas Carol" has been borrowed the characters
of old Scrooge and his nephew. They are brought down to
the present, however, and the older man is turned into a
"grouch" in place of being a miser. He is now known as
Uncle Oliver, and refuses to have anything to do with his
nephew when the young fellow marries against his will. Six
years later Fred determines to ask his uncle to spend Christmas
with him and meet his son, Paul, who is known in the
family as Little Boy Blue. Oliver grudgingly consents, and
is more grouchy than ever when he arrives on Christmas Eve.
After trying to make everyone as miserable as possible he
goes to bed and has a dream that makes a new man of him.
He imagines it is Christmas morning, and that he has been
awakened by the shouts of little Paul over his presents.
Growling his displeasure he prepares to go hunting with his
nephew, and the party leave the house. Paul follows, and is
accidentally shot by Oliver. The little fellow is brought home,
and the family gather around his bed, but neither their love or
Scene from "My Little Boy" (Bluebird).
the old man's remorse can save him. After his death. Fred
and his wife drift apart, but are reunited by finding the little
toy dog and the tin soldier in the closet waiting for Little Boy
Blue. When Oliver is really aroused by the gleeful shouts of
Paul he rushes down stairs in his pajamas and astonishes
everyone by hugging and kissing them all and wishing them
the heartiest kind of a Merry Christmas.
"My Little Boy" will delight everyone who has the Dickens
love for Christmas in his heart and cherishes Eugene Field's
tender regard for childhood. The even excellence of the cast