WHAT THE MOVIES ARE DOING

Free Lance, Volume XVI, Issue 867, 16 February 1917, Page 20

WHAT THE MOVIES ARE DOING

Moving Picture Attractions. ~ Everybody's -'*-The Marriage of Molly-o" ' The Empress—" Human Driftwood " . The King's—"She '"'■". .. - "-:._; The Queen's—" For the Defance '* .-.■''. Everybody'se" HARLIE Chaplin in ■. "The Pawnbroker" has' \i been keeping the., .house-staff busy at Everybody's this / week. "The Pawnbroker" is easily.the "funniest Chaplin picture the Mutual producers have. yet released. Charlie plays the part of an assistant in a pawnbroker's shop, just as he.has figured in big softgobds emporiums, etc. Some people allege that the popularity of the '. little comedian with the shuffling walk •: arid the bamboo cane is on the wane.-.--They should go to- - Everybody's; this week and hearken to the screams of laughter that greet his absurdly fanny antics. His operation on an alarmclock on which a customer wishes to raise a loan almost moves the house to. tears. An Ince-Triangle five-reel pro"Jim Grimsby's Boy." contains remarkably few bright patches, but holds the interest all the same.: An aU-toq-shbrt. Gaumont Graphic is also screened. '■■■-. ■ .. '? : "The Marriage of MoJly-o." Jaunting cars and jarvies, Irish jigs, /bacon and greens, to say nothing of the most delightful pig in the world, lovely colleens and handsome gossoons, land agents, and a sweet small shamrock village, conspire to give "The * Marriage of Molly-O," starting atEverybody's to-morrow (Saturday) a genuine Irish investiture. The Irish fair is a wonderful piece of work, due in a great measure-to the fact-that most of the players are themselves Irish, and j_ they have treated: the play with loving fidelity to the : national atmosphere. Mae Marsh is most attractive as the heroine/ and Robert Harron, as the ; " ; handsome O'Dea, the incognito ' knight working as a jarvey, is a likable and ; manly hero. " -*" .. •. •■■''." *. ■ ' * "",, Empress Theatre. "As in a Looking Glass" has been the all-absorbing centre of attraction at the Empress , this week. It is a very lavish production, unfolding an exciting narrative, relating the intrigues of Lila Despard, a fascinating adventuress. Lila and her accomplice, one "Forbes, are engaged in secret service work, which always provides an interesting and thrilling theme. London becomes too warm for them and they fly to New York. There they become .interested in Uncle Sam's secret naval plans/but at the crucial moment Lila falls in love with the naval officer whom she hoped to dupe. Kittv Gordon makes a charm- .. ing Lila. Topical and other films/help maintain a good standard" of pictures. ' « f fioman Driftwooa." This is a picture dealing with the underworld, where there is such a store of human wreckage. The hero is at first infatuated with a dancer of no - reputation to speak of, but he rapidly cools after she has assisted a band of crooks to rob his strong-room. Later, when he has dropped the gay life and become an earnest reformer, he re-dis-covers her as the spinner of eviL in an Alaskan mining camp. Frances Nelson is charming as the heroine, and Robert Warwick needs no recommendation,'as his high work always keep the same high level. "Human Driftwood", will be screened only at the Empress, where it heads the new programme starting this week-end. / ■ «■ e .*..*' "Qneen's Theatre. After - flaunting all the week in <'Silks and. Satins" to the accompaniment of the usual commendable Cubastreet business, the Queen's Theatre will throw off these gaudy social baubles to-morrow, and come to light with Fanny Ward, in the big five-act drama, "For the Defence." This is a detective story of engrossing interest, showing the adventures of a little French gin, who, in a strange land, became the central figure of a tragedy in which the one man who befriended her is accused of murder. , »» » e Here are all the elements ripe for romance with a vengeance, and the

pictures certainly does not spare them. It is just one long interesting riot of sensational developments, depending on as cunning a plot as the most expert mystery-monger, could■; imagine. The. story is one succession of thrills, and at the: same time it never' oversteps the bounds of .possibility to - degenerate from' drama to melodrama. It compels attention .."from-.the". jump,?'.- and never lets down in its interest "for one moment. ; The Queen's was fortunate in catching this much-sought-after picturestory; but, there, Roddie MacCallum doesn't let enough grass grow under his feet to command the attention of even a Taranaki cow. ■•.•■' # . /*'.- <■-' .., : e King's.Theatre. \ .A V-itagraph drama of this, title has been keeping business moving briskly ■- at the King's- this week. It is a play of strona situations leading up after much tribulation to a happy ending. The heroine, handsomely and gracefully impersonated by Miss Dorothy -Kelly, allows another man- to estrange her affections from her husband, and divorce follows. She .weds No. v 2 only to find out what a hollow sham he is. He is preparing to run off with another woman when he commits suicide instead. The offspring of .the first marriage (brightly played by- Bobby Connelly) V brings the divorced couple together, a rid with a charming re-union the storyteller . reaches •■: port safely after a stormy passage. The supporting films are good and varied, and make up'a capital programme. ... * ■»"'■' »~ ■« ■■.' "She." Sir Rider Haggard is an acknowledged master of the weird and wonderful in romances, and "She" is perhaps his best-known work. The picturisation is a tremendous feat, and niust have been a matter of enormous expense. Much of the action takes place in mysterious parts of Africa, and >the photography is most realistic, particularly of the vast African swamps. The temples and huge buildings of -"She's" . court are most imposing. Madame Alice Delysia, as "Sherwho-must-be-obeyed," has the stately and majestic beauty which is desirable in the difficult role, and she is altogether satisfactory. "She" will be screened at the King's, coinmencing with the new programme to-morrow (Saturday). Book your seats in plenty of time so that you won't be disappointed, as a .big rush is expected.

j American' exchanges record the fact that Mae Murray was married a- few weeks ago; and is now Mrs. J. J. O'Brien. She intends to continue her - picture work. Norma Talmadge has also become Mrs. Joseph Sehenck. ■«■*•■. « •* . Mr. T.P. O'Connor, the famous Irish member of. Parliament, has been appointed chairman of the board of film. censors, an organisation recently created by the moving picture trade in Great Britain. 0 ' ,«» • O © " A film is being shown in the United States depicting the latest methods of road building. It shows the troubles that arise from inadequate drainage and improper construction, and illustrates how costly it is to'make roads cheaply and badly. The film is being shown to meetings of farmers, roadbuilders, and motorists. Will some of our exhibitors get hold of it and show it to some of our councils and: road • boards ? a ■» ' «• * •., The educational servicc'that the film is. rendering grows- every day more re-. markable. The opportunities seem limitless. The latest from America' is a film company which has been formed to produce. motion pictures with scenarios taken straight out of the Bible withthe intention of supplying churches and religious societies. One- of tbe several companies to be engaged will stage a stupendous religious spectacle similar to that of the Passion' Play at Oberamniergau/ . ~ * * * * A public, school in Chicago has' com- - pleted ~a moving picture . theatre in connection with its classes, there being seating" accommodation for 1800 persons. : , ■ ■.» • •'.'.• * Some of the scenes eliminated by the Pennsylvania State Board of Censors . "tcTproteet public morals" are: — All close-ups of the hold-up of men in motor cars, close-up revolver held to stomach of victim, stealing victim's watch and chain and other valuables from victim's pocket. View of murdered man, showing cord around his neck. View of woman in x nude condition. One far-off view is permitted. .Sub-title, !.'The Common Law is my motto. When I tare of one there is always another. But marriage, no." Scene showing tramp stealing watch from man's pocket. ' / All attempts to kiss after his kisses become objectionable and lascivious. Cut to time husband enters room. Action'of waitress extracting wallet from diner at table in cafe: Visionary scene of man adjusting noose and black cap over youth's head. An instruction reads :—Reduce the extreme,view of chorus girl sitting in front of glass, where she begins to disrobe, to three feet. '.#"'■ * , » . * ' There is a good deal of talk of American corporations producing films in Australia. The chief reason that should attract the. film producer to Australia is the opportunity for fresh settings and new types, ,of which there are many. The Red Indian and the negro have played their' parts in American films; why not .the Australian blackfellow, who, as tracker, boomerang thrower, corrohoree dancer, and stock-rider, plays many a picturesque part of which the world at large knows comparatively little? Expert surfers shooting the "breakers, station life so different from that of an American ranch, the sugar plantations, cattle teams, sheep dogs at work, the pearl-fishing industry, are subjects that present opportunities for -unusual scenes and an unusual story.

And what about New Zealand with its splendid scenery and its interesting studies of Maori life?. *,» o a One of the most novel pictures yet screened has just been released in America. It-.-is- entitled "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea," containing some remarkable views taken on the bed of the ocean. That these views, could be photographed is due to a clever invention made by two brothers, George and Ernest Williamson, one of whose films has already appeared on New Zealand screens. m This invention consists of a collapsible tube attached to a sea-going barge. The tube extends through the baree's bottom into its hull, and at its lower end is a globular chamber large enough to hold comfortably a motion picture camera and operator. When there are pictures to be taken the barge proceeds to some part of the ocean whose depth and the nature of whose bed is known, and the operator is lowered through the watertight opening in the bottom of the boat. The tube serves as ah airshaft for the man in.the submarine chamber, and also to transmit motion to it. When the boat moves, so does the man below. Another interesting feature of this film is furnished by the use of self-con-tained diving suits. These are a .recent English invention, and differ from the old-fashioned kind in that they,are not connected with the upper atmosphere. Oxygen for their wearers is contained in tanks attached, to their backs, and when the divers are ready to go to the surface they lessen their specific gravity by releasing some of the air contained in the suits and rise rapidly. Actors wearing these suits are shown engaged in various pursuits on the ocean bottom. In them they are able to remain submerged from thirty minutes to an' hour. * * * * "Gail Kane," runs the announcement, ' 'is one of the most beautiful women known to the screen. She is of the statuesque type, classically perfect, yet with the endearing charm of intense humanness. Miss Kane's large hazel eyes and her masses of red-brown . hair are sufficient in themselves to afford an artist inspiration." ■■..*-■ * * * The mother of Douglas Fairbanks, the popular screen actor, recently died in New York. She left Douglas an opal and diamond ring, and his son,(her grandson) a £250 i interest in her estate. To her daughter-in-law she left one dollar in cash, the will explaining that she had "no personal property which my daughter-in-law would appreciate." s ■» a © A company called the Collegiate Film Producing Company has been organised in the United States to produce motion pictures for use in schools and colleges. A study of the curricula of many institutions of learning has been made by the directors of the concern and films on history, literature, zoology, biology, forestry, _ geography, science, and hygiene will be made and released in serial form. One of the film's in the possession of the' company .shows the workings of the interior of a volcano.