THE DEADHEAD'S DIARY

NZ Truth, Issue 725, 10 May 1919, Page 2

THE DEADHEAD'S DIARY

Coming soon: lovely Bessie Love m "The Wishing Ring- Man*'," a story after the style of "Daddy Long Legs." The latest big serial is a film version of the famous Craig Kennedy scientific detective stories. Herbert .Rawlinson and Margaret Marsh are starred. Constance TaLmadge's latest release has had the title changed from "From Saturday to • Monday" . to "Experimental Marriage."' No connection between the t^tvo. , ..'.'••. Olive Thomas will shortly be seen m the' Select^ feature "Upstairs and Down." The story is from the stagre play of the same name, which met with huge success m America. Douglas Fairbanks has finished his last picture for Artcraf t and has start-. Ed (his first production for the "Big Four." .The new. general manager for the four, is Hiram Abrams, late Famous Players, Lasky and Paramount. . :: t: :: Charlie Chaplin's new heavy, Thomas A. Wood, weighs 36 stone, and is six feet, two inches m height. He replaces Eric Campbell, who ■ was killed last year , m a motor accident. Charlie is left-handed, so, to. cope with the bulk of his new foil, he will probably have to teach himself to be ambidextrous. . s r r ■ : i ii A : puff of wind from the licensing election. A gentleman of the neversmile variety stated on the platform, .that moving pictures destroyed the, .rest and quiet of many persbns. We,. unfortunately, can point, but that many persons go to the pictures for rest and quiet. The occasional sounds of stentorpus breathing heard are proof. Frank Keenan makes a welcome reappearance m "More Trouble," a story of two men with the same name, but very different tastes. A sanctimonious son at college, a sort of young man who never went astray, whose name is used by a room-mate, is let into all sorts of trouble, and the father is inundated with bills from hotels, taxiproprietors and all those who line the Great White Way. - ' In the "Fair Pretender," starring Madge Kennedy and Tom Moore, both stars prove themselves able exponents of. the great game of bluff. Madge selects a bogus husband for herself from a telephone list, and Tom poses, as a successful author. All sorts of. complications arise when Tom falls m love with her, and her supposed deceased husband turns up m the flesh. The story is plentifully interlarded with smart and pithy sayings and is rich m comedy and perplexing situations. A perverted proverb m the story. Is "when Greek meets ; Greek they usually" start m a restaurant." Charley's Aunt Clubers might see the humor, if not the value, of the following "boost" given to their Mary m a Westralian paper: "Marie Ney, whose company opened m His Majesty's, on April 12, is a brilliant young English actress who made a big hit m New Zealand, where she played ■opposite Alan Wilkie during the absence m America of Miss HunterWatts, and m the East where she starred with Taits. Her last triumph was m the extremely difficult Ibsen plays. Miss Ney refused an engagement to' star with Williamson's m order to bring "her own company West." "Laughing Bill "Hyde" is' the latest of Rex Beach's film versions' "of his famous stories, and undoubtedly, this is one of the best yet. In selecting a man for the title role, Rex Beach was fortunate m securing Will Rogers, the principal comedian of the New York Follies. He is a recognised wit, and his bright, pithy sayings have become household words all over the States. "Wise Cracks," he calls them, and their value' is proved by the fact that Henry Ford is embodying them m. his "Ford Weekly//' Will Rogers is a real cowboy, who embraced the stage as a profession, and is the living counterpart of "Laughing Bill Hyde. „ His creed is "keep, on smilih'," and he gives a human,, appealing characterisation of the part that will endear him to all. The story deals . with the old theory that crime is lai-gely a result of environment and lack of : education, and as the escaped convict -with the big heart overflowing with, love and kindness for his' fellow men, and whose code of ihonor is "never quit a pal," Will Rogers rises to heights of artiS7 try rarely seen m any play or film. The film has plenty of punch, and like most of Rex Beach's, deals with real men and women like ourselves, and not the puppets of a puerile imagination. The scene is laid m Alaska, and the author is most particular m his desire to prove that that country is peopled by human beings and not the offscourings 'of the gaols and lunatic asylums that so many authors would ihave us believe.