“The Star’s Motion Picture Section

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17016, 14 April 1923, Page 5 (Supplement)

“The Star’s Motion Picture Section

By

“ Tine Movie Man **

*VS\VKHS TO COR RESPONDENTS

Correspondents desirous of bavins questions answered in the current issue are requested to see that their communications are delivered at this office not later than Tuesday afternoon Subscriber. —The picture to which you refer was “ Peacock Alley." Subscriber.—Norma Talmadgre, United Studios. Hollywood. California. Hindi o address of Kathlyti Williams not available. Snooks.—Alice Terry, Metro Studios. Hollywood. California. See answer to “ L.W.L." Cannot say whether Jamet Kirkwood is married or single. L.W.L.— The principal parts in “The Prisoner of Zemia " are as follows:—Rudolf Itaasendyll and King Rudolf. Lewis Stone: Princes* Flavia. Alice Terry; Colonel Sapt. Robert Edeson; Duke Michael, Stuart Holmes; Rupert of Heutaau. Ramon Samanyago* (now known as Reiuoti Navarro); Antoinette. Barbara I.a Mnrr: Count Von Tarlenheim. Malcolm M.di'psor; Marshall Von Strakencz, Kdqrnrd Connelly; Countess Helga. l.ois Lav. Claire Windsor. Goldwyn Studios, Culver City California. Lewis Stone, being a freelance, has no fixed studio address. Hi- home address is -212, South Wilton Place. Los Angeles. California, ltodolph Valentino is still under contract to Famous Player At latest advices he wa« in New \ork, and one would think that a letter addressed to the firm s head office. 4H5. Fifth Avenue, New York City, would be forwarded. Your letter, possibly, ia lying at the Hollywood Studio. The Prisoner of 7,enda ’* is. without doubt, a very .fine film, though to my mind, in some parts the photography could be improved. Have not vend Valentino's autobiography. though I eret the magazine in which it is running. Perhaps no actress on the screen is ahle to display * .th such elegance and charm the wonderful dre«» creations as C’orinne Griffith. Her latest picture is entitled “ It Isn’t Being Done This Season.'’ now showing at the Grand, and in it Miss Griffith is featured in the beginning of the story as one of the mannikin*, in one of New York’s smartest modiste establishments, and this role affords her the opportunity of displaying sonic of the most brilliant draes creations. From Sunny Spain to the grim Canadian Rockies i - a marked change in scenery and “The Valley of Silent Men,’’ which viil be shown all next week at Everybody’*. provides also an entirely different theme from the usual film. The storv takes its title from three mountain peaks which guard the entrance to the valley, and embodies the adventure* ol members of the Royal North-West Mounted Police, and of Marette Radison, a young Canadian girl, played by Alma ltubens. The entire company went to Banff, in the Rockies, to photograph the picture. and the result is a production strong in dramatic power and of scenic beauty. Lew Cody plays the hero, and other principals are Joseph King. Mario Majeroni. George Nash and J. W. Johnson. A domestic tangle is brought about, in 1 AV hut’s Wrong with the Women?” through the efforts of a “field daisy” vife to imitate the ‘‘orchid” existence ol a grass widow whose past is a mystery. 'J his great super feature will be screened at the Liberty Theatre today. and is a spot light on the modern mode of living—short skirts, jazz evenings. envy, foolishness—with some big crises to convince the players in tho game that life is not made up of pleas* ure and social popularity only, but of the bigger things—of home, parenthood. love and contentment. The young wife of a rising architect is lured into the social whirl among a doubtful •et by a gay widow, and foolishly becomes entangled with an idler whose parties are the talk of the town. Reconciliation is brought about, and peace and happiness once more descend on the home of the architect. Rod La Rocque does some fine work as the hus band; Barbara Castle ton is appealing as the wife, and Hedda lioppot* is really an attractive widow. That there is a great lesson for every woman, no matter what her age may be—even though she he a high school girl or a grandmother—is the contention of Nazim ova. star and producer in A Doll’s House.” the famous Ibsen drama, which has been transferred to th® motion picture screen, and will be abnwn at the Liberty today JBverybodv knows Nazimova. and mostly everybody knows that her stage [ tation of Nora, the loading character j in A Doll’s House.” has mode both ! the star and the play tremendous y I popular. For this reason the eelebrat ! ed Russian actress decided to produce a film version of the great drama which planted the first germ that developed into the tremendous forward movement the world over, and resulted in woman kind occupying the place they do to-dav in political, industrial and economic circles. In order that she might not be hampered by the individual ideas of others. Naximova thought best to picturise this drama through a producing company of her own selection, and as a result “ A Doll’s House ” is the firat of her productions for United Artists’ Corporation. Benjamin B. Hampton's powerful photodrama. ‘‘The Mysterious Rider.” adapted from the novel by Zane Grey, is an example of the highest use* of all of the fine arts on the shadowstage. as well as being a great, sweeping. thrilling story of love, adventure and mystery in 1921 Arizona. Once it was considered in a picture abounding in thrills and suspense that little attention need be paid to the finer details. Those days are pact ®n the movies, and now a hundred subtle appeals will undoubtedly add to your enjoyment of “The Mysterious Rider.” which will be shown at Great* r Crystal Palace all next week The services of Ferdinand Piunev Earle, an internationally famous artist, were obtained for the production of the art backgrounds of the written titles. Mr Earle is a student of the great "Whistler, and is noted for the versatility of his brush in the fields of landscape, marine, group and portrait art. Seeing “ The Mysterious Rider” is like touring the famous galleries that are rich with the work of the old masters. Combined with the wonderful musical score. Mr Earle’s paintings aid ii« making “ The Mysterious Rider ” a splendid art work a swell as a thrilling, human story of romance and adventure. “ Pink Gods.” coming to Everybody's on April 23, is a story of the temptation of a woman bv means of diamonds—the woman being Lorraine Temple, played by Be be Daniels. John a dominant figure in the South African diamond market, in endeavouring to put a stop to illicit trading, uses the glittering gems as baits to find out the fashionable thieves, and upon this foundation a fascinating ftory is built up. One of the most fantastic and thrilling melodramas that hare ever been •tiwned in “ Th® Man from Beyond.”

This is a story from the pen of Harry Houdini. who will be remembered n. New Zealand as the master ot the strait jacket and the handcuff expert. He not only wrote the story, but he !s the featured artist also. The theme is one of reincarnation, that is. living a second time on this earth, and in-work-ing out the plot many sensational scenes occur. There are several lip and at ’em fights, which lend great action t< the film. This is a storv that yno must not fail to see. It will bo shown at the Liberty for the week commencing on Saturday. April 2S. Connie Tnlutadge with u. ire.sii piquancy in ” East is Most '* at vh. Liberty next Saturday. Yesterday, offered as a slave on the love boat at Shanghai; to-day, sought as wife-slav-in San Francisco’s Chinatown —caught in a whirl of colour conflict when white men and yellow love her. Delightful, poignant, wooing. smiling, sobbing little Ming Toy—sometimes you’ll cry over her. sometimes laugh, hut if you ever loved Constance Talmadge you will rave about her in “ East is West/ It is impossible to imagine a more-per-fect entertainment than one which is imbued with a rich Oriental atmosphere and lightened with the spiciest comedy in all fiction —that of the delectable Connie. She has brought thi« famous play to the screen as a First National attraction with a wealth of glamour and colour impossible on the stage. The Universal-Jewel production, •‘The Flirt.” is booked for screening at Greater Crystal Palace on April 23. Eileen Percy, blonde and flippantly pretty, plays the title role. Helen Jerome Eddy, beautiful, of a type distinctly her own. appears as a sacrificing sister. George Nichols establishes himself as a master-actor by bis work as the father. Buddy .Messenger. a comparatively new kiddie ot the screen, is a riot of rollicking fur as the small brother of the household Lloyd Whitlock, Harold Goodwin. Lydia Knott. Bert Roach. Fklwari Hearn, Dorothea Wolbort and Willian Welsh have Hie- remaining roles Elaborately produced to gain th simplicity required by the locale, tub by a remarkably good cast, cleverl directed and photographed with bri limit snap. “ The Flirt ” is a mil* stone along the road to motion pictur progress.

Two elements, each of them with con < sidernble force, contribute to the fundamentals of “ White Shoulders. i ring Katherine MacDonald at the Liu erty Theatre next Saturday. The first f deals with the right, or even the duty, of a mother to land a rich husband to • . her daughter so that the daughter lna, , I escape the horrors of poverty whicn has well nigh overwhelmed the mother. The second element, and the one which must impress itself on everyone of less ( than unlimited means, deals with the evils of the credit system, and shows the meslies in which a person who buys 1 on the instalment plan may become en- 1 tangled. These two themes arc skilfully l interwoven, and the result is a photo- • play far above the ordinary, and one which gives room for thought- as well as 1 entertainment. The supporting cast ' includes Nigel Barrie end little Richard Headrick. With Mae Murray in the stellar role 1 of “ Broadwav Rose. ’ winch comes to I Greater Crystal Palace Theatre on May 7, motion picture fans will see ] the beautiful star in an elaborate pro- < duction which is said to surpass all i her previous productions. Miss Mur- 1 ray is provided with a role which gives 1 prominence to her ability as a dancer : and affords opportunity for striking 1 costumes in great profusion. Ihe i story concerns n country girl who, by Ir r extraordinary ability as dancer, , becomes the idol of Broadway. The | l.eir of an aristocratic Fifth Avenue family falls in love villi her. urges her to marry him and. seeking only * happiness with the man she loves, 1 Rosalie consents. To avoid open conflict with his family the marriage is kept secret, but the discovery of the 1 situation by the father precipitates a ’ crisis which almost wrecks Violet’s life*.

” Broadway Ro«e ” ;'s a Tiffany production directed by Robert Z. Leonard end distributed by Selected Super Films. The story and scenario were written bv Edmund Colliding, the photography is by Oliver T. Marsh, arid the art settings are l»v Charles* Cadwalder. Douglas Fairbanks again! Jtwouii seem that this star will never cease to excel himself. Ever since “The Throe Musketeers” and the “Mark ». Zorro.' to say nothing of “ The Mollv popular, and now he offers the supreme spires of drama and comedy in “Oik ol the Blood” at the Liberty Theatre, commencing Saturday. April 23. One' l again he performs the apparently nn possible in the way of stunts, and tic* series oi thrills in which he is feature;! leads, him from New York to Mexico thence to Aline, an obscure little king dom in Europe, where lie is the means of quelling a rebellion in that State and finds a little countess whom lie learne to love and who was willing to sav ‘‘Yes.” The picture has all the wit adventure and romance that go in th* making of a really good storv ; in far -, all that one expects of Douglas Fairbanks to make it a really first rate story. Marjorie Dan-. prettv and charming as ever, plays the loading j feminine role. “ '1 heodjora.” the Italian film, which caught on in America despite opposition to foreign films, is in New Zealand. and will be shown shortly in Auckland. The Sydney “ Bulletin ” js not in the hal.iit ot giving praise unless it is de served. Therefore, listen to this from the issue of March 29: —Sydney's big movie thriller this week is “ Monte Cristo.” at the Piccadilly, a well-pro dneed adaptation of the old classic. John Gilbert, with great versatility, plays the youthful sailor, the half-de Tented prisoner of the Chateau d II uid the Count. Ho grips you from tart to fade out. "What great strides Australia is raking in motion picture production Isays “ Table Talk ”) can be seen in he Longford-Lyell Australian prodwc ion. “The Dinkum Bloke.” to be reeased by Paramount shortly. Taken amid scenes that are everyday experience to most of us. the settings lend an

exquisite home touch to the picture which makes it seem to belong to all who see it. The natural beauties of this wonderful country have been woven, with a gripping storv, into superb and expressive entertainment. The cast is composed of players who : are rapidly coming to the front rank of motion picture artists. Arthur : Tauchert. Lottie Lyel! and Lotus Thompson are but a few in the cast i who are well-known to Australian audiMar\ Bickford may have the distuic- j tiou ot having led the grand march at a j movie ball, both in America (which ' proved one of the year’s sensations) an I 1 Australia’s similar function (•'-ays tlio i Sydney “ Daily Telegraph”). Sydney's movie publicity men are determined j that the occasion will make new history i for the motion picture industry in th** country. Intense interest is sure to no ■ centred in the probable visit of Mis- ' Bickford. Douglas Fairbanks and Char lie Chaplin and. if rumour be reliable, i Pol a Negri, who will be one of the party. At the last meeting it wa* do tided to hold the actual dale of the bail in abeyance, pending replies to cables which are being sent fo the four celebrities mentioned. If the time for their arrivel in Sydney is reasonably near, the function will be dated to allow of . their participation. Frank Mayo has finished his contract with Universal, and has been booked by Goldwyn. Richard -Bnrtholmess is to appear in a costume picture. The story deals with the time of Cromwell. The film illustrating incidents in connection with Captain Scott’s expedition x-+ the Antarctic, which was shown in* Non Zealand in 1920. lias reached New York.

I Hints are thrown out in American ! papers that Famous P!a vers have j agreed to permit Redoing Valentino to | assume the title rule in “ Ben Jdur.” which Goldwyn’.s contemplate prod tic- j One of the biggest -« e,ie< in th • Cecil B. De ; ■ ,underti ... j | “Adam's Rib" is the wheat nil ul ! I ( hies go. Ir is laid in dm Chicago j Beard ol Trade, the laig-sc and busiest urain exchange in the world.

, Metro will make a photoplay of “ Scaramouche,” that interesting nov.-i by Rafael Sabatini. Ramon Novarro. the picturesque Mexican, will hare the part of the duellist, wit, strolling player ami soldier of fortune, and Alice Terrv will be his chief support.

Jack Holt has been selected to plav oi posite to 1k,;,-. X< c i in “ The Cheat. Charles <ic Roche the French actor who was imported by Paramount- to | take Valentino' plr.ee in the company - j production •. will play the heavy, j Mildred Harris has dropped the (.'hap } guise will make a picture which will be ! iolm-.se.! bv Meiro. When th- la-t man j ru band h* , New York. Mildred was apnea ring in vaudeville in that eitv.

| The .magnificence of the gowns ol ! Queen Elizabeth arc fully revealed in | the costumes worn by Lady Diana I Manners in the title role of “ The- Yiri gin Queens.” The* coronation costume | worn b.v Lady Liana cost around £300; j ol pearls and coloured stones a

Tutankhamen is to live again in mo lion pictures. Cecil B. dc Millc having ( decided to introduce the ancient Kgyp . min King as a character in his forthcoming picture. “ The Ten Commandments." King Tutankhamen will be , cast as the Pharaoh who ruled at the time the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. His features, figure and rai nvent will be reproduced as accurately unvailable data permit. Ail the old Triangle pictures two thousand of them- are to be reissued. j-They include the dramas produced • under Griffith and Thomas luce super- } vision, starring the Gish girls, Douglas ' Fairbanks. WiPiain S. Hart. Charles Day, Bessie Bamscnle, Dorothy Dalton ; nd many others. And how the stars : love to have their old pictures revived j —oh, how they "love it! remarks an * American magazine. J “Sweetie ” is the second of the six | Baby Peggy Century comedies released 1. v t^niversa 1. In tins picture Baby Peggy plays tin* part or a poor little 1 poor blind mar. A wealthy woman who rescues Peggy gives a party anil Peggy copies as much of the Egyptian i dancer s scanty costume as she can. J Her foster father is .shocked and opines j that Pegy is going to he too much j trouble. But l eggy shows who is i goin to be boss, and all ends happily. The • lever youngster is supported by j Louise Lorraine, the leading woman of “The Oregon I.rail” and other Uni- | versa 1 serials. Jackie ( oogan’s ten days m the Fast —ten days filled with receptions, intei- ! views, entertainments and meetings ! with public celebrities, including i Mayors. Governors _of States and the President of the United States—have I proved a triumphal procession for the ! vouthful screen stai (sav- the “ Moving ; Picture World.”* From his first ' reception on February H, when 10,GOD | persons greeted the little star at the j Grand Central Station. New York, to I his trip to Boston on February lb. undo!- the auspices of the Boston Post I i . was captivation, enthusiasm, warm, i heartednoss everywhere for the youngster who came out of the West with j his new employer. Marcus l.oew. and i the Metro organisation. |

The London Press praise Douglas Fairbanks's * Robin Hood” Following are a lew opinions: ' Douglas bail hanks in ‘ Robin Hood * is unquestionably the most splendid photoplay <vr made,” said the review for tin' Sunuay Kx press." • The truth is that ' Robin Food is a great work of art. a nev. and altogether different k.nd of elas-ic. something that will ; live for ever in rile memory of tlmse. : who ***** it and will live in the imagina- J ot t\eral. Nothing liner in the way of reconstruction oi the past has. j been done on the lihn.” said tho j i ■ Daily News.*’ ' Douglas Fairbanks | j in • Robin Hood’ must certainly be i j tiie greatest show on earth, the most ; 1 thrilling and gorgeous entertainment | ever presented to the public,'" thought • | tin- reviewer for tlie “ Daily ICxpress." i Charles Spencer Chaplin, king of j film comedians, has a coat of arms (says i ■an Fnglish paper). It is not composed , ol the immortal shoes, the trick ram* I and the dear old derby hat. either. This | i cue is an escutcheon bearing a silver j helmet, draped with laurel leaves, j above a. red shield upon which are six j j silver billets and a goldeu bar. li like- ! wise bears the inscription " Audacia et ' Fort is." This device now adorns the i Chaplin limousine. Chaplin has been i assured after years oi research, Wythe Guido Pitoni Heialdic Library, that he has a right to use the Chaplin shield, and that he is of the same Family as many members of the British )f nobility. This assurance has been eon n firmed by records of coats of arms in a the library of Sir J Burke, author of “Burke’s Peerage." There are. if e appears, two distinguished families b bearing the name Cuaplin in the lists k of British aristocracy. They arc head ed by Sir Francis Drummond Percy

Cliapiin, ain't Henry. Viscount Chaplin. Anyway, the man with the funny shoes now has a coat of arm* than can =-ta«d with the beat of them Americans were deeply stirred when Wallace Reid.* the premier star of the moving picture world of America, entered peacefully into the Great Beyond in a sanitarium in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, surrounded by many of his rlosest friends of the screen and stage, writes the San Francisco oorrespodentol the Auckland “Star." The passing of the moving picture favourite has closed a wonderful career, abruptly terminated by the ravages of the dread narcotic fiend, although at one period of his illness it was conjectured that Wally would have survived the hold , that the “dope” had gained upon his manly physique. Up to the very last • his wife, otherwise known as Dorothy Davenport, had been devoted to a fault and had nursed him almost beyond physical bearing. Then lie passed away i quietly and all was poignant grief to his* widow, his little son. Billy, and Betty, adopted daughter. It was also wistful grief for hundreds of intimate personal friends in studios, laboratories. music rooms and business offices, for few men so young had so many ' friends as Wallace Reid. His life was a virile, well filled life, an experience far beyond that ordinary to even twice the thirty one years of his.

EINSTEIN AND COUE.

RIVAL SCREEN STARS. With Professor Albert Einstein at the Rialto and Hr Emile Gone at the Rivoli. Hugo RisenieM is giving New York the work o ftwo or the newest screen stars (says the •* New York Tribune.”,) The Einstein film on the theory of relativity was a severe test. Its success has surprised even the elect, who believed that their number was small. Every morning during the last week there has been a line of patrons before ! I o'clock waiting for the Rivoli doors i ro open, and in that lino were many j thusiastic about the line itself as about

tlie film they saw later. And in nearly | every mail Mr Riesenfeld has received j i praise for bis courage in presenting I theory as abstract as the Einstein ] theory of relativity and for bis excel--1 lent film presentation of the theorv. j Mr Lee He Forest, of the De Forest j i Radio Telephone and Telegraph Coni- j ! “ The film on * Tlie Einstein Theorv j j of Relativity ’ features in an astonish- i j ingly plain and simple manner some of | j the most intricate a spate of the theory. I No one seeing the film could fail to . grasp the rudiments of the Einstein i idea, while there is food for thought, j also, for the advanced student. It is | intensely interesting throughout and it would, indeed, be a dull and t-hought-i less mi ml which fails to derive liene- , fit and pleasure therefrom.'’ The Cone picture, called “The Mes- ! sage of Emile ('one.” which was made I in this country by the little French ■ chemist, is a lecture from the screen. It is not a film about Cone, but a film j by him. made with the purpose or carrying lTi- message from the screen In this form he hoped to reach the I hundreds of thousands who could not j attend his lectures. (’one took no : money for his work. The proceeds of its sale will be given to the American . Institute which is to carry on bis work.