The Washington times., 1914-06-29
THE BEST
Photoplay Department in
WASHINGTON
Mystery Play
Well ReceiOed
at Its First
ShoUin9

? at il sticks closer to the story
b. % the usual play from a novel,
pa the general opinion Of those
W. saw the first lnstallInent of
Tle Million Dollar Mystery" photo
bla yesterday and read the story
IN The Times.
: rat is one OF the features of the
nev serial which seems TO US 10 be
n st commendatory. 1t does stick
Use 10 the novel. But there are
se eral other features which might
De- pointed out for commendstion.
rne film has been staged in a way
II is unusual. The photography
se ms to be almost faultlcss. You
Inow il is rather a difficult thing 10
q us a camera so that objects near
md far are given the same sharp
definition and the lights and shad-
~ as carefully brought oCt in the
" kground as well as the for>-
,rOund. The reason the foreign films
Ia a such a great success in this
country was due largely to the
n gnificent work Of the operators
n photography was great. But in
h Is film there is shown work quite
Is Cood-and in some instances bet
e. than the foreign photographers
a do. The views through the balls
nj rooms of the magnificent Har-
n aves home are wonderfully well
n lie.
ne settings could not be i'm
y ved upon. There is a ''realness
n ut the furniture, the bric-a-brac
II the entire scenic investiture that
s impressive from the very first
= scene in the New York restaurant
! are Hargreaves and Braine came
= . to face for the first time in
= ars, gives the impression of hav-
~ been made in a real restaurant.
There is a total absence of the usual
] Ieatrical restaurant scene, that is
,'easant. The secenes where the
}. Don approaches, dips down to
He house and then goes off, and the
iasolate scene when il is shown
y ,bing and Hopping on the waves.
L equally real" In fact that Is
he atmosphere of the setting
So much for the tech
cal-the mechanical side.
In the first installement il would
,e difficult to say which Of the cast
Gems TO do the best work, SO equal
y balanced are the parts. 1t would
D-obably not be unfair TO the others,
oweveT, to award the palm for
ton to Sidney Bracey and Alfred
= .-ton, the butler and the million
IRE, respectively. Braceys last
Gene is one of the cleverest bits that
nave been shown on the screen.
Though bound to a chair he is mas
ter of the situation-or at least he
gives that impression. The showing
Of the safe and the hand taking the
money out was a very pretty piece
d work. but It seemed bit OF un-
ecessary theatricals in view Of the
act that the story states plainly
at Hargreaves emptied the safe.
same criticism can be made OF
first picture-the pile Of money
,u a table and the ring of hands
. ching for it This is a wonderful
of photography-but isn't II just a
r'tle bit too theatrical. too STACEY,
.~ a film that is supposed to have
B. Importance and dignity of this
ory?
The work OF the women of the cast
IS excellent, though they did not
ve much opportunity to show their
Aity. Miss LaBadie as Florence,
.''ss snow as the countess, and Lila
ester as Florence's friend, were
oh quite up to their high stand
ID.
the production of the film there
one fault we found which can
cured. The letter which accom-
MED the baby found on the door
p Of the school IL not shown
O enough to permit all Of the
dience to read it And this letter
important enough to be allowed
remain on the screen for several
nutes longer.
The Million Dollar Mystery" is
elodrama- But II is melodrama in
same sense that a number of
q best stage classics are in that
SIS of productions. 1t is a melo-
anna that is played in a very
rtisfsctory way. 1t is well worth