New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-12-13
Criminal Has No Chance
to Escape Detection by
the Movie Folk.
GOOD PICTURE PLAYS
ON TRIANGLE BILL
Detective Story Is Feature of an
Excellent Programme at the
knickerbOcker Theatre.
BY HAYWOOD BROUN.


Almost an the peculiar advantages
which belong TO the scenario writer
have been utilized with great skill in
The Missing Links on the Triangle
bill At the Knickerbocker Theatre this
week
Certainly il would seem as II the mo-
ton pictures could tell a mystery story
more adequately than the spoken
drama. II it is a murder YOU want the
playwright must keep i off stage II
he is TO preserve his mystery, but IN
move land there - no OF stage, ana
you may have your murder and your
mystery. 200. THE Ware Case Tor
instance, gives you its murder only at
second hand. You are cheated Of see
ing the commission OF the crime. But
The Missing Links" in proper picture
play fashion, maintains its mystery un-
iii nesr the end and then turns back
and acts out the guilty mans confess
sion for the sake of the audience.
Though an author be eloquent and an
actor inspired, il is difficult for them 70
thrill or interest an audience merely IN
relating a happening. OF course, II can
be done Falstaff died mighty well on
,tage. and Euripides didn't do badly
with some of his merely related catas-
trophies Still, we enjoy the privilege OF
being in at the death.
In reading a detective story we al
WAYS turn back as soon as We hnd we
have suspected the wrong person and
get another clew. The picture play
turns back for you. THE Missing
Links" concerns a murder case IN when
the only clew is a cuf button FOUND De
side the body, and two men are wrong
fully suspected until the culprlt IS
found by a young lawyer with taste
for Gaboriau.
As the man works upon the case and
remembers various happenings when
seemed relatively unimportant at the
time they are repeated on the screen,
and with the detective the audience
shares the Joy Of reading new mean
ing in the event. Robert Harron ana
Robert Lawler stand out IN blg and
capable cast. "The Missing LINKS was
produced by Lloyd Ingraham and staged
by D. w. Griffith.
"The Reckoning Flame" is chiehy IN.
teresting for the excellent work OF
Tsuru Aoki, japanese actress. IL also
makes effective use of the movie au-
thor's privilege of putting ms story IN
two places at once, or SO nearly AZ once
that the audience gets the ehect OIL me
contrast in what IS happening 10 the
characters. Thus, while at one minute
we see the hero waiting arrest because
IF having run away with an Indian
nrincess at the next we see the girl
giving herself 10 the flames in order TO
I found
Henry Woodruff Is the young English
raen and does his part well, but the
bonors 90 70 Miss Aoki. The play has
/ marked power and is pictorlally beau
/ tiful.
/ This is an astounding stunt picture
/ In fact. stunts are done so we'll IN the
movies now that it seems as II there
were little room for developments
along this line. In this particular MIN
a submarine is shown in action, and
/ II il = sure-enough craft, lent for the
occasion by the obliging Mr.. Daniels OF
the navy. A..
We will confess at the outset that
We laughed hard at this picture botn
times we saw it, but we maintain tnst
whatever the rest Of the motion plct-
ure public may do we will net con-
NV PNNA4N
tinue to laugh forever and day at
,nockabout film fsrces. We know now
Kat if a plate is dropped il will break,
that if man is kicked sufficiently nara
he will fall down, and that anybody
who tumbles into the ocean iii get
wet. The surprise of such lappeninc5
is beginning to lose its edge. -,
Unfortunately, also, we are toleraoIy
well acquainted with the con- entions
of m. len pictures. For instance, we
can prophesy that somebody will fall
with wound just over the heart II a
pistol is fired with deadly intent in. a
/ film. We also can tell just where the
bullet will strike if it is fired for COM
edy purposes. Some day we are going
10 see a comic picture in which stout
woman does not hit somebody ever the
head with an umbrella. We may miss
this particular bit of business, but we
will be willing to make the sacrifice, il
only TO realize that the motion pictures
are moving upward and onward.