Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-09-29
TAKE YOUR CHOICE
OF FILM "TOSCAS"
Lillian Gish and Emily Stevens
Do the Sardou Stuff at Ar
cadia, Regent, Victoria
BY the Photoplay Editor


ARcADIA--"DIANE op THE roLLIEs" Fine
crsnyiiie warwicS directed ic 't ~ W. cSrystis
UnenliEhtened old-timers in the ex-
hibtors' ranks would sniff at this admirable
picture. Not enough suspense heart in
terest. punch" they might say. The reason
Is that the film is a study in psychology Of
two eternally opposed types, and the drama
Is shredded out TO Its conclusion almost
entirely between the pair man and wife.
He is n dilettante literary millionaire. she
musical comedy star. The crash is
Inevitable. II Is the old story OF "Oil and
Water" a two-reel Biograph, directed by
Mr.. Griffith when he was not so famous as
now. In fact, the two plots touch at nearly
every point
But there Is room for a great deal more
humanity and sympathy of treatment In
the longer version. This has been taken
advantage OF by the producer. who has
given both sides of the controversy with
laudable detachment The thread Of irony,
tempered with pity, running through the
plot colors the acting. At last Miss Gish
does genuine piece of personation! Her
egotistlcal, pampered, hysterical Diane is
quite fine. Sam De Grasse, the W. X. mean
man of the movies" adapts himself acutey
to the role of the husband. And again we
have the exquisite feeling for light and
shade which the Fine Arts possesses. Mr..
Cabanne has handled his interior theater
scenes cleverly, as he did before in THE
Failure" We thank him for doing the
'Tosca" parody so carefully and Miss Gish
for her neat travesty of that hectic part.
The comic element OF the program is sup
piled by Max Figman and Lolita Robertson
in Metro farce. Papa by Proxy"
VICTORIA AND REGENT-"THE WHEEL OF
Names OF author and director not given
Another Tosca Thisgtime Miss Stevens,
who probably will be called 1.-The Mrs. Fiske
Of the screen" before long. since she is that
artists niece and much like her in her
hstrionism. The Metro Florla, unlike
the Fine Arts one, is a regular actress. She
weds lawyer. He believes in circum-
stantial evidence; she doesn't. BY a trick
she forces on him n conviction of the un-
fairness of such legal chicanery. That
doesn't sound like much of story, but
done by star and a capital cast, in set
tings that are n credit to the studio, It pro-
vides a good hours entertainment. For
one thing, the plotting is deft, even when
violent in action, and there is n consistent
building-up of situation. To escape dull
ness in a five-part feature these days is an
achievement. Congratulations to author
and director.
The Keystones are plentiful of late THE
Danger Girl" with the blonde Bobbie Yer
non, Is the Victorias present bid for mrth.
1t is, Of course, accomplished with tireess
patience and a regard for detail that might
shame some more pretentious producers.
The windings of the plot baffled us for a
time. but cute young thing in Kitty Doner
clothes and the demolition of cafe by a
charging motor car atoned
sAvoY-"JAFFERY." International. with C.
Aubrey Smith. Story by William ]. Locke.
directed by George Irving.
The energy of the International in going
IOCkp'S 10
for a script, instead of depending on the
tame" writer's who turn out tales by the
yard, Is to be praised. The value of that
English novelist's contribution to the screen,
however, ought not to be overestimated.
"Jaffery," in short, is piece of fiction
neatly turned into a photoplay rather than
photoplay. 1t is told directly and simply,
and its best qualities crystalline insthe play
ing of Mr.. Smith, Who is supported by
Eleanor Woodruff The fact which may
initiate against very continuous popu.
larity for the film Is its many, many lead.
ers. Yet some of them have the real Locke
ring, and, therefore are welcome as an in.
novation.