Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-03
STEVENSON PICTURE
TRIUMPH OF BEAUTY
"The Bottle Imp at Stanley,
Magically Handsome-Bills
at Victoria and Arcadia
BY the Photoplay Editor

sTANLEY--"Thc Bottle Imp" Lasky. Para;
BY Charles Msisne from Robert Louis steven.
Sni,sr romance: phince: directed by MaronsaiS MarosinSs ~
There are a score of points on which this
production can be given first-rank honors-
the fanciful attractiveness of the original
story, the work Of a genius Of letters; the
capitally concise fashion in which 1t is told ;
the delicate trick work the occasional gro
tesque humor; the rightly keyed and plas-
tic acting. But the whole appeal of the
picture may be summed up in the word
beauty. Hardly ever have such vistas Of
benignant nature yielded up their secret
of pictorial magic to the camera One is
instantly in a distant land. where the heat
o the sun. untouched by furious winter
RACES. unveils now white and wondrous
beach, waNe-lapped now a tree-tangled
mountain; now a stately palace. filed with
the dun glow of bronze. the thick shadow
of interiorty. the monstrous figures Of
phantom lions on guard. 1t is all as fairy
tale as can be and. bar few extraneous
melodramatic infections at the close is
faithfully Stevensonan. The cnildike in
genuousness of the story has left the pro-
ducer free to exercise his sovereign power,
the creation Of visuu; spicndor. In his
task the Hawaiian backgrounds have aided
him. 1t is one Of these few features in
which time is counted solely by admiration
for the thing done and the beauty of its
doing. and as such should find a place on
every program that makes the slightest pre-
tensions to artistic endeavor
ARCADlA-"The bond Between" Psllas-Psra-
RsSnn RGTnt with, With GeSrse or BeHsn story by Mr.
Tribute already has been given in these
columns to the expert quick. 'punchy" di-
rective abilities of Producer Grips in His
Sweetheart" The Bond Between" is but
another sample of his faculty of fusing the
human and credible with the short, sharp
shock" of purely theatrical drive. This
time it is not golf ball loaded with dyna-
mite, but stolen painting, that breeds
the thrill. This time George Beban is not
a gay-hearted Italian laborer, but an ex-
citable French pianist. How his spend
thrift son gets mixed up with a smuggler
of art works by the way, weren't they
allowed past the customs free in 1882 and
how his dotng dad takes the blame. may
sound rather thin on paper, but it takes on
the indulgence of both reality and the the
atre as 1t has been picturized. Detail lin
whose name so many crimes are committed)
here is used to function as a clever sidelght
on the main plot. Incidentally, the plotting
throughout betrays the old Adam of the
footlghts. That is not intended as a knock
either 1t keeps your eyes on the frame,
not on the clock
LOIS WseSr phillips s%aIIey And Mary Ma Mac
Smaey from James Oppenheim's novel. Di-
rected by the smalleys. Photographed by Alan
The Smalleys are pre-eminently purveyors
of the unaffected, simple, everyday sort Of
drama A great deal of latter-day natural
ness in our movies is due to their pioneer
ing efforts So. in idle Wives" we get
the little touches of lfe-poyerty, jealousy,
boredom, the antics of infants neatly
Iimned and truthfully put across. About
the propriety of such story as is pre-
sented there can be any number of opin-
ions. The reviewer confesses that four
tales. intertwined, are too much for his
feeble brain. Yet there are probably hun
dreds of others who experience no trouble
whatever in linking up the plot-sections
into cognate and coherent whole. In
like intolerance" the film doesn't violate
the unity of current time. All the people
that it introduces twentieth century
and their actions are believable
if bit stereotyped. The stage settings
and atmosphere of the picture are in line
with it's dramatic tenor-"homey" and not
pictorial. The cutting is ex-
celent. also the acting, what there is of it
Some cute youngsters are employed to good !
effect. The Victoria has a new Max Linder |
about Max's exploits in mad
house |
The Chestnut street opera House con-
tinues to offer "Womanhood. the Glory of |
a Nation the Nitagraph preparedness |
feature. At the Palace "Sapho" with |
Pauline Frederick is on view. The Regent |
presents Anita Stewart in "A Million Bid" |
Continuing Plays
Fair and Warmer" with Janet Beecher
E'rnest ('ossart and Edna Ihherd popt tippaa |