New-York tribune., 1918-07-08
On the Screen
Elsie Ferguson Featured in
The Danger Mark
at the Rivoli
at the Rivoli

lhe Danger Mar"
at the Rivoli
When Elsie Ferguson wants to look
young, that is, very young, she doesn't
just let her hair down in ringlets and
put on fat-heeled slippers. as most
actresses do. In fact, we can't de-
scribe her method, it battles us, but
tins we do know-Elsie Ferguson can,
at moments notice, assume the in
genuous nsophisticatednes of miss
OF fourteen. 1t isn't just the way she
dresses nor the arrangement of her
hair; nothing, with this wonderful
woman, is merely external She plays
with her heart and with her brain. All
OF which is leading up to the fact that
Miss Ferguson delighted us in her
portrayal of Geraldine Seagrave in
The Danger Mark" which is being
presented at the Rivoli this week.
And she has such beautiful feet, and
they are so we'll shod that we wish the
director had had more scenes with
MISS Ferguson going upstairs or even
falling downstairs. In her Louis XVI
costume she is the lovelest thing we
ever saw, unless it be Billie Burke in
her most recent stage. success.
Somehow "The Danger Mark" seems
more plausible on the screen than it
did as book. Robert w. Chambers
never bothers to have any real human
beings in his stories. They are all
supercreatures whom one hates, be.
cause they are so superior. But Miss
Ferguson made Geraldine Seagrave
just a girl. Mahlon Hamilton was so
nice as Duane Mallette and Crawford
Kent was not half bad as Jack Dysart,
a near villain.
Of course one does not encounter
such forced marital proceedings every
happen. However, it seemed to US
that the young lady got all the worst
Of it.
When Geraldine, as a debutante, first
tastes wine and feels the delicious
thrill of intoxication, some people in
the theatre laughed. 1t was most dis
turbing, for Miss Ferguson was doing
wonderful bit of acting and the scene
was the most tragic in the play. Prob
ably these spectators expected Miss
Ferguson to do an Intoxicated lady"
la vaudeville who tries to snap her
fingers and then says, "Well, we won't
bother with that"
Maud Turner Gordon played Kath-
leen Severn and she appeared in the
same peignoir which she was wearing
just across the street in another pic
ture. 1t seemed as though she was
alternating between the two theatres
without changing her makeup.
The picture is a true Aircraft. 1t
was directed by Hugh Ford We need
not say more.
Julia Beverly is remaining at the
Rivoli for another week. She sang
Massenet's Elegie. The overture is the
Ballet music from "The Queen of
Sheba," with Emo Rapee conducting
Greek Evans sang IA Sergeant of the
Line" The light opera number was
from "Wonderland"
The comedy is called "Mutt and Jeff
in the Extra Quick Lunch"
And by the way, half the people are
still calling the Rivoli the Riv-o-li,
with the accent on the o. 1t is pro-
nounced Rivoly, with the accent on the
and he ought to know.
At the Strand Madge Kennedy is ap-
pearng in a Goldwyn picture, "The
Service Star" On our way to the the
atre we met an actor whose opinion we
value highly and he told US it was the
best thing Miss Kennedy had done.
men we WeHt LII tne tHcdCTe ana IdIoiu
Edel told us the same thing, and later
this was verified by no less a person
than Sam Goldfish.
And then the Strand male quartette
stopped singing, "Soomewhere Voice
is Calling" and the feature picture
went on.
Now we think that 1.-THE Service
Star" is a perfectly obvious story and
that proves one of two things, either
that it is a perfectly obvious story or
that we are gifted with unusual per-
Madge Kennedy is Marilyn March,
a little girl living in country town
who never had beau. We do not
wcnder, for Marilyn wore her hair
plastered down and her cunning little
nose was used as a prop for a pair of
hornrimmed spectacles.
Well, all of the girls picked on
Marilyn because she had no suitor who
begged her to be his and also the
recipient of half of his $50 month
after he went to war. All of these
service flags on their lingerie blouses.
But one day Marilyn read about a
hero who had brought down eleven Ger
man planes over there. His name was
John Whitney Marshall. So Marilyn
went to Washington to do war work
and the next time the girls picked on
her she said that she was the bride of
this John Whitney. Marshall. Then
Johns mother comes to visit her and
takes her to her home and here Marilyn
confesses. Only, it happens that Mrs.
Marshall might have confessed some
thing, too, if she had dared and so she
judged Marilyn with leniency.
Here the story takes a new turn, but
twist and turn as it would, it could
not elude us. We were at all times
100 feet ahead of the film.
We knew when the chemicals were
going to be tipped over and that the
gas would prove efficacious, and why
John was not at the front as per
schedule.
Oliver We do not remember seeing
him before. But it was good idea
not having q screen hero to play the
hero role because one might be baffled
as it was. The only reason we sus-
pected that he would marry Marilyn
was not because he was the only man
in the picture. Some one had to marry
the heroine.
There is particular brand of
comedy that no one in the world can
do as Miss Kennedy does it. Why not
let her do it always?
We do not believe that even girls
could be as catty as they were made
to be in this picture, and we were
SO glad when Marilyn hung in her
window the biggest service flag of
them all. The continuity is good. and
the picture is notably repiete with
parfartIu human