New-York tribune., 1919-06-09
On the Screen

which wF,s presented at the Rivoli yes
terday was in the nature of a delight
full su fprise.
For the first time, to us, the char
acter lived and breathed. 1t may not
be lall Caine, but it is Beulah Marie
Dix. at her best, and if Hugh Ford, the
dil .ector, selected the cast, then more
power to him, for it was an exceedingly
!Sood cast.
Katherine Macdonald is the woman,
Mary MacNeill, and it is the best
thing she ever has done. Miss Mac
Donald is a fawless beauty. If she
has fault it is that she lacks anima-
ton, but her poise and reserve are ex-
actly what she should bring to this
role, and Mary had little cause for re-
joicipg.
Personally, we find no lack in Miss
to look at her. However, we do not
wish to imply that she does not meet
the requirements Of the part, for we
can hardly think of any one who would
have done it so simply and so ef-
fectively.
Jack Holt, another of our favorites,
is cast for an unpleasant part, that of
Lord Raa, but Raa doesn't seem so cad
dish in the hands of Mr.. Holt. He is a
sinner, but goodnatured sinner who
always acknowledges his guilt nth su-
preme self-possession.
Theodore Roberts, as Daniel MacNeill,
is the hard-headed old Scotchman to
the life. Somehow Milton Sills did
not seem to fit so we'll in the character
of the explorer, Martin Conrad, nor did
FRITZ Brunette suggest to us the
woman for whom Lord Raa would risk
his reputation and his income.
Mary is seen, when the picture opens,
at the altar with Lord Raa The key
to the situation is given when the min
lister says "Mary, do you take this man
to be your husband?" Miss Macdonald
does a remarkably clever bit of acting
here which quite prepares you for what
is to follow, in case you are not
familiar with the story.
We really could not see how she
, could have preferred the man up in
the frozen North to the attractive Lord
Raa, but so long as she did we do not
blame her for her course of action.
She told her new husband the truth
and consented to be Lady Raa in name
only, which must have been quite
blow to his vanity. So Raa resumed
his affair with Alma Lier and he and
| Mary soon separated.
1t does not seem to us that there
was a happy ending in the book, but
there is one in the picture, at any
rate.
Mary finally falls SO low, financially
of course, that she goes into the street
to secure money to keep her child alive
and the first man she accosts is Mar
tin, saved by miracle from death in
1.-THE ice of the North Sea. The next
scene is an idylic one, showing
mamma, papa and son all by the side
of beautiful lake, and we hope that
Conrad realized that lake in the
garden is worth a dozen at the North
Pole and promised never to go there
again.
On the picture programme are the
Rivoli Pictorial, Mutt and Jeff" car
toon in which Jeff gets all the better
of it, and Mack Scnnctt comedy,
"No Mother to Guide Him." The over
ture is Flotow's MARTHA" with Emo
Rapec and Joseph Littau conducting.
Greek Evans sang king of the vi
kings Am l." all dressed up like a Vi
king and standing in front of Viking
drop. 1t was a great success!
There is hardly as much action in
the picture at the Strand as is sug-
gested in the title "Upstairs and
Down." Or if there is action it isn't
hot
more than if it was one of those ma
chimes which they use on the stage to
show the finish of horserace whore
Cold Molasses lifts the mortgage on
the farm.
Not that there was any mortgage to
be lifted from anything in this pict-
ure! No indecd-thcy were all ter
ribly rich people who lived on Long
Island and kept buffers and Wallets and
polo ponies. You'll be mildly amused
as you watch the picture, but after i,
is all over you'll probably sit back anc
say. eyes? and-?"
Olive Thomas is the star, and we
suspected as soon as we SAW her bach
(Which is the first thing you do see,
that Olive was becoming plump. She
appears first in her riding habit ant
later when she is seen in her bathing
suit, we are sure of it.
Miss Thomas is Alice Chesterton, anc
she has a sister, Betty, who also ap
pears in her bathing suit, and proves
that plumpness is family trait.
There are some men in the story who
either know how to make all womer
love them or else desire to know, ano
the advice of Terence O'Keefe is "trea
'em rough" 1t works upstairs, bu
when the "gentleman's gentleman" trie.
it on a maid downstairs she slaps hi.
face to teach him how to treat lady
"Upstairs and Down" is taken from :
play by the Hattons, and they away.
did believe that the way to make
woman adore you was to twist he1
wrist or knock a glass of champaign,
out of her hand. This method was sue
cessfully employed in "The Walk Offs. >
The male characters in the pictur,
resemble each other so closely that w,
wonder how their wives and fiancee
kept them straight. They didn't al
ways, and that forms the plot.
In the cast are Rosemary r'heby
> Mary Charleson, David Butler, Rober
Ellis and Andrew Robson.
| Another picture which slows the ac
IL