The Washington herald., 1919-04-21

l
pep. Francis Byrne was simply fine
as the man on the train" who
wished to help a lady in distress
ana thereby got into an awful mess
nimself. but he wasn't a bit better
than lone Bright. as his fearful
wife. Malcolm Duncan, Suzanne
Morgan and Marie Chambers gave
capital support in conducting the
iaughable situations to their con-
ciusfon within the bounds of strict
propriety.
This Is evidently a TRIAL perform
anee or "Nightie Night" Maybe il
VIII prove more worthy of 50 prices
~hen presented with a setting that
at least cleanly. The one set
ing used last night appears to have
oeen rescued from the garret of
some storehouse.
Ioews Palace-Mary Pic.>ord IN
Captain Kidd, Jr.,
! Mary Pickford in "Cantai, Kidd
Jr..' the first picture this star mas
given the screen in some month,
furnishes the Easter attraction al
Loew's Palace for the entire week.
The artistry Of this star has won
her place in the hearts of moving
picture fans that assures packed
houses whenever new Pickford
picture is announced. It's enough
that it's little Mary, with all of her
quaint mannerisms, her delightful
comedy touches. her sweet love
making qualities and her original
pox or flm tricks. which never an
pear to grow tiresome to her ad-
mirers.
The present screen Offering will
add nothing, to her well-earned
reputation unless it be to prove her
publicity agents contention that
ner less frequent releases are due to
the fact that she finds it difficult to
hnd suitable screen material,
Captain Kidd, Jr.," starts out at a
pace that promises a film story that
VIII rank with her best, but IT soon
descends to Mack Sennett caliber,
with all his cheap and coarse comedy
and only the supreme talents of the
star holding it above the average
hokum release.
The picture is filmed from the
story by Rida Johnson Young with
the scenarios credited to Frances
Marion. Little Mary McTavish is the
niece of an old bookseller. To his
secondhand store comes a box of
books~from the estate Of a wealthy
! merchant. Among the volumes is
one giving the history and location
or a supposed hidden treasure with
charts and the expected air of
mystery about the wealth. The in
cidental villain who seeks the treas
ure, which innocently slipped out of
his hands is introduced and his
Vaccinations when Mary and her
party set out in search for the buried
! fortune are introduced.
| The locale then shifts to the coun-
try village where the treasure farm
is located with the village CON
| stabule" and all the other overdrawn
! characters here injected. They don't
! find the gold they are looking for
and the story takes an unusual and
| surprising twist to bring about the
! required happy ending.
| 1t is a very ordinary story and
some very clever subtitling is mar
| red by the introduction of unneces-
sary profanity which cheapens the
! production.
In addition to the feature a
Christie comedy. "Sallie's Blighted
Career" is offered and an unusually
interesting news weekly, with a
| unique Victory Loan appeal.
Loew's COlumbia-CharIes Ray In
"Greased Lightning"
An unusually brilliant vein of
comedy characterizes Charles Rays
latest boob" characterization, which
| is seen to splendid advantage in his
latest picture. Creased Lightning"
which had its first Washington
I showing at Loew's Columbia yes
! terday. Julian Josephson. the au-
thor of this latest Ray effort. COM
bines a bit of George Randolph
! Chester atmosphere with a touch of
East Lynne" and caps the whole
/ with a thrilling bit of speedway ex-
! citement. The production. through
out, is high-powered. with here and
! there dashes of travesty which are
/ of distinct comedy value.
| Ray appears as Andy Fletcher. the
village blacksmith, inventor of .
patent potato peeler. and sweetheart
of Alice Flint. the village bankers
| daughter. The youth is smitten
with the motor craze and the potato
peeler goes in exchange for a bit bf
motor wreckage which rs christened
! Creased Lightning" The climax is
| evolved when Creased Lightning
is the means whereby Andy thwarts
| the confidence men who have beaten
Aice's father and the reward of
! merit is Alice's hand. in the good
| old-fashioned way
An excellent cast has been fur
| nished Ray by Producer Ince. this
/ cast including Wanda Hawley, Rob-
| ert McKim, John P. Lockney, Willis
I Marks, Bert Woodruff and Otto Hoff-
man.
In addition to the Ray feature.
the Palace program includes an in
teresting variety of short-reel offer
! ings which include a scenic ramble
with Robert c. Bruce; a Mutt and
! JEFF animated cartoon, Ford Sterling
in "The Love Chase" and the Gau-
! mont-Herald Graphic
CrandalPs.
THE Poppy GIRLS Husba and" Will
liam S. Hart's latest picture, showing
at Crandall's yesterday and today, is
a screen version of the popular "Bos-
ton Blackie' stories and consequently
a play dealing with underworld char
acters and having its locale in the
shadow of prison walls. Its hero.
Hairpin Harry Dutton, is introduced
as long-term convict in a California
penitentiary. Shortly after he is
paroled he finds that he has wor-
shipped a shallow idol and that his
wife, who he had believed was wait
ing for him all those years with their
son. had divorced him the year after
| his conviction and ,,,o ry;ad tbo ,~o1i,.