New-York tribune., 1919-02-24
On the Screen
Paid in Full'' and "The Better
OLE Attract Big
Crowds

the Rlvoli this week in a screen YER
sion OF Paid in Full" Eugene Walters's
stage success of more than decade
ago.
It must have been in 1907, because
we remember it was our first season
on the stage and consequently our first
,n'lmatlon that Christmas week and
Easter week meant half pay. And some
one said: did you know that thew
are receiving full salary over at the
AsUor! Yes, Paid in Full you know" !"
90 we always remembered paid in
full' although we never saw it until
yesterday.
IL IS very good picture and we liked
faullne Frederick even better than in
hcr previous story And the funny
pafl OF 1t IS we used always to listen
TO her eulogies and gaze upon hor
beauty unmoved
IN the first place we liked her bo-
cause she said, "He doesn't like to coo
me icel bad.' Nearly every screen
heroine announces that she fecls
"badly"
But we couldn't forgive her husband
Tor saying "No one knows it but Will
lam and you and L." But then there
were many things that one Gould not
forgive that husband of hers.
mere was an enthusiastic gathering
az 'ne matinee performance and thew
al'ested their approval BY loud an
plause every time title or situation
pleased them.
The scene where Emma ooos ~ A.
."p'a'hs rooms to plead for her hus-
p"no was Wonderfully we'll done. Both
FRANK Losec, who played the captain
ahd MISS Frederick sustained tho sus
pense so we'll that when the denoue-
'nehI came 1T was greeted with loud
sigh of relief Robert Cain is nerfect
as the no-good husband who has but
one noble impulse in his whole life
When he gets that he goes and shoots
hlmsef. Wyndham Standing is the
SUCCESSFUL lover, most agreeable ar
iahgement on the whole, as Mr.. Stand
ing Is llkable as Jimsy Smith.
Charles Whitaker did the scaror;o
ana while we never saw the plav
1t could not have been any better in
Its stage form than it is at present
IL mas such perfect continuity and the
story lifts as smoothly as though it
had just been devised, a month or 50
ago, for the screen. 1t is very Meas
ing. "Paid in Full" was directed bv
Emile Chautard
East Lynne with Variations" is, to
US, the funniest Mack Sennett comedy
we ever have seen because it is
satire satire, and deals with subject quite
familiar to every play goer. 1t holds
up to ridicule the paper snow storm
the wronged heroine who falls at her.
father's door with child in nv
arms" and the brave hero who rescues
heI rom death in muslin ocean.
"A Prlzma picture called "Kiddies" is
very pleasing to the eye though we
wish that they would give it another
name: The RIVAL Pictorial contains
the visual news of the world.
Inc Rlalto Quartet is back again
and they were heard this week in "Twi-
hight" sung before n John Wenglc
setting. Julia Henry sang the ever
popular, "There's a Long, Long Trail ,"
The overture is the brilliant "Fourth
Symphony" by Tschaikowskv with
Erno Rapee conducting 1t was en-
thuslastlcally received.
The second number is Ketellhv's
"ln Monastery Garden"
Given half chance we were pre-
pared to say that "The Better ole"
at the Strand was a better 'ole than
the one at the Cort, but now that we
have seen the picture we cannot truth
fully say so.
"The Better ole" on the screen is
surely as satisfactory as any screen
portrayal of the Bairnsfathc comedy
could be; but even if old Bill and Bert
and Alf did endear themselves to us,
weakness for their dialogue, and
Charles Roch who plays "the Warus"
on Ahe screen is not nearly so funny
to look at as Mr. Coburn.
Much that occurred on the stage
must of necessity, be left out of the
films. For instance, you never can hear
the little entertainer say "and
Canada! In fact, the girls do not ap-
pear at all, but the plot has been
greatly audeu 10 by the introduction
of some characters which do not ap-
pear in the original version-or do
they and have we forgotten them be-
cause We were so interested in the fate
of old Bill?
Was there "Poet" who lost his
mind out in No Mans Land and Lii
who was waiting for him at home
And was there pub" which Maggie
called "The Better 'Ole"?
At any rate the people swarmed into
the Strand Theatre yesterday to see
the picture and every one seemed to
be delighted with it. They applauded
all during the performance whenever
Bill scored a hit or sang song or
blew up a bridge, or got decorated, and
they applauded loudly at the finish.
One thing we know for certain was
in the picture which was not in the
play. Bert's lighter finally performed
h,