New-York tribune., 1919-12-22
On the Screen
Christmas Spirit Marks New
Capitol Review, With Marie
Doro i'm Feature Picture
By Harriette Underhill

By Harriette Underhill
The fact that this is Christmas week
is emphasized at the Capitol Theater
with program full of Christmas trees
and Yuletide greetings and things of
that sort. The feature picture stars
Marie Doro, and is called "12:10" In
view OF the fact that that is the time
when Santa Claus is supposed to come
down the chimney and fill ones stock
ings, we naturally supposed that tho
title referred to something of the kind
on the screen, but not at all-"12: TO-"
is a real melodrama with a mystery
which sets you to guessing "Who
killed Cock Robin?" in the approved
style of '1S and 10. AS we really con-
slider the feature picture the weakest
number on the bill, we shall deal with
that last
The new program is such direct
departure from what the Capitol has
been presenting that it seemed almost
too good to be true. The old revue
was complete entertainment in it.
sell, but IN our opinion it had no
place IN picture palace, and that is
really what the Capitol is. 1t was
much too big and confusing, 80 that
the best picture in the world came as
an anticlimax.
The program opens with Arthur
Pryor's Band, which rendered "Forza
del Destno" and "Slavonic Rhapsodic"
Then came "Romeo's Dad" one of the
Stage Woman's War Relief pictures
c
This has real scenario written by
Calder Johnstone, and is the most in
teresting of the scenes presented so
far.
The Russian Cathedral quartet
were heard in "a Romany Yuletide.
with stage setting 5y John Wengcr.
which represented q gypsy camp, and
for the time being all of the capital
ensemble became romady. Thov Of
fered ".Mellinkoff's Serenade," "Wanka-
Tanka" and youths Memories"
Next came Christmas fantasy that
is the most pretentious thing Of the
kind we have seen. The musical
setting is from the Peer Gynt suite
with ballet arranged by Ivan Tarof
of the Ballet Russo. This is truly
beautiful conception.
Of course the feature Of the pro-
gram was the appearance of David
Bispham. He sang first Ring Out
Wild Bells" with musical setting by
Gounod, and as an encore the ever pop
ular Danny Deever." Lucille Chal-
fonte sang twice and is still charming
with her high Cs.
One picture which was shown We
consider the cruelest thing we ev +
have seen. It is Prizma in natural
colors and is called "The Ghost of
John Barleycorn." In it man makes
and samples all of the dear, departed
drinks, like champagne cup, old
fashioned cocktails mint iuleps, clover
clubs and the rest. They showed up as
natural as life in the real colors and
the whisky sours and clover clubs
we're particularly desirable. The
spectators received the picture good
nnaturedly and applauded their
favorltes as they passed over the ba,.
Marie Doro has returned to the screen,
and we consider her misguided
young woman. She always was over
arch even on the stage, and add to this
black and white makeup, with eyes
elongated out of all human proportion
we'll, our advice to Miss Doro is not
to make any more pictures until she
can make those eyes behave
In the first part of the picture Miss
Doro is the daughter Of a struggling
French artist. rich man rolling
along in his limousine sees her in trou-
bic and stops to speak to her 1--WE
lost my papa she says. "Wil you
help me find him. And looking off
in the distance the phiianthropist sees
father about to plunge unto the Seine.
Considerably shielding her eyes, he
says: DO not look" And then, with
no attempt to stop fathers plunge or to
rescue him, he says: Your father was
very tired and has gone on long jour-
ney. We are both alone in the world
now And they drive away and go to
London, without doing a thing about
father. And then Marie grows up and
the mystery begins. And so enthrall-
ing is that mystery that when a dead
man arose from his bier some one in
the audience shrieked and every one
else laughed at him.
But the story has a happy ending,
which is evinced by heart suspended
by two ribbons, each one heiu in the
mouth of a dove Somehow that heart
and dove didn't seem like Herbert
Brenon, and it was he who directed the
picture.
In our opinion. the program is the
incest thing the Capitol has done, and
we were sorry to learn that it was for
one week only. Next week will see
the return of the Ned Wayburn girl
numbers, but they are to be new num-
bers. And the question is how can
Ned Wayburn think of anything new
in the way of girl numbers?
In moving pictures Anne of Green
Gables is just as delightful young