The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-09-01
OUR MARY DOES
SKINNY IN AN ALLEY
Also Proves Captivating Lady
Burglar, Even to Trousers,
in Strand Film.
WALLACE REID IN RIvOLI
Is Featured in Kyne Romance
Involving California and
It's Redwoods.

II was inevita ble---the snimmy has
caught Mary Pickford., She dances 1t in
THE Hoodlum," the second feature from
her own studio in which she follows
brother Jack at the Strand this week
and reveals that she can be comedy
burglar like him, even to the trousers,
which on the films seem to be the proper
attire for all the best female house,
breakers.
Mary does her syncopated souirning
amid the most abandoned circumstances,
in the midst of a poverty stricken alley,
surrounded by yelling street arabs and
melted to mad ecstasies by a hand
organ. Moreover. TO make ner dissolu-
lions worse, she is doing the wriggling
with the intent Of showing up the jazz
iigging of q little colored boy, and for
that purpose allows her dancing partner.
another slum youngster. to use his foot
on her anatomy after the manner made
classic by Charlie Chaplin.
1t is highly diverting burlesque of a
Juvenile nature, and should be seen by
any one who thinks that shimmying. out
side of Broadway. is a lost art. Those
who fear that the vulgarity of the dance
has actually overwhelmed Miss Pickford
should know that the exigencies OF the
plot compel her to perform It, since she
starts the picture as the spoilt grand
daughter of a millionaire, whose obsti-
macy, coupled with her caprice. sends her
to live In the slums, where she takes to
the new life with the ardor of an acolyte
She even wears gauai1y striped dresses.
shoots craps and leads a policeman a
merry chase. being fearless of nothing
but mice-of course.
Slides Down Coal Chute.
In the course of the picture, which is
screen adaptation of Julia NJ. Lipp-
mans story, "Burkeses' Amy" the
youthful heroine slides down a coal
chute and lands on her face in a dust
heap-as the facial evidence shows-and
also collides in an automobile with a
hay wagon and lands on her head in
the hay. Despite these disturbing ex-
periences she still has enough sense
left to right a wrong done to the young
man she loves by robbing her grand
fathers house-which gives her grand
father, now softened, an opportunity to
trip her up as she fees and then be-
come reconciled to her all over the floor.
Grandfather, by the way, has been
softened by watching Amy Burke Sc
cretly In her tenement environment.
equipped with complete set OF false
whiskers, but no particular reason for
Disgusting himself. The story is like
that-rather mechanical in spots, par
ticularly in sor.e OF the humorous cpl
sodes; hut they are very amusing. for
one does almost see Mack Sennett wav-
ing his wand behind the scenes. Miss
Pickford lifts the picture to the plane
of plausibiity by her shrewd comedy
and fine shadings. and the mere fact
that she begins the photoplay in silk
pajamas and ends in trousers is enough
to indicate that she runs the gamut OF
emotions. Max Davidson also stands
out for a notably human and laugh
able representation of n character bit as
a Hebrew, gratefully devoid of the Gus
tomary theatrical nonsense.
Besides the orchestral playing of
LISTS Second Hungarian Rhapsody
there is an interesting Japanese scenic
1.-THE Honorable Mr.. Jap Van Wrinkle,
and a comedy cartoon by Max Fleischer
"Out of the Inkwell," as entertaining as
| 1t is unique.