New-York tribune., 1921-05-17
On the Screen
Mary Pickford's Acting Atones
for Mediocre Film Play at
the Strand
BY Harriette Underhill

The reason that pictures are so
much sillier than plays must be be-
cause there have to be so many more of
| them and there isn't material enough
to go around. People are constantly
saying to us, al wrote a scenario and
it was lots better than that, and no
one would buy it," and we do not
doubt their word.
Through the Back Door," at the
Strand, is the sort of story which it
would be easy to believe has been
beaten many times by many amateur
scenario writer's. 1t is so silly and so
cheap that we found it difficult to
place the blame where it belonged and
not pass on cur resentment to Mary
Pickford, the star. We are quite
sure, however, that when Mary did it
said, "All right, if it's what they in
sist on having I'll do it just this
once, but gosh. how I dread It'll"
The photography is perfectly beau
full and Mary does all of the
things with animals and muddy feet
and scrubbing brushes that she ever
has done in all of her other pictures
put together. Some people laughed
uproariously, but her duties rather
annoyed us, for she is such an artist
and her art seemed so wasted How
and the muddy feet and the scrubbiug
brushes, are, was joyous compared
with the second part, where Mary
grows up and inadvertently becomes 4
maid in the household of her rich
mamma in America, Here a lot Of So
ciety people talked and acted as So
clety people, or even real people, never
did act or talk. One of them sent a
cablegram and signed "Mrs" in front
Of her name. 1t seems very eXtrava-
CANT even if she was in the habit of
signing herself so in her letters.
Also Jeanne, the little girl played by
Mary, was stolen by Belgian woman
and brought up in Belgium until the
war broke out. The she was sent to
America to join her own mamma and
when she arrived here she spoke and
understood English perfectly. Of
course there may have been something
IN the picture to explain this, but f so
we missed it and it worried us all the
time. I'
Gertrude Astor and Wiltred Lucas
play the rich father and mother, Helen
Raymond and Norman Hammond are
the foster parents. Elinor Fair is seen
as the vampire and John Harron as the
young lover. Jack Pickford helped
to direct the picture and maybe because
he is her brother, Mary will have him
direct another picture fc~ her.
The comedy is called "The Skipper's
Scheme" 1T is perturbation of the
famous Fontaine Fox cartoons. There
is vocal prologue to the feature pic
ture sung by Donald Chalmers, John
Young, George Reardon and Frank Mel
lor. The overture is "The Chocolate
Soldier" with Sstelle Carey singing
"My Hero"
| Neither do we care for "The Idol
of the North" which is the feature
| picture at the Rialto. 1t isn't at all
like the one just described, but it is
just as improbable in its own way.
| Why can't people enjoy pictures with
human beings in them-stories of peo-
| pie who do simple, natural things ?
AS matter of fact we think that they
do; that it is the producers who fancy
that people want big scenes" and
dramatic situations" and pictures of
girls defying their would-be seducers
and men fighting with their bare fists
over the love of an ordinary looking
female, with knee-length skirt who
grabs her hero and screams impotent-
ly as her aspiring swains roll on the
floor. Clare Hummer is our idea OF a
playwright; Anita Loos is our idea
of a scenario writer. Neither ever
makes her heroine look like sno1%-
ing warhorsc, nor gives. her
"big scenes" nor dramatic situations -
We take this opportunity to say this
simply because it has been on our
mind for long time and not because
THE Idol of the North" and Dorothy
Dalton are any more offenders than
| lots of others.
In the picture Miss Dalton is a dance
hall girl in Alaska and she goes the
way of all dance hall girls 1t seemed
as though the men would never stop
Scrapping over her and that she would
never stop proving that, though she
laughed and joked with them all, she
was good woman.
Marguerite Marsh, as the other
herlne, carried off the beauty honors
Ihe leading men were Edwin August
King.
To be quite fair, lot of people said
that they thought it was a great pic
ture, and we are glad that they did, be-
cause we like to see people enjoy Them
selves: The scenario is by Frank
5eresford and the direction by r. Will
liam Neill. The overture is dance of
the Hours" from "La Gioconda." /"
Gladys Rice sings Till | Wake" and
Emanuel List and Edoardo Albano give
the duet from Il Puritani" The com
edy is Christie called Hey, Rube."