New-York tribune., 1921-11-21
On the Screen
ssMolIy o" Presented al Cen
trail; ''Ladics Must Live" Is
Feature at the Rivoli
BY Iarriette Underhill


"Molly o" opened at the Central
Theater Saturday night, with Mabel
Normandyas the star. People who only
suspect that motion pictures arc still
in their infancy will have any doubts
removed when they see this latest six
reel product of Mack Sennett's, or per-
haps it is only that Mr.. Sennett be-
lieves that the average motion picture
spectator is still in his infancy. II
"Molly o" were only comedy every
thing would be lovely, but it gets seri-
GUS and sentimental and the titles get
stilted and grand sounding and it final
ly ends up In out and out melodrama.
In one scene the wicked heroine breaks
her engagement to the hero at a mas
querade ball. She hands him back the
engagement ring in the middle of the
ballroom with all of the guests gath
cred in circle looking on. The hero
scorns the ring, but answers, "It was
a misunderstanding in the first place,
but am glad now that it happened be-
cause it gives me chance to learn the
true character of the woman whom
would have made my wife," He said that
right out loud so that every one could
hear, and it was not the first time that
we suspected that he was q prig. Later,
when Molly's father is telling him why
he is going to shoot him he says,
"Wait!" (Which is always good thing
to tell man who is going to shoot
you). You turned blameless girl
into the street and am proud to know
that she came to me because she knew
she could trust me-" We had forgotten
all about that word "blameless." Now,
where did that title writer get it?
Miss Normand is the daughter Of a
laundrylady, Mrs. O'Dair, and labor
home the laundry and that is how she
met DR.. John S. Bryant. Jack Mulhall
was this doctor, and all Of the girls
wanted him because he was so rich, not
minding in the least that he seemed
rather an egostistical young dumbell.
Finally, in a series of cute scenes and
impossible happenings, Molly o. wins
him. Her father turns her out of the
house, and as his tiancee has just offered
him his engagement ring back, he is
free to marry Molly O. Trust him! OF
course she could, for you are sure that
he does not even know the meaning. of
discovers her in the A. M. at Dr.. Bry-
ants home clad in hts pajamas, bath
robe and slippers, but he is sorry he
tried to shoot DR.. Bryant when he
learns that they were married at
A. M. We didn't know that that was
why father was going to shoot him.
We thought he was just doing it be-
cause he annoyed him. Then, after
they are married you think the picture
is all over, but that is where the melo-
drama comes in.
k;r dir;r;h1o Cr,~au ~ %Y,n ~
here. Mr.. Bryant's first fiancee had a
brother, Lowell Sherman, who was even
worse than she was. SO after Molly
is married they hatch up plot Her
young brother is made to forge a check
and they hold it over Molly's head, and
she goes to the brother to intercede
and brother runs away with her in his
dirigible and DR.. Bryant hires a car
sea plane--and goes after them and
gets on top OF the dirigible with q
rope ladder and crawls through the
window and rescues Molly with a para
chute, etc.
Miss Normand we consider delight
full and there are r number Of good
performances given by the supporting
cast. 1t is not Jack Mulhall's fault that
DR.. Bryant is prig. That is our apol-
ogy to Mr.. Mulhall Anna Hernandez is
excellent as the laundry woman and
Carl Stockdale, Albert Hackett George
Nichols and Eddie Gibbo are all good in
their respective roles. The photography
is beautiful, too, but why did these peo-
pie waste their time on such pictured
and those titles? Richard Jones, who
did mickey" directed "Molly."
The picture is surrounded with the
usual program of music and short sub
jects.
If Ladies' Must Live"-and the pic