New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-08-08
On the Screen
"Experience'' at Rivoli, and "A
Midnight Bell" Strand, Do
Well Without Music
By Earriette UnderhilI

The motion picture houses are real
temples of tho silent drama this week,
for even the orchestra is silent. 1t
seems there was some sort of dis
agreement as to hours, remuneration,
etc. We certainly did miss the Rivoll
orchestra yesterday. We always sit in
the third row and have come to know
every member of that orchestra, SO it
seemed like personal slight when
that the overture which they were to
have played was "Pomp and Circum-
stance" 1t sounds almost like Gap
ltal and Labor"
Instead of the orchestra, a lot of
young people without any special claim
to beauty but with glorious voices,
filed out into the space between the
stage and the orchestra chairs and
sang something big and grand, accom-
panied by the organ only We called
up the Rivoli Theater TO see if we
could learn who those people with the
fine voices were, but the office boy was
on the other end of the wire and he
said "Pomp and Circumstance in an
| swer to our question. We explained
again, but all he said was "Pomp and
/ Circum stance"
as Dr.. Riesenfeld there" we said
finally. "Pomp and circumstance"
came back to US over the wire, so we
desisted. The youth who cried "Ex-
celsiori" until he died wasn't cir
cum stance to our youth.
The feature picture is Experience,
and as it has been our experience that
allegorical plays do not bear trans
planting to the screen we had no great
hopes for this George Fitzmaurice
production. But we were reckoning
without our hero. This is "Y outh," IN
the person of Dick Barthelmess, and
Richard is himself again in this pic
ture. Need more be said? We arc
quite sure that in spite Of the marvel
ously beautiful photography in some
of the scenes and the lavishness of The
production we should not care. fol
| "Experience' if we had not found OH
youth in Richard Barthelmess. There
is an actor who can without doub1
make any picture.
All plays where the people are
named Experience and Love and Am
bition and Hope and Pleasure ant
Beauty and Temptation are designed
to point a moral We hate being con
verified, but in pointing the moral Nh
Fitznaurice has also been careful t(
adorn the tale. So much SO, in fact
that no one could blame Youth in TIN
least if he chose to follow Pleasure
anu OSdGCN anu Gil pNGIlOp 4i4SlSstO "
going with Ambition to seek Oppor
tunity and look for Work. Lilyar
Tashman, lovely to look at as ever
is Pleasure Edna Wheaton is Beauty
and Nita Noldi Temptation, and, on
the clothes that she wears.
Marjorie Daw is Love. You see, EX
perience is almost like ''every woman,
only the one who goes out into tn
world seeking adventure is the. her
instead OF the heroine. He finally re
turns to find Love at his own freside
In plays nobody ever finds love in tn
city They find only Chance an'
Despair and Intoxication, Crime, Vic
or Passion 1t would seem that Low
steers clear of the electric lights.
Youth was taken up immediately b,
all of these denizens of the lobste
palaces, and they did not drop hin
until Chance had ruined him an
Despair had led him to pawn his dres
suit. They would not tolerate Youtl
in q soft collar after o'clock, and S
they tainted him and left him. Afte
that our hero takes to heroin and i
about to follow |ria@e, when he j
saved by hearing Lead, Kindly Light
played on t% church organ. 1t is :
easy to cure drug addicts in the movies
The cast is large and it is withou
any weak spots. Florence Flynn give
an excellent performance in the small