The New York herald., 1921-06-20
Kipling Story on
Screen Sh0wS Love
of a Hindu Maiden
Feminine Role Well Acted by
Miss Virginia Brown
Other Film Novelties.

any OBSCURE the picture. audyard Kip
lings original story of the unsanctioned
love between a British bridge builder
and a Hindu maiden was q delicate, ten
der classic. written when his wizardry
was at its height and filled with the
shifting opalescent lights OF India-but
opalescent lights are hard to get into
pictures. even with the Prixma process.
The verbal magic that held one under
its spell even while it conveyed a state
OF being rather than a state of action.
the tenuous thread of a story that CEN
tres in the death of the unrecognized
child of the union and the subsequent
passing of the devoted little mother in q
cholera epidemic are too undramatic to
lead one to expect q producer would
think this tale fit for consumption by
movie pubic nourished on pep. Yet
James Young who directed this photo
play Tor the producer. Robert Brunton,
did almost better than one might expect
in weaving n the screen an appealing
mixture of moonshine and microbes.
For one thing. he Is aided by large
helpings OF scenery. The Views of Lahore.
and the glinpses of the Indian natives
scurrying about constitute the last word
in verisimiltude, revealing again the
chameleon possibilities of Los Angeles
topography. Then there is the well mod
ulated acting. not only of Miss Virginia
Brown Faire and Thomas Holding as the
principals. but even Of the native supers.
who have nothing on their minds but
their turbans.
Miss Faire. the youthful star. who !s
still in her teens. Is pretty and pathetic
as the Oriental maiden and has winsome
love scenes with her British engineer
that ought to win vote of confidence
for her from all the June brides. Holding
is effectively restrained as the engineer
and has had his long suffering counte-
nance cast so often for blighted rornances
that he seems resolved to make the best
Of 1t. Occasionally a subtitle comes too
late to clarity the action, but on the
whole Randolph c. Lewis, who super
vised the production on behalf OF Kip
ling. can feel that the movies have stood
nobly by this upholder of the British
tradition.
Miss Anita Stewart In New Film.
Not so successfully has the underworld
stood by Miss Anita Stewart. presented
at the Strand this week by Louis B.
Mayer in Sowing the Wind which ap-
pears to have plenty of wind, but little
else. Sydney Grundys melodrama from
which this photoplay was adapted for
First National may have been a stage
meteor in it's day. but in Its Aim dress II
abounds with theatrical claptrap and
seems little but dead weight.
Miss Stewart of late appears TO enjoy
appearing as the daughter Of a gambler
of either sex or In some way related to
one OF the demi-monde elite, and ap-
parenty nothing can stop her headlong
course. In this case she Is the protege
OF the woman partner in a gllded gam
bling hive--such as the Tenderloin
would refuse to credit even In Its
palmy days-and this partner. being
really her mother. is fearful of revealing
that fact to her convent bred daughter.
and so on, according to a formula that
defies the ravages of time.
The mother Is always seeing things
and popping out her eyes and throwing
UP her arms in fear of daughters learn
| ing the truth. so il was but fitting she
eventually should drift to Chinatown,
where she might learn a lesson in i'm
passiveness. Miss Myrtle Steadman,
who has been open to the criticism of
lack of expressiveness before, now seems
determined to let her features go In a
mad rush of emotion. Besides stilted
subtitling the picture is full Of such
false notes as having cloistered girl
become stage star in a year-without
even a hint OF an angel So surprising
is this that the girl is led to exclain,
about 1t herself.
Life" mt the RfvoIi.
tion Of Life" at the Rivoli, the thriller
written by himself and Thompson Bu-
chanan which so successful on the
stage. has the virtues and the defects
which seem to be the breath of life to
all melodramas. 1t moves with speed
and punch and yet, possibly for that
reason. the characters act on the whole
without any clearly revealed motives,
which keep calling for footnotes to the
main thread. The picture. distributed
| through Paramount, concerns Brady's
favorite theme, with a murder mystery,
the wrong person accused OF the crime
really done by bond thief threatened
with Jail--and detective balling mat
ters up In thoroughgoing fashion.
The innocent condemned man escapes
from the death house at Sing Sing in
a fairly exciting fashion, though II
hardly seems likely that q captain OF
detectives would abet him Just because
his wife believes he is innocent. The
photoplay follows the original so closely
one can almost detect the scene and act
divisions. and therefore Is somewhat too
transparent at times for a public that
now has grown accustomed to being as
much fooled by a mystery as the cops.
Jack Mower. Airline Pretty. J. Fl. Gil
more. Rod La Rocque. Effingham Pinto
and Curtis Cooksey give we'll balanced
exhibition. though Nits Naldi is rather
too suggestive of a little East Side cab
aret charmer.
The first revelation of an English film
made by an American company was
vouchsafed to Broadway at the Rialto
yesterday In Appearances" a produc-
tion directed by Donald Crisp for Fa-
nous Players-LaslSy British Producers.
Ltd, and proved TO be on the whole a
better picture than one might have ex-
pected to drift ont Of London fog II
was typical story by Edward Knob
lock. written expressly for the screen,
satirizing the modern desire to put up a
big front, and scenes Of fine old man.
sions In England were hitched TO this so
that, as the press agent himself said
quite truthfully. "pictorially the play IL
refreshing"
David Powell poses his Americanism
against the fragile English quality of
Miss Mary Glynne, who is pretty. but
isn't likely to upset the crown from Miss
Mary Pickford's head here.
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