The New York herald., 1921-01-31
Japanese Actor As
Chinese Avenger in
Thrilling Picture
Hayakawa Appears in Adapta-
ton of 'The First Born
Other Photo Plays.

from the feature pictures at the Strand
and the Capitol this week. an average
OF three murders TO each truly serious
picture must lie maintained before an
audience can be considered to have en-
joyed itself.
THE First Born" at the Strand is
like Chinese feast--highly favored
and exotic. keeping one constantly In
terested in what will happen next yet
on the whole rather long drawn out
and leaving one somewhat upset after
ward. Sessue Heyakawa. Japanese ac-
tor, who finally comes to this house as
star after long absence. Is some-
thing tof an Oriental Apollo and much
too handsome In his Asiatic way 10 be
mere boatinan. even though In the end
he acts as Chinese Charon who sends
his enemies across the Mongolian Styx.
But on the whole. he gives his USUAL
Unbalanced performance. at times
seeming more emotional than any ORR
entail to Occidental eyes has any right
TO be, yet showing the restraint of real
art when he picks up his fve-year-old
son. dead, in the gutter where he has
fallen from the clutches of the baleful
Man Low Yek Sunny" Warde as the
son deserves especial mention for Good
pantomime, for when he was picked up
ne lay SO still he seemed either dead or
doped. The story, fairly we'll directed
By Colin Campbell. rs naturally simple.
since It seeks to put the Chinese on the
idealized plane OF Broken Blossoms
though Il falls short for all It's faith
| fulness OF detail by the Width or Chon
Wang's avenging cleaver. That cieaver'
| fortunately for western susceptoihties'
ts used around the corner" on Its VIC
| tim.
"Thc First Born" was adapted oy
Robertson-Cole from the drama proouceo
| at the Aicazar Theatre in san Francisco
| twenty years ago and written by Fran
! els Powers. who seems to have gone as
! far In the direction Of the tragic as his
brother. Tom Powers. the cartoonist'
vent townrd the comic. Hayakawa
PLAYS Chang Wang, the boatnan OF the
! Hoang-Ho In China, whose wistful ori-
entalisni wins the love Of Loev Istng'
who is naturally the belle of the village
with a name like that But she Is eold
, by a slave agent to Mon Lou Yek OF san
! Francisco, just as though the play mad
been written BY Sam Shipman.
! Failing TO find her when he follows her
70 Frisco's old Chinatown--graphicali
reproduced--he narries another girl
! and lavishes on chan Toy. his first born.
all the love that heretofore has been
| credited to Locy Using. Eventually he
| meets the latter--to avoid getting the
story mussed up with more narnes--ex-
| hibits his old love and arouses me teal-
ousy OF her owner, who brings ds%n 10
| Chang Wan0's wife and son TO shoW
| MS Oriental ideas OF revealing annoy
ance But Chang Wang wins venge-
ance. and a ticket back to China with
Loey Tsing. thus relieving some OF the
strain of immigration to this country.
| A special prologue with Walter
Vaughan and a male quartette; COM
edy a scenic Liszt's First Hungarian
! Rhapsody' by the orchestra, and
| soprano solo by Selma Johansen from
Sweden, complete the Strand manifest
! for the week.
Goddess Men" Full of Action.
| Goddess Men" at the Capitol starts
Ia Longitude Blank Degrees Dash
Minutes. Latitude Blank Degrees Dash
Minutes, on the broad Pacific" which
leads TO expectations of dirty work afoot
by rough, unkempt men. There Is, but
the atmosphere OF sustained hate be-
tween the ships captain. who has lost
his faith In humanity when his wife
eloped with another man, and his evil
son, reared in rancor till he becomes a
| Frankenstein monster. runs the piece oc-
casionally into the doldrums. There is
an incident likewise which might be un-
pleasant II every one didn't guess the
captain would discover that the girl ne
was after was his own daughter. and
tropical typhoon, spiritcdly done, but as
unnecessary as the ships continuous
course In circles.
This picture. Transcribed by Goldwyn
from Ben Ames willlams's story Of
BLACK Pawl." maintains with The
First Born the spirit OF gloom that ap-
1 Ia - D. u
way cinema palaces after a week in
which they were almost entirely given
over TO comic revels Russell Simpson.
James Mason and Miss Helene Chad
wick present the case for the broad
Pacific very we'll.
Bertran Peacock sings the "Credo"
from yerdis "Otello' in John Wenger
setting to make the audience turn with
expectancy to the picture. Liszt has
another sally in Broadway here with
his Thirteenth Hungarian Rhapsody"
A dance by Mile. Gambarelli. Alexander
Oumanslty and Simone Cochet and South
ern numbers by the Capital mixed quar-
tet are other offerings, while Baby
hood" Kineto Review OF the young OF
the species IN oil possible variations,
deals with a subject on which people
can't be coached too much.
"Thc kentuckfans" PIeases.
Monte Blue in THE Kentuckians'
rnanipulntcs the ship Of state at the
Rialto. In this Charles Maigne's adap-.
tation for Paramount OF the novel by
John Fox, Jr.. Blue embodies engaging
ly an ambitious mountainecr OF the Blue
grass region who rises to the Legisla-
ture and emancipates his people. at the
same time surrendering his own rights to
a bit OF femininlty. IL is a fairly at
tractive story showing that romance can
persist even through interminablc po-
iitical speeches. Wilfred Lyteii and
Miss Diana Allen are part OF the agree
able equipment.
The vandenbergh-Par pictures
OF East Africa and Uganda. moved here
from the Riaito with Or. Leonard J.
vandenbergh. still In jealous attendance,
exhibit In their third instalment the
Manibuti pigniies. as tall as some mem
bers of the Broadway chorus. but ten
times as shy. A comedy. Hosmer's
southern Rhapsody" and solos by
Betty Anderson and Edoardo Aibano fill
I'D whatever hiatus in ones life may
still persist.
Cecil u. De Miles Forbidden Fruit"
remains at the Rivoli for n second week.
propelled along on the crest OF the same
Incidental programme at before.