New-York tribune., 1922-04-03
On the Screen
The Red Peacock Is Not Much
of Picture, but PoIa Negri
Is Pola Negri
By l1arriette UnderhilI

stories it puts upon the screen A re-
cent picture shown here under the
name of "Vendetta" was merely "Mr.
Barnes of New York" The plot was
changed a little. but most of the char
acters remained intact, even to their
names
At the Rivoli this week is another
picture made by the same company,
called "The Red Peacock" The
heroine's name is Niolette and the
hero's Alfred, just as in LA Traviata,"
the operate version Of "Camille." In
the book of cours', they were Mar
gueritc and Armand. 1t is doubtful,
/ however, if the picture is actually an
acknowledged adaptation, for the events
which lead up to Violette's downfall
are not at all like the vicissitudes Of
| Camille.
Violette is flower girl who comes
upon a wealthy party after the opera
one night and sells flowers to them.
She is injured by their motor car and
they take her home. Here the poor
little waf of Paris has her first
glimpse of luxury. She is in the home
OF famous courtesan. as we under
stand 1T, though the English titles
soften the blow as much as possible
/ Then Niolettc goes to work as a maid
and when Count Girey is smitten by
her beauty, the mistress of the house
dismlsses her and the count offers her
shelter. Here the title reads, "Hclp-
less and frightened, she reluctantly ac-
cepts shelter from a stranger" and the
picture shows her coyly smiling and
plainly delighted with the arrangements
Then the count apparently lays his
heart at her feet and the title says,
You may work here as maid if you
cannot find other employment" Thus
was virtue rcwarded; only tho next
scene shows her in a gorgeous peignoir
having breakfast with the count. We
fully expected a title explaining that
there had been a secret marriage.
From there on the story proceeds
along the lines laid down by Sardou
/ Niolctte goes to her Alfred, who has
/ no money. Sells her jewels to save him
/ from embarrassment, leaves him when
his father urges on her the wrong she
/ Is doing him and finally dies in his
arms OF the disease made famous if
not popular by Camille
1t isn't much OF n play, and it is
/ done with the ingenuousness which
marks all the L. +. A. produc-
tions. They seem to say 1--WE won't
bother about convincing you of this.
You're going to believe it Just because
you see it on the screen But Pola
Negri is Nioette, and-wcll Pola Negri
is Pola Negri. We have discovered
what a lot Of people have been telling
us that she isn't pretty But we
wouldn't give her little finger for most
Of the other actresses put together.
She is q magnificent creature, and she
simply can't go wrong. Let us hope
that we shall ono day, soon, see her in
something worth while AGAIN.
This is the first picture in which
Pola Negri has been suitably dressed,
and she really rivals some OF our own
actresses in her maenjficence Also
she is extremely chic, a fact which she
has managed to conceal IN her recent
pictures. However, this may be ac-
counted for by the fact that these pic
lures were several years old.
In watching the Buster Kcaton
comedy which follows the feature, you
arc filled with admiration at the in
gcnuity of the comedian. How do they
keep on thinking up something new
year after year? The story is about a
boy, Buster kcaton, who was peering
through Il prison window one day, and
the condemned man, who was having
his picture taken for the rogues' gal
lcry, pulled the lever and got a picture
of Buster instead of his own face. This
wss sont broadcast over the country
with $5, 900 reward for the capture after
the condemned man had escaped from
prison.
People kept recognizing the picture.
and Busters life is long series of
escapes. Finally his newly acquired
fanc6e'S father turns out to be the
police captain, and he gives up the
fight.
Also on the picture program is "The
Lamp Lighter" Post Nature Picture.
The overture is the Sixth Hungarian
Rhapsody. Marjorie Peterson sings
"The Garden Matinee and the original
Piano Trio Edgar Tairchild, Herbert
Clair and George Diworth. play
"Marchc Militaire' and "Song Of
India
If you want TO see Charlie Chapln's
now picture, "Pay Day" which is Mt
the Strand this week, go early, al
though YOU will not be able to avoid
the rush. Nh Chaplin's appearances
on the screen are all too infrequent,
| and when he does finally consent TO
produce a picture the public falls over
itself getting to the theatre to see that
Pi>HN'S' VI idPS hc Is 40 WISE dS some
seasoned seductress who has learned
the value of absences; and to see the
way people flock to see a Chanlin mic
/ ture is quite as interesting as the
picture itself. 1t took two traffic cops
to direct the motor cars up to and
away from the Strand yesterday and
two more to keep the sidewalk cleared
! Tor passers-by.
In one Of his old comedies it seems
to US that Chaplin married Edna Pur-
Vance, and if this is true then he has
been unfaithful, for his wife in this
picture is Phyllis Allen. OF course
there could not be picture called
pay Day without comedy wife to
take the roll from the poor laborer
| and then walt for him with a rolling
pin after he has stayed out all night
to spend the pittance which he has
managed TO extract.
Of course no picture ever could be
as good as "Thc Kid" or shoulder
AIMS" but PAY Day" is filled win
new stunts that nobody ever thought
OF before. Of course it is only the
uneNpccted that is really funny, so
When Charlie gets up off a stool on an
elevator and then starts to back ,1nand
SIT down again and the elevator and
tne STOOL have gone to the basement, Won
thlnk he is going to sit down on snace
bUt OIL course the elevator shoots nm
again SO that the stool meets him lust
at the psychological moment He does
1t several times and each tive ,To,,