The New York herald., 1922-04-10
Screen Tide Turned
TOWARD Fathers in
The Good PrOvider'
New Fannie Hurst Film
Threatens to Swamp Them
: Under Wave of Affection.


RIvOLI--Miss Vera Gordon and Dore
y Davidson in "The Good Provider," q
= Cosmopolitan production for Para-
mount from a story by Fannie Hurst,
y directed by Frank Borzage. Scenario
by John Lynch.
= At last the screen shows signs OF
recoming original, though not TO an
alarming extent. Judging by this pic
ture. Aim producers have decided it was
high time the father had his innings on
the silver sheet. The public is no longer
to be exhorted to be good to mother,
showering kisses and sobs on her with
equal prodigality Perhaps it Is even
suspected that audiences are growing
bit restless under the strain OF having
their f1lial duty presented to ter. with
the regularity of having three Jumps OF
sugar put in their breakfast coffee.
: At any rate. the period of matriarchy
is passing and the patriarchai stage Is
setting in. Thus does the screen family
parallel the evolution of the human fam
lily. AS in this admirable photopiay
spectators will hereafter be urged to be
more indulgent to good old pater. The
world is being made safe for fathers.
No doubt the next step will be the
adjuratlon to give the young folks a
chance" BY that time the screen will
be abreast of this age of the Montessori
method and of fappers and will have
caught up on history.
Has TfnEling Human Quality.
THE Good Provider," by its utterance
Of the gospel that the head of the house
fnominally) should be looked upon as
something more than a check book
gifted with powers of speech and loco
motion, marks a turning point in the
development of the screen, not only for
its tinging human quality but because
1t turns the tide toward fathers and
threatens to swamp them under a wave
Of affection
Fannie Hurst. who was largely re-
sponsible for the era Of the great ma
ternal urge with "Humoresque." has
possibly decided to make amends and
grant equal rights to husbands in tears
and chuckles on the screen. She Is very
notably abetted again by Miss Vera
Gordon. Dore Davidson and Miss Miriam
Battista, as we'll as Director Frank
Borzage, who helped make the earlier
production the gold medal photoplay of
1920. while to show what a praiseworthy
effort has been made to repeat with the
same cast even the cat In the new pic
moresque." And as an indication Of
how we'll he is attuned to the story,
when the hair of the parents turns gray
IN the picture the black cat becomes
white too
The story is an extremely simple one,
OF the intimate domestic nature with
which Miss Hurst enjoys conducting
varied "at homes" on the screen. A
humble Jewish merchant. peddling dry
goods from wagon. moves his family
from city to country and struggles up
from poverty. establishing a prosperous
store and buying his own house-even
making 1t look hahitable after several
years. But presently his grown up son
and daughter feel the urge to go to the
city, which is constantly. catching the
oeat tails of the young in films. After
rf1uch argument the father finally yields
TO their wishes and takes them to an
extremely expensive New York hotel,
where he goes broke-not unrcasonably.
Thereupon every one grows busy with
a sense of fillial duty.
For all its kosher character the
picture might be labeled, ANY Home
Any Family Argument" The constant
dispute between father and children
over their divergent interests Is at bot
tom little more than repetition, but the
extremely natural handling given it by
ested than II 1t was his own family
fracas. No better proof of the superior
Quality of this production could be found
than the fact practically every episode
is unusually long for a photoplay, yet
It rivets the attention more than the
regulation technique of hop-skip-and-
jump presentation of scenes.
Both Pathos and Humor.
TThe occasional note OF pathos is un-
fnrced and the humor fits like an old
shoe. Quite original and amusing is the
scene OF The conservative father bodily
ejecting from his show window the femi-
rrfne figure in negligee which has APP
pealed to his progressive son as the lat
est and niftiest In window dressing.
Fathers desperate wrangle with the
children over the menu items at the ex-
pensive hotei ought to appeal to others
pesides walters. And while the end can
be guessed by the practiced film fan. 1t
Is enlivened with shrewd trick that
brings the tribute OF gasp.
= Miss Hurst has seized cleverly upon
the formula In her stories of contrasting
the city with the country. which is al
ways as sure fire In pictures as con-
trasting the country with the city. BY
placing the emphasis on the husband
she has escaped the saccharinity that
narred Just Around the Corner" for 1t
Is difficult to grow sentimental over
dad. especially when he needs shave.
While the subtitles are banal in spots.
they are usually SO true to character
they seem to have been done In Yiddish
letters. Often captions aren't needed.
so well has this teen conceived as a liv-
ing picture rather than moving pic
ture.
Miss Gordon and Mr.. Davidson do so
we'll they could be advertised as "ap-
pearing in person--not a movie In
view of the construction Of the piece.
Davidson romps under the wire a win
ner with the honors. His pantomime
speaks reels OF subttles for itself. and
he portrays this Potash character so ef-
fectively one can fancy the accents OF
Raruev BARNARD In ~