The New York herald., 1922-01-02
Three Line Ghosts
More Effective as
Film Than Play
One of the Fascinations Of the
Picture Is Real London Fog
Roles Well Acted.

RfVOLI--Ge0rge Fitsmaurlce's prOduc-
tiOn, ''ThTee Live Ghosts with Anna
q. Nilsson and Norman Kerry, adapted
from the play by Frederic =. Isham.
Scepario by 0uida Bergere.
At last Merrie England has produced
photoplay that Is really merry. This
is the best production that has so far
come out Of the Famous Players-Laslxy
invasion OF that country, fitted to rank
among the best made in America, but
it might be pointed out that the d.
rectos and the leading principals were
American trained, while giving full
credit to the scenery for being thor
oughly British.
That was one of the fascinations of
the picture yesterday, for at last one
saw real London fog in its natural
environment, with no suggestion Of hay-
ing been made by realistic smoke pots
in studio, Then there were the au-
thentic views of the Houses of Parlia-
ment. Hyde Park, the Thames Embank-
ment, London Bridge, Charing Cross.
Piccadilly Circus, Whitechapel and va
rious other localities, with the charac-
ters In the picture actually walking
through them according to the best
American finn precepts. One did not
get the customary illusion dispelling inn
preston that here was a film to which
sketchy bits of scenics had been hastily
tackled. always with glaringly different
lighting from the rest of the action that
gave the effect of a picture taken in
two foreign countries. For once the IL
Illumination seemed to match up the va
rious backgrounds, so that one felt quite
at home and did not notice that the
hobbies appeared to be actors who were
self-conscious and strange in their uni
forms.
II also is an outstanding achieve
ment as to facial scenery. The three
principal women, Misses Anna Q. Nils
son, Annette Benson and Dorothy Fame,
revealed more pulchritude to the square
inch than one sees in most films. And
the men. in Norman Kerry and Cyril
Chadwick were not far behind in
preserving the facial par. Yet all of
them seemed to be able to forget their
good looks and acted with a full knowl-
edge that more was required OF them
than appearing like clothing store dunn
miles,
Another eminent factor in the triumph
of the picture was the story which
was written by an American and
achieved its stage success here, but had
to be transposed to flower properly under
the Klies lights on English soil. Though
II held hint of the war in II. this
gay tale of three former war pals re-
ported as dead. who turned up at the
London slum house of one of them,
proved to be almost as welcome In New
York as the armistice. But good as It
was. 1t was elaborated and expanded
in the cinema representation, and every
alteration enhanced it, while the sense
OF mystery did not, as so often hap
adj Tad f,,to
attempt at making everything clear
enough for the Mexican peon trade
One of the beneficial alterations con-
cerned removing the American girl from
the slum household. making her more
appealing pictorially and more effective
dramatically. since it is she who clears
the name of the American ghost"
wanted for defalcation, and this result
is not achieved by one of those all
powerful interventions of destiny at the
last moment. Miss Nilsson played the
role with winsome sureness, while Kerry
was much more effective than the
youthful creator OF his part here, who
seemed to have just started wearing
long trousers for the play. Chadwick
surpassed his work in his original role
of the mysterious aristocrat who had
been made slightly "balmy' by shell
shock, but who was perfectly harmless
even If he did kidnap baby and steal
jewelry worth thousands OF pounds.
Miss Clare Greet almost equaled the
splendid character portrayal of Beryl
Mercier as AIRS. Gubbins. the mercenary
yet endearing old woman who didn't
want to entertain any returned heroes
until she discovered that she could get
a reward for giving one up. Edmund
Goulding as her son and the remainder
of the cast were capable and Ouida
Bergere has adapted the play without !
leading the most sensitive to cry sac
rilegev -
Besides the "Tannhaeuser" overture |
and two Spanish dances by Victorina |
Krigher. the fourth anniversary pro- !
gram Of the Rivoli is made memorable |
by Buster Keaton in THE Playhouse
the widest. funniest comedy ever filmed |
so hilarious that a couple who had |
passed the rest of the program in |
domestic tiff broke off to laugh at 1t.