The New York herald., 1922-01-01
High Lights and
Sh1dOwS on NevS
of Motion Pictures
Rialto to Present German Sc.
rial With Five Weeks
Of Thrills.
by FRANK vnEnLAxn.

b0 way Down East" synchrcni2ed 20
grand opera. This cinema palace will
harbor . serial for a time, reverting 70
the good old days when f,ln fans
hoped TO live to gee tho day when they
could view the end OF q current
picture.
But the RiaIto VIII not turn itself
into e. home fo- aged and decrep.t
films. It will present a brand new
serial, fresh from Germany, where
serials still flourish. This installment
picture. mentioned some time ago IN
this column. has been taken to the
bosom of Paramount and Will require
i've weeks to have all It's thrills TN
wound at the Broadway house. It's
thirty reels hasS haen reedited and
retitled by loving American hands, no
doubt with an Introductory synopsis
after every six reel slice c9 life, In the
good. old fashioned way. Otherwise
a patron who entered the theater for
the first time during the third INSTALL
n1ent would begin to wonder If he
were seeing 1.-THE Cabinet OF Dr.. Cali
gari" being run backward.
The picture. Judging by accounts OF
those who have seen Il, calls to mind
HI. Rider Haggard IN the hair raising
days OF King Solomon's Mines" before
he felt that agriculture needed him more
than readers spinal columns It deals
with q search for the supposed treasure
Of the Queen Of Sheba, which somehow
William Fox seemed to overlook in his
y1sr t,,ra ,ny, Aa lcs- ~ L.
getting 1t in the gate receipts. In the
course Of this search villages are blown
UP and earthquakes occur---naturaliy.
for that sort of serial couldn't get
along without them. So many thou
sands Of s'spers appear in some Of the
Incidents that It can we'll take rank
with the Times Square subway station
a. one Of the busiest scenes on earth.
One Of the episodes, guaranteed to
thr'll deals with ch"se along q
stream by river pirates, who. Of course.
are seeking to make the hero look like
q scrapped battieship. He boba through
a secret portal and down long and
dark passageway, said TO give the
creeps better than the Old Mil. At the
end Of this he mounts a high stairway
Of 200 steps. losing several pounds but
none Of his good looks In the process.
At the ton doorways swing open, and
tlcipate at the finish OF this installment.
CLEANS the magical city OF Ophir! It
Is done IN the style of the Metropolitan
Opera House and ia said to make Coney
Island at Its gaudiest look like
suburban real estate development Any
writer OF popular magazine fiction Is
expected to gnav his knuclSles with
envy.
Much anticipation rests IN whether
yhA nrftlf~ In tba foli, ~-,fY
once moro take ~ the serial as glus-
tonously as on the Continent, where they
ere still the favorite diversions aside
from wars and private feuds. Such pro-
ductions are regarded as an old story
In the United States. but a decade has
passed since they were the furore here.
and a new generation OF movie patrons
unknown sensation. Serials are SO old
they will probably be a novelty.
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pick
ford are now seQuestered In Los Angeles
and Douglas is prcbably seeking solace
among his dogs for the fact that he was
unsuccessful In roping and tying up THE
lad Man." the play by Porter Emerson
B.Vwne on which he hoped to get rid
Of a little more surplus energy. Now
that he In 40 far away, and one is safe
from his well known quiclSness on the
oraw, II might be well to point out n
little sidelight on the domestic life Of
the Fairbanks family that seems to have
cscared even the eagle eye OF their press
agent.
Before they departed Mary declared
that Douglas while abroad would have
to amputate or IN scme way exterminstc
that nnustache he grew for '"rhe Three
Musketeers." and which he seemed in
clined to cuddle- Mary considered II
interfered.
Well. Douglas returned with the mus
tache In all its manly glory.
All Of which brings up the interesting
question: Who Is the court Of last ap-
peal IN the Fairbanks household?
Famous piayers-Lasky was recently
reported to have dragged s5.500.000
from Europe through its foreign picture
sales for the last year. Inquiry at the
Famous offices brought the reply that
thie was not the amount. and that, while
no exact figures c'nld be given because
Of the snarl of accountancy involved. the
European takings for the year were
quite a sizeable sum. worthy of respect,
even Of Monte Carlo.
on tho other hand Famous was re-
ported 70 be making much slower prog
ress than was expected with Its Under
taking to produce pictures in Germany
Win American directors. tecnn'cll BlHLI
and certain actors. perhaps because the
actinic rays Of tho san needed adjust
rnsnt OF something no movie business
could be run nowadays Without the word
''actinic."
Miss Pola Segri Is now taking a much
needed rest II Switzerland. evidently
having become so fatigued by the hand
shaking she underwent In her last pie
ture that. like Gen. Dias. sae must nurse
her fingers. Tho latest information
about her iF that this fascinating Euro
pean star. who. Charlie Chaplin says. Is
even moro winsofhe In the flesh than In
the film, Is actually going TO transport
her charm 20 America. She VIII arrive
In February. 10 ia said, and after being
tegted b- the usual round OF baaquets
ard still life speeches she will settle
down IN America ior good--as much as
enc OF her viva city can settle down.
The great authors movement has now
been frirly well accepted By Famous
Piayers-rasi<y. one Of the originators CT
Tho sdea OF having distinguished writer's
throw their IDEAS directly on the screen,
~ dead. with few fnorrnefs Among the
ncveDsts whom Il engaged Ia squads Sir
Gilbert Parker Ia s"id to have produced
one picture no fer. ~ "1ieholi Ny WIFE,"
which brought n money IN large enough
amounts 20 crowd tic bank Ei,nor
: Giyn produced IN THE Great Moment"
! what was considered a boz office sinash,
and much is iilSewse expected from her