Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-07

flashes. II has the faults that he has
been 80 often unjustiy accused Of, and
il would seem almost as IL he had said,
"Now I'll show these people what
real hot .house superficial type OF screen
feature can produce"
The alleged humor Of the Saturday.
night bath IL used twice. The audience
laughed, with q bit Of polite boredom,
but It seemed rather like rubbing 1t In.
Conrad Nagel, Jack Mower, Edith Rob.
erts and Beatrice Joy do capable work
in the leading roles. They cannot help
It II the parts they play are often
idiotically impossible.
Palace-The idea of reformed crook
doing one last crooked deed to provide
for a girl and her invalid mother may
sound most banal and unoriginal. In
latest starring vehicle, there may be
unoriginality, but there Is little banality.
That this rather hackneyed plot is as
interesting and as belicvable as II Is
must be due to Mr.. Barrymore's indi-
vidual efforts plus the detection Of Tom
Terris. The supporting cast Is by no
means inspired, but remains generally
adequate.
Barrymore has the role Of n Chicago
g,nman, who reforms for the love of a
girl and then tries last Jimmy VAL
cntine" by robbing bank TO get money
to provide q home for the heroine $
aged mother. lie gets caught and serves
Jail sentence. Thep comes the rather
unmovic. like touch. He goes at once to
the girl, expecting to find the happiness
he SO richly deserves, and 10 and behold,
she is married and he Is forgotten. There
sa 1>t Al~k ...l l.
all the more poignant and appealing in
the hands Of SO skilled an actor as
Barrymore.
incidentally. boomerang Bill' is a
story within story. as 1t opens and
closes with scene on park bench In
which an old detective tells the story
of the gunman in order to save young
man from life Of crime. Jack Boyle is
the author.
victoria-That old stage melodrama,
"Ten Nights in Barroom,' finds ade-
quate presentation on the screen in the
directorial hands of Oscar APPEL. In
certain photoplay houses It should be
immensely successful, as tears and
thrills and laughs of the most patent
sort follow one after the other.
Included in the hair raising parts of
the film are log jam and the burning
of an inn, both of which, be 1t re-
marked, are splendidly photographed.
The ph0toplay version, while following
the original. has been brought up to
date by the skillful pen of l.. Case Rus
sell.
Regent-Pola Negri appears in still
another picture which shows either that
she is working overtime or else that she
has storehouse full of films laid by be-
fore she became famous over here.
The Last Payment is modern
story, capably directed by George ia
coby. but never rising above limited
heights. 1t concerns a woman of the
Latin Quarter who fees from n wild
life in Paris to exile in South Amer
lea. Later, after an unhappy marriage.
she is overcome by longing to see the
old haunts and returns to Paris. where
her guilty past rises up to block her
longed-for happiness.
Locust-Tred Stone is seen to excel &.
lent advantage in 1.-THE Duke of Chin
ney Butte which is comedy with
drama intsrlarded, with its scenes in the
Bad Lands of Wyoming.
Amidst background of cattle rust =
ling and cowboy antics, Stone performs
his many popular feats of athletic dar-
ing. smiles a disarming smile and ma kes
love like an old screen lover. VIOLA Vale
Is the principal lady in the case, and
Josie Sedswick is another who assists
materially in the unfolding of the plot