New-York tribune., 1922-10-16
On the Screen
Ray Makes Part Real in ..Tailor
Made Man.; May McAyoy liz
Heal Star in ssClarence''
BY Eiarriette IJndcrhill


Many people insist that 1t Is not a
reviewers business to say whether q
play is good or bad: that he merely
should tell what it is all about. Yes
seIday we felt inclined to agree with
begpie a r VINO say this, although we never
haa feit SO before.
a;l1ng I1nnlng person Of strong likes and
aisiikes, it would be well-nigh impossi-
Die for us to write about thinr and
nor say whether we loathed it or loved
-, euI 1t ls easy to be neutral when
Sou 90 not know just what you do
.,iihk, and that Is the way we feel
aoout the two pictures we saw yester-
They were "A Tailor-Made Man.. at
Ine n strand" and Clarence" at the
hiYoii. II is difficult to Judge the
merits ~ ~, OF a picture made from q play.
= pney stick closely to the original
.ne picture is apt to be dull, and so
s0u so tnpei 1t: II they improvise you
thss tshhs Sot bit like the play. Why do
they put them on the screen Z"
Ray Retains His Charm
iI IS some time since we saw "a
Ialior-Made Man." and so we had only
hazy idea Of just what Grant Mitch
ell did In the part. Furthermore. we
are ready to accept Charles Ray in any
role, being one OF the persons who has
remained -, true to our allegiance.
therefore,. while we hesitate to say
1hat the play has made good picture
we 40 not hesitate to say that we en-
Joyed It,. Mr.. Ray has not lost one
atom OF that pathetic charm which won
Tor him the hearts Of all theatergoers
nj -
Paul Bart with all of the naive whim-
slcality which belongs to that char
acter.
When no finally found himself in the
nome OF the Stanlaws, an uninvited
guest, looked at askance by the host
snd hostess and appraisingly by the
invited guests, we suffered with him,
and when he attempted to appear at his
ease by remarking "A genuine Watteau''
again and again, only to be snubbed
Tor MS pains. we felt that the people
around US who laughed were hard
hearted souls, who probably would be
capable OF ignoring stray dog or
drowning q kitten which was de trop.
The reason you enjoy the picture so
much, If you do enjoy it, is because
Charlie Ray makes John Paul Bart a
real person, and we suffered with him
knowing, even as we did, that it was all
gong to turn out right in the end.
Ihe most exciting episode in the pic
ture Is worked out so beautifully that
II you stop to remember that it is in
terpolated, you are only glad that they
didn't decide to leave it out. It is after
John has persuaded his employers to
sign the bill preventing the strike. John
promises the labor leaders that he will
have the thing signed and in their
hands by ten in the morning and a
meeting Of the board is called for 8
o'clock.
When he starts out to race with the
message OF peace to the ship yards, he
is intercepted by enemies and there
ensues chase such as even Mack Sem
nett never dreamed of; under water
and over bridges, on ships and in motor
boats. The hero finally jumps over
board with the paper in his mouth and
falls fainting on the dock just as the
whistle, calling the strikers to battle,
pierces the air.
Is Anti-Climactic
John is reused by the sound and man
ages to drag himself to the rope and
hang on. In this way the signal is given
by the whistle which spells victory
to the workmen and when they rush to
find out who is sending out this mes
sage John thrusts the paper in their
hands. That was the place to end the
story, and the rest of it is. oh, so anti
climactic! John goes back to his press
ing board ana most unattractive
fiancee.
The cast is large and distinguished,
but no one had very much to do save
Ray. Stanton Heck plays Abe Ma
than, the millionaire who started
John on his career when he had his
clothes pressed in the tailor's shop
where John was working. Douglass
Gerard plays Gustav Sonntag, the
doctor who aspires to the hand of
Johns tiancee, and he looks exactly
like Morris Gest in so doing. Albert