The Washington times., 1922-03-20
The Brides Play
At MOOre'S RialtO
Il Charming Story
BY KITTY MILLER.

in the new film at Moore's Rialto
Theater, entitled "The Brides
Play" The ancient legend that
gives the name to the picture, at
tempting to duplicate itself in this
day of storm and stress and motor.
got such black eye that mod
ernity triumphed, as of course it
should do, and invariably will do.
What was ''the brides play" of
which the picture had so much to
say? Well. in the olden days when
wishing wells and fairies and
witches and incantations and all the
rest of 1t prevailed 1t was the Gus
tom for a bride on her wedding
morn to ask of each man if he were
the one she loved. And t>sc answer
Of course was the negative. for the
sake Of the happy bridegroom. But
a legend told of a case when the
beautiful Enid of Cashel was
welded unwillingly to a gay Lo-
thario, and when 1t came time for
"the brides play" her lover ap.
peared, answered her query in the
affirmative and carried her off on
horseback.
This scene was actually shown
at Moore's Rialto, and so wonder
fully, realistically and artistically
shown that 1t gave ones sense of
beauty a treat. The settings, the
trappings and the display of this
acknowledgement story were
simply magnificent. The process
sion Of the guests across the moat,
with it's drawbridge. and all the
pompous machinery Of I'VE olden
days" was most gorgeously shown.
No scene that l have witnessed Of
late on the screen had so carried
me away as this.
The winSome Enid was Marion
Davies, who entered into the spirit
of the thing very charmingly in
deed. She was the fair lady" for
whom any knight might tilt, and
In her trailing draperies, her curl
Gus headdresses, and her wells and
laces, she looked precisely what
the legend suggested.
All this was the "flasnback." 1t
was one of the most logical flash
backs / can recall. Its charm
transported us from modernity
right into the heart of fantasy
the good old days and fairy story.
The modern case occurl ed previous
ly. Instead of Enid, the Marquis
of Muchross and Sir John Mans
field, we had Aileen Barrett, Sir
L'nrnttey TaSoi1Ny an1 IN Mnn6h
the poet.
The last was the swain who, in
"the brides play" should-if the
old legend had been duplicated
have borne away the lovely lady.
But what happened? The lovely
lady, sweetly modern, turned upon
the faithless lover and biffed him
one in the face. OF course we were
FLASHED forward" to this after the
flashback of the legend. The con-
trast was delicious The differ
ence between the then and the
now pricelessly was shown. Aileen,
in her bridal splendor. biting the
recalcitrant lover in the face, look
ed so admirably angry and so
determinedly modern that-we
chortled with glee.
And, again, it was Marion Davies,
who, as the modern Aileen. was the
storm center of the story. Now
that bridal dress, in its nodernity,
compared with the primitive glories
of Ends wedding clothes. Person
ally, being prejudiced in favor of
today, / couldn't help preferring
the trailing wedding veil, tho sump-
tuous white gown, and the swagger
simplicity of today to tt costliness
and jeweled splerdor of eight hun
dred years ago. 1t was very in
teresting to watch these two scenes.
1t was lesson. In fact, a picture
like THE Brides Play" gives one
ideas.
Miss Davies, in a variety of
moods, did excellent work. 1
think her elfish humor in the
early episodes of the film ap-
psaled to me- most strongly. 1t
is so difficult to be elfish-and
elves are so rare! Miss Davies
Is so lissome. Fat elves-well
nourished elves-are 80 unsatis-
factory. Wyndham Standing,
Carlton Miller, Jack O'Brien and
Frank Shannon all played with
self-restraint and charm.
The program of subsidiary at
fractions is fully up to the high
standard set by the major fea.
ture, the comedy offering, a Chris
tie production entitled "Oh, Prom
Use Me-" featuring Neal Burns,
being worthy of special mention
and one of the most laughable
seen in some time. The story is
a travesty on the love affairs of
a member of the A. T.. F., and
the production was staged with
the cooperation of the American
Legion, every male member of
the cast being an eX-service man.
The current issue of Fox News Is
unusually interesting.
On the musical portion of the
bill Director r. Bond Gotta and
his famous Rialto Orchestra take
full advantage of the Irish set
ting of the picture, and as re-
suit familiar and beautiful Irish
airs were the order of the day,
much to the delight, seemingly,
of all present. The overture for
the week, Flotows "Stradella,"
and a request encore number, a
waltz by Whiting, when Shall
We Meet Again" were also en-
Enthusiastically received.
NT.oLJ,D -