Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-10-17
LIONEL BARRYMORE IN
YEARS BIG THRILLER
Face in the Fog" With Punch
From Start to Finish. Tops
Stanley Bill


palm. So far this year. must be handed
10 The Face in the Fog" which is one
Of the Boston Blackie crook stories.
In all the hectic years of the films. we
never remember having seen better
thriller. and the best part Of it all is
that The Face in the Fog is acteh
by a matchlcss cast and is mechanically
almost perfect.
Tho opening scene shows New York
on very foGsy evening in spring. We
see gay restaurant, Its lights shroudct
I ly tho moist curtain. There Is an yld
beggur standing in front Of the door.
| Boston HlnCkie. reformed crook. and his
young wife who did the reforming come
out OF the door, and her sympathy is
aroused by the bcggar's plight mo-
m"nt later. a hidcous. misshapcn face
! appears out of the fog, and the bcssHr
! is Strlc; dead with his own crutch All
this. however. comes after the menb-
; cant has slipped into Boston Blackic $
pocket n handful Of jewels.
Half an hour later. Secret Service
man. a squad of police. the man WITH
the hidcOus face. and n Russian exile
are oil on their way to BlaCkic's house
to find those jewels.
Th" entire action of the story tran
spires in single night. in fact, within
4 few hours. with only one 'cut back.
In story form. to Russia. This, now
ever. does not hurt the action. which IS
, thc most concerted. direct and withal
| simple the films have achieved in ages.
/ Thcr" is thrill in the opening scen",
md surprise punch with laugh In Il
! for tho finale.
( TO see Lionel Barrymore. spick and
I span for change. as Boston Blackie
is something of rare treat. With n
twinkle in his eyes and a smile lowering
on his lips. the Barrymore OF this pic
ture is quite different from that Of Tho
! Copperhead' and Boomerang Bill"
We can think of no part in all the
annals Of filmdom demanding that suave
and calculating calm lncceSsary for
crooks or, in this case, cx crooks! which
has been half rs we'll played
George Nash is n bully foil az the
Secret Service man who knew Elackie in
his unregcncratc days; Macy Harlan
is Ivan. a Russian villain; Lowell
sherman. immense as another Russian
exile. heroic instead of v!llainous for a
change. Seenn Owen can hardly be
recognized as a Russian grand duchess,
but her ability to act is still with her.
And that face in the fog sinister.
hideous. menacing. is played by our one
and only Hairy Ape in vi.lainous
style that is quite remarkable for its
evil spirit. The fight he and Barry
more stage is almost a screen classic.
Mario Majeroni. Mary McLarcn and
GuStNvo von Scyffertitz complete the
remarkable cast.
To Frederick Allan Crosland. who
directed. and 10 the unnamed camera
man who created artistic masterpieces
in fOggy New York streets and lamp-lit
Russian alleys too much credit cannot
be b" towcd. The Face in the Fog is
something that all the fans should see
and enjoy. It's real stuff.
Karlton-'The Sin Flood" is pic
turc that is definitely different from the
average screen output. Furthermore.
it is decidedly head and shoulders al Owe
that average output.
Fo" this rcasSl. then il might seem
captious to pick flaws in the filming OF
This Ilcnnng Berger story, IN itself
ambitious and praiSrworthy The fact
remains that the real purpose of this
grim and meaty tale of the weakness of
mankind is only dimly and partially
allowed 70 penetrate to the screen.
Eleven distorted and warped souls
NV '""e'N !" :,
L''ht ui"|I S"'Io. T, .nr'' d t""u ] n.y. W..
face prospective death. and repentance.
mostly Of the psalm singing kind.
strikes theIn. The Brotherhood Of Love
comes to them in the hour OF their peri!
and we are led to believe that they are
reformed characters. Then the flood re.
cedes and the skies brighten, and they
come up from their refuge. Are they
purified and rcpentant souls; Not So
yoI could notice it. just one out OF
those eleven I"r>"ns is changed for the
better: the others Immediately revert
to their former characteristics.
James kirkwo0d is the one REFORMED
and notable performance. Richard DIX
is nor so satisfactory in weakius
rnIn IInIcrc Chadwick gives one Of tie
mast striking niece, of acting in the
nir,I,rr and cameo characterization
ara ~anIcrni by otto Hoffman. Darwin
~" !; r'',"ie' anI pnInh NJ LOWS rs nieres o.
'ir;t.,,nmT ir"t % crIla,.tnd in the saloon.
t.o,, ,,o,gb tha sIbtIetieS Of ,Lur,c.
i','' We ,"G nonnot he mn, nrrnss n,
"a" S.'''n a. aIe' omn".i,', son 80
ms hl"r%' anu ,,,,r .,r'.d, ,a'% ,"'
i"" ''i!r'>lols u ppJ,, p"ptat ,i' ,au,t'
'!'i' ne On : Iooi " ~" iIu'
TN" 'Hrr'l'c sclceI''. A''
L.a"'ca!'E' dIhAos' p''teI"' "'"''
ALine-." Kindred Of III" lNst' 8
another Of those very entertaining bUt
entirely pointless out of door yarns
tlat love TO find their way 70 the screen
Peter B. Kvne wrote il, and when he
writes the fur flies and the red blood
flows. The fans will not consider
money badly spent If they go 10 see IT,