The New York herald., 1922-08-14
Rachel CrotherS'S
Mice People, Thin
Screen Material
Miss Bebe Daniels Has Lead
ing Role in Fable About
Dissipated Flappers.

'.Nice People," made from Rachel
Crothers's play of the same name and
produced by William de Mile. was
shown yesterday at the Rialto. The
little fable about the disslpated flap
pers spreads thinly over the screen. AL
though the drama was acted less than
two years ago at the Klaw Theater, its
problem is already old. The rowdy gang
of girls that smoked cigarettes when not
slipping cocktails ana ceased from either
only to be kissed. has exhausted all its
possibilities for fiction. As a possible
result Of the war time democracy, such
flappers were accepted for a time in
the stage and between the covers of the
best sellers. Whether Scott Fitzgerald
or Miss Crothers invented them. how,
ever, they were not from life.
There always have been dissipated
and fast youngsters of both sexes. The
girls We're accepted as being In polite
surroundings In the social post war
phenomena. They were put there, how
ever, by the imagination of the writers.
They stayed in the chorus and the cab
aret, where, with some exceptions, they
all originated and belonged.
Now in the society of their betters,
they have ceased to have any but a
historic interest. Miss Bebe Daniels,
who seems to have taken st. Vitus for
her patron saint, supplants Miss Fran
cine Larrimore, who was Miss Crothers's
first heroine Miss Daniels moves at
such rapid gait that she usually keeps
well ahead of the story as the rest OF
the characters tell 1t. 1t is not bad
fun, however to examine the pictures
In, ,frh -1, M
they carry out the action as she has
already indicated its direction some time
before. Nobody could deny that as a
cinema actress she is a quick worker.
A slower gait might at times be a re-
lief.
Miss Daniels differs from Miss Larri-
more in certain interpretations of the
spoiled heroine of Miss Crothers's sue
cessful play. She wears, for instance.
dark riding breeches whereas Miss Larri-
more wore white linen. The breeches
of the original cast were moreover worn
very full over the hips and very tight
about the knees, while Miss Daniels
adheres in cut to a moderate fulness
throughout their whole length. There
are other differences such as the over
alls suggest. But they are trivial
OF course Miss Daniels is pretty.
Some OF her feminine associates on the
oAitT -ldiid iiliEnl nave Otti SciSSAtd "
throw this quality into still higher re-
lief. The scenes of country life are
beautiful. There was possible loss of
extreme interest in the scene of night
life from the picture Of the bears In tho
New York Geological Garden showing
their sensitiveness to jazz music. The
bruins did 1t so much more irresistibly in
the pictorial just before the picture play
began that the sight of them fingered
in the mind OF the audience.
Conrad NageL Wallace Reid and Ed
ward Martindel were popular figures in
this expert collection of pictures that
told so briefly the story of Nice Peo-
pie" Has brevity in a picture play ever
been accounted a defect?
The orchestra played the overture to
"Semiramide.'' NM. Baldrich and In
terrante sang a duet from The Pearl
fishers and Michael Leonoff was heard
In. -Sarasate's fantasie in airs frsom
J, aust" IN addition to the, picture
Gay there were interesting pictorials. a
Aullivan cartoon Comedy and Larry
.Semon in Colt