The New York herald., 1922-06-26
The Wall FIower'
ShowS Hon Clothes
Make the Woman
Miss Colleen Moore Develops
From Shrinking Girl to So
ciety Woman in New Film.
CAPITOL-"The Wall Flower Rupert
Hughes comedy for Goidwyn, with
Miss Colleen Moere. Written and di-
rected by Hughes.

CAPITOL-"TheW Wall Flower Rupert
Hughes comedy for Goidwyn. with
Miss Colleen Moore. Written and d.
rected by Hughes.
The styles of almost any screen
actress one may care to mention are ex-
plotted by Miss Colleen Moore in de-
veloping from shrinking violet OF the
wall flower species to blooming society
bud. First she LILLIAN Gishes. She
Gishes to the extent of requiring only
ash blonde hair to be Lillian herself,
with the trembling upper lip, the awk-
ward, helpless hands and the general
expression of a startled fawn.
When she Is rugged out in an out
landish costume for a Junior prom at a
small college. to which she Is invited by
accident, she looks like Ia Su Pitts in
her more bizarre moments-all dressed
up and no place to hide. Then, as a
friendly and artistic young woman of
society takes her in hand and begins to
make her into work of art she begins
to exhibit the quiet charm of Lois
wilson-nothing to bowl you over you
know, but it gets you. Presently she
has perked up and becomes sort Of
finally. when she attains fame by doing
Hindu water dance in swimming
pool, she undulates after the style of
Ruth st. Denis--or a water lily. Her
costume in the latter episode, be 1t said,
IS glistening but not outrageous, for
Hollywood is already feeling the uplift.
She wears nothing to arouse the bushes
of the Mack Sennett bathing beauties.
She needs to look depressed in the
early part of the picture, for her shrew
ish mother robs IddIeme Nobbin of all
her natural elasticity of disposition.
suppressing her daughter until she has
made the girl look like the skeleton in
the family closet. When the village
wall flower Is invited by mistake to the
prom the student who made the blunder
has to bribe his fellow undergraduates
to get them to dance with this mishap.
Learning of this inadvertently, IduleVs
throws herself in despair under the
wheels of motor car. but is rescued
by Richard Dix, who previously had
come into her life by tumbling there
from ain automobile accident-Dixs
favorite entrance in a picture of late.
Of course you guess long way ahead
that the wealthy young mans sweet
heart Is going to turn the ugly 6uckling
into swan with a few passes of the
hand over her gowns. that all the young
nen who formerly spurned her are go
ing to be sorry, and that IGdlene will re-
quite her benefactors altruism by
marrying her beau. Perhaps there is a
hiddcn moral here "Girls never try to
make another woman as pretty as your
self without frs. blindfolding your
fiance."
1t Is the familiar story. simple almost
to the point of slenderness, thai clothes
make the woman when properly as
sembfed. The scene in which a very
dow,fy gown Is transformed into some
thing stunning right before your eyes is
very Impressive, though the male specta-
tor feels -ra Their intrusive at this point
He Wonders where Rupert Hughes got
his effective knowledge OF costuming.
even after years as married man.
Human and Humorous Touches.
! In directing his story for the first
time Hughes has introduced many of
the intimate human ard humorous
touches that have been mentioned about
him-he must have feard of this-but
sometimes the main thread is dropped
while the players are merely "cute" His
sub-titles are excellent, but few close
ups might have been introduced at
strategic moments. particularly to show
the Chagrin of the college student when
he finds what the train brought in. His
theme of The desire of all flowers even
OF the wall variety to express them
selves in terms Of beauty, is eternally
true. but evolution, regardless of the
advertising of William J. Bryan, Is hard
IN I'M tfN he