Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-22

IN "A . matter OF fact, New England
- one Of the most frequently Sian
4o5ed localities ever shown on tn,
Z screen. Did that fact ever occur {,
\ ypni
& There is almost always the stern ant
K N1goted parent with the "Bcgone from
sSn1e door" attitude and generally pug
ADoei0usly cropped beard. On screen
n and stage, all New England farmers
and fathers seem to be the same. quick
20 suspect, quicker to denounce. and
uncommonly slow to forgive. Daugh :
ters, In these same films. have dis
treseing way of being put, sometimes
Snn0cently and sometimes not. into
compromising positions which result in
the aforementioned wrath Of their
4 fathers.
Then there usually follows n period
Of acute distress, usually accompanied
by q snowstorm, In which 1t Is shown
that the entire population of the coun =
tfyside, with about two executions. are
unreasoning. cruel ana narrow minded.
{ Everything comes out all right in the
K end in most cases but not before every
one in the audience has conceived n
very low and unnattering opinion of
the characteristics Of the New England
population.
Occasionally. the recipe is varied, and
the picture becomes comedy filed with
BE -Goshers' with quivering chin
whiskers who sit around interminable
cracker barrels and tell interminable
stories. In this case. the opinion con-
ceived by the audience Is one OF pro.
found contempt for the mentality OF
this same much abused class Of people.
Once in while. the scene is in II
New England fishing village, but If 1t
is 40, the audience gets better ac-
quainted with the sea than with the
/, fishermen. The latter are only seen
I ~ q stern faced lot In oil skins, VINO
ore forever saying good by to their
families in set formulas in order To
s'go down to the sea in ships. Here
the trouble is not that the character
astics Of the people are painted un-
plesantly, but that they are not given
any characteristics to speak OF. one way
or another. Their recreations, their
lishter moments, their idiosyncrasies
are seldom even limited while, scene
after scene is flashed to show the beat.
ing Of surf on the head'ands or the
wave. tossed smacks at even-tide. Inc
latter are always interesting and Ell
Iective, but they seem poor substitutes
for an enlightenment into the lives
Of q most fascinating and many.sidel
people.
One or two OF the Joseph iincoi'l
stories have been screened with
minimum of exaggeratton. ono. II mem
ory serves, with Theodore Robert:
sunerbly cast as a quaint old "Cap'n y,
Ths recent Aim at the Aldine. Hail
(. the Woman'' also had Mr.. Roberts.
/ Int. although strong in many scenes.
q was often grossly overdrawn,. Mary
fickford's "Pride of the Clan was u
wSrxure more interesting pictorially
{ksn as a story. WAY Down East
fRoush beautifully done. was the ou'
eolic at the Nth degree. There have
81 course been many others. but none
< that handled the New England back
around and the New England character
g humanity. as logically and yet as
fellingly as the West Virginia out,
country. was shown in aofaoie
David"
That is the reason why hope seems
% peer through the announcement os
!. ssrhe Seventh Day" which Is di-
rected by Henry King. the same man
Who made "Tol'able David" and an
artist in his line.
saThe Seventh Day" which was ac-
tuslly made up In Maine. belongs to
tAe fishing village variety Of the Way
Down East" species, and its author is
Porter Emerson Browne. still spoken
Of as the author Of "a Fool There
Was" and more closely bound up with
the current season here as being the
author of the delightful bad Man."
which played at the Walnut this win
ter.
In some ways. 'The Seventh Day"
hints Of CAPTAIN Courageous and.
therefore, emphasizes the fact that some
enterprising screen company ought to
aim the Kipling story in the locale OF
which 1t tells and in the exact manner
of the authors writing. Bartholmess
would be the man for the part. ana
= would be hard to fnd director more
At than King. Here would be q story
q New England which (nlthough writ
ten by a Briton) would be true to fact
and still Of q fascination beyond tell
ias.
N Reverting to that proposition Of last
weeks concerning the scarcity of film
actors who were known back in 1914
1915, and applying it to The Seventh
Day" cast. we find first n star who
was still in college then, leading lady,
Louise HUFF, was still on the stage,
though she came early to the screen.
and a character man, Frank LOssee.
who played In THE Eternal City,
Pauline Frederick's first picture, some-
where back in 1915. Tammany Young.
IN old Triangle favorite, Is also in the
Alm.
THERE is no use in looking for
i familiar names Of 1914 or any other
year in The Sheik's Wife, since this
10 q French production. The principals
are Emmy Lynn and Marcel Nbert,
names which probably mean a lot to
Paris cinema fans, but little to us.
& Nevertheless, The Sheik's Wife"
will be Of big interest because of the
authenticity of its scenes. The Great
Sahara itself was the actual setting for
this Henry Roussell tale, which, ruInor
has whispered, was filmed under name
entirely different from the present But
then who can blame the producers when
Dheiks have become such household
words In America?
Without going into the story, which
- sufficiently romantic and thrilling to
sHoease most of the flapper- fans, word
must be said for the value--it seems
q shame to say educationally. because
that word to some has a foreboding,
heavy sound. but educational il is
neverthe 'ess---of seeing the actual life
and people Of this little used country.
We have our Burton Holmeses and our
Bruccs and our Lyman Howcs, but it
isn't every day that an actual film story
has the backing of such striking inter-
est. 1t IL living document rather
than q fanciful tale.