New-York tribune., 1922-02-27
On the Screen
Polly of the Follies' With Con-
stance TaImadgc al Strand;
u aIlace Reid at Rivoli
BY Harriettc Underhill

expect 1t IS much better. John Fmcr-
son and Anita Loos have buided this
new vehicle for Constance Talmadce.
aud they have buildcd We'll
"Polly of the Follies' IS the feature
at The Strand this week. and if YOU &c
to see it we can promise you an hour
Of unalloyed joy
But first it is only fair to warn
You. There is very little story there.
no dramatic moments and no plot 1t
is Just the showing Of 3 few days in
tho he Of little Folly Meacham. who
lived with her cross ola uncle in a
Connecticut town and helped in the
drug store when she wasn't making
beds or scrubbing floors. In two places
the story stands perfectly still for
more than reel while Polly gives a
show and while the hero tells the
truth about Cleopatra and Cesar which
history has over. ooked OF course in
his minds eye Polly is Cleopatra, be-
cause he has fallen in love with her
The idea IS novel, but it takes a
celebrity like MIR. Emerson OF Miss
Loos to get away with it. If any un-
known attempted it the script would
be returned with "Unsuitcd to our
present needs" neatly typed on it,
PoNy's uncle is the towns Mayor
and he votes to have the only thcater
closed. While he - away tending to
this Polly gets up an entertainment
for the children who have been locked
out Of the movie house She PLAYS the
heroine and the vamp, her little
brother does the character bits and
an old suitor is the nero ard the viii
ain. She uses the advert scments out
Of the drug store for sub-titics. They
seem to be siagularly appropriate
"Muricl, pure as the pines is the
heroine Lord Salsbury' is the vii
ain, "Union Jack" is the hero. ga
tina Is the Vamp and "Mrs. Win
slow" the old character woman This
play Of PoNy's is the funniest thing
John Emerson and Anita Loos every
DID, Next funniest is tho story of
Cleopatra. where Constance IS seen as
the vamping queen. Il is broad bur
lesque. and there is no doubt but what
no star is having the time of her lie
while She plays it.
Thank heavens these two writer's
nave never sucCumbei to the movie
bug which stings so many people and
k.
We are SICK to death of dramatic situ-
atoms and big moments ia pictures
whore the heroine becomes palpitating
and the hero becomes noble and a les
son is driven home.
In Polly of the Fol'ies' the hero
happens along and secs the play which
Polly has staged. He recognizes the
girls talent >Nd gives her his card.
telling her thss if she should ever 20
to New York to look him IN a little
later she does 60 TO New York. and she
goes to Flo Xiegfeld and manages to
gct a chance to rehearsc with the new
frolc. But she part Of the show
Tor only two minutes. for she no sooner
gets out on the stage than she is
fred. So she was never really Polly
Of the Folies Instead, She married
the hero and had TWINS, and the girl
who was engaged to the hero IN the
beginning took Polly S place in the
show. it was what she wanted all the
time, while Polly probably preferred
the twins.
Kenneth Harlan is the hero in the
case and Billie Dove is the girl he was
engaged to who threw him over for the
Follies. Others in the cast who do ex-
cellent work are Theresa Maxwell Con
over. George Fawcott, Bernard Ran
dali. John Daly Murphy Frank Lalor,
Tom Carr and Horace Knight
Richard Bold, the Strands hand
some tenor. is heard in the prologue,
vhere ie is assisted by ethel Bert
The special scenic effects arc not
much to our liking, though it must
have cost a lot OF money TO make
that big tinfoil star 90 around that
way.
On the picture program is a Larry
Semon comedy, The Saw Mill" which
is all right if YOU Ike cm, and also
a sport review done by Jack Eaton
and Grantland Rice, which every one
is bound to like. 1t is called Taking
the Air."
The overtime is from "Tannhaeuser,
and the Tartakoi Russian dancers are
seen in folk dances
An unpopular play may succeed a
a screen drama but We doubt if a
popular play can ever be Transferred
to the screen so that it viii suit New
Workers who have seen the original.
In the first place they always select
such different types to play the ro.es
that 1t keeps you busy try ng to adjust
them in your mind, and then YOU keen
looking for the bright lines in the
play which you hope have been used
rs sub-titles; and you fret when thew
leave out your favorite situations. as
they always do. But. then. as pro
ducers are continually pointing out to
US. New Workers are only very small
part of their audiences. and what
boots il if the metropolitan audiences
disapprovc if a picture goes great on
tao road
At the Rivoli this week Wallace Reid
IS appearing in The Worlds Cham
pion.' which is the screen version of