Evening star., 1923-07-29
BY HALLETT ABEND.

Los ANGELES, July 26.-Pola
Negri effects a film comeback in 1.-THE
Cheat" her second American-made
film, which will be released to the
theaters late in September. I saw a
run Of this film in the projection room
on the Lasky lot yesterday and rank
her new photoplay as the best thing
she has ever done. except Passion"
which must still rank first.
In spots Gypsy Love" was better
than 'The Cheat" but only in spots.
The new Lasky film SO far transcends
Bella Donna" in plot. action. direc-
tion and in the work Of the star that
there is really no ground for COM
parison.
"The Cheat" was done first about
eight years ago by Fanny Ward and
Sessue Hayakawa, 1t has since been
made into a grand opera and into a
stage play and is now being novelized.
Charles de Rocho plays the part which
made Hayakawa famous. and while he
Is by no means the equal in power
of the famous Japanese actor, his
work In this play shows that the
I4asky move in importing him from
France was a wise one.
The principal fault with The
Cheat" is that it is overdressed. Pola
is superb in rags, and in this film the
old mistake has been made of put
ting her into costumes SO gorgeous
and so bizarre that the clothes catch
and hold the eye. This is a pity,
for her acting Is powerful and sin
cere. Anything which distracts at
tention from her face is bad direct
ing.
Gloria Swanson Has farce.
The other photoplays for early fall
release which are of unusual interest
Eighth Wife" and the B. p. Schulberg
production of THE Broken Wing"
starring Kenneth Harlan. with Miriam
Cooper playing the woman lead.
Miss Swanson's picture is a screen
adaptation of the frothy French farce.
Gloria is again clothes horse, but
she rises superior to her raiment, and
does better work than in the last half
dozen of her releases. Incidentally
she has a much better story than has
though the play is farce. it has it's
big moments. The way the star han
dies these big moments promises fine
things for her big emotional role in
"Zaza," which she is now filming.
Plot, titles and situations are taken
care of with great skill, and the re-
suit is photoplay that is altogether
worth while.
THE Broken Wing" carries one
from New York city to a Mexican
rancho, which is in territory con-
troled by a bandit general. 1t is on
this rancho that an injured Ameri-
can aviator has his romance. There
are plenty of both thrills and comedy
situations.
Another of Norma's Best.
have seen Norma Talmadge's s
"Ashes of Vengeance" the 9,000-foot
special s1,6OO.000 Schenck production
which will be released early in Sep
tember.
This feature is easily the best thing
"Smilin' Through" and far eclipses
within the Law" THE Voice from
the Minaret" and "The Eternal
Flame
The star is surrounded by an ex-
ceptional cast which includes Conway
Francisco, Wallace Beery and Andre
De Beranger. But her own charm
and skill as an actress make her
stand out pre-eminently above both
richly varied that they would eclipse
any one with a less vivid personality
ashes of Vengeance" was directed
by Frank Lloyd, who himself wrote
the scenario from the II. b. Somer-
Vile novel. 1t is far superior to the
novel. 1t tells a stirring tale of life
in Paris and rural France in 1872
The opening reels include the mas
sacre of st. Bartholomew, which is
handled with even more magnificenc1
than in D. W. Griffith's. Intolerance. ."
Tests for "DOrothy Vernon.
Mary Pickford has had costumes
made and is now undergoing screen
tests for the character of Dorothy in
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hail.
No definite announcement has yet
been made that this will be her next
picture; in fact, she has not made up
her mind, but she has owned the
story for several years, has long
wanted to make it, but has never before
gone so far as to make tests.
Another announcement of interest
is that Goldwyn's will film "Gulliver's
Travels" King Nidor will direct it
as soon as he returns from max
ing Hergesheimer's wild Oranges. -
Photographic experiments looking TO
the making of the Jonathan Swift
classic have been under way for
about three months and devices have
been perfected for showing Gulliver
in the land of the Lilliputians, where
he looms like a giant, and also for
showing him in Brobdingnag, where