The Washington times., 1923-04-01
BY ALAN DALE.

II is an embarrassment Of riches.
It is a veritable perplexity OF
beauty. At first you determine to
follow the matchlessly gripping
story of Ibanez-undoubtedly the
finest raconteur Of the century
and to center your attention upon
the unusual acting Of the various
members OF the company. Then
you do perceive q divided duty
inasmuch as the pictures them
selves1.he 'opuience Of Monte Carlo,
the sumptueusness Of Prince Lubi-
motifs fetes and the accuracy OF
detafl-appeal to you.
Seldom is. Il that such an EN-.
barrassment occurs. Fine acting Is
frequently unadorned. Perfect pic
lures are often left to speak for
themselves. The picture at the
Cen.raI Theater, entitled Enemies
Of Women" combines. the two
charms. and the actors are not sub
merged beneath the ''sets'' nor are
these impertled by the actors.
A REAL STORY.
Ibanez has q story to tell, and
In this picture he tells 1t as only
he can. There Is the deftest
characterization in the role Of Lubi-
moff, the rake who regards all
women as his legitimate prey.
There is q wonderful feminine in
terest in Alicia, the lovely siren
who finally wins him. There is
truth and there is pathos in the
person Of CASTOR, the lad who, in
an intensely dramatic episode, has
an encounter with Lubimoff. And,
In addition, there are such roles as
Marcos, Vittoria, Spadoni and the
Cossack to reckon with.
One Of the most thrilling fencing
bouts I have ever seen on stage or
screen takes place in the earlier
episodes Of Enemies of Women"
The Cossack and Lubimoff are the
participants. These are Lionel
Barrymore and Paul Panzer. The
faces of these twain, displayed in
close-ups during the progress Of
the fight, are unforgettable.
I shall not speak much Of the
various mob scenes. There are
mobs, and mobs. All can say is
that these pulsed. vibrated, DOM
mated and thrilled. The faces
glowed through the turmoil. and the
bodies swerved, swung and bridled
with their emotions. Monte Carlo,
in all its aureate loneliness, de-
lighted the eye. Even the gambling
rooms. that have engaged the at
tention of writer's all over the world,
were shown with new wrinkles.
The fatigue and the fever Of the
players were described in these
pictures with tremendous enthus
tasm. Nothing is quite beyond the
scope of Ibanez. I have read his
novels with the keenest joy-from
''The Four Horsemen" to Blood
and Sand" This Enemies OF
Women" seems to me to compare
with his finest.
WONDERFUL ACTING.
have already paid my conapli
ments to Barrymore. He has ex
celled himself. Miss Rubens, dark
svelte and beautiful, gave an in
telligently forceful performance
Her finest closeup was in the Carl
of the nurse, when her feature,
gave one an uncanny sense Of
reality. She seemed to be speak
ing-one could almost hear he,
voice. Young William Collier wa
a surprise to me. have seen hin
as a sort of support to pepper, II
Enemies of Women" the boy dis
plays great dramatic ability. Garrett
Hughes gave the necessary toucI
of dreaminess to the Violinist. Al
for the various "beauties'-won'
our Ziegfeld, our Flo. step in an,
sit up to take notice? The dill
ferent types OF feminine loveIines
were indescribably alIurinE.
Enemies of Women" has oil
one over. It has put several over
Positively the industry" is adde's
cent! The much advertised infanc