Evening star., 1925-11-29
LtncOln
The Moving Picture
By Robert Z. Sher7vood.

WHENEVER a big movie opens in
New York with attendant alarms,
excursions and personal appearances
by the stars, the local constabulary
is called out to maintain order in the
streets surrounding the theater. There
is always a great deal of hullabaloo.
and the press agents are almost (but
not quite) overcome by the general
excitement.
Last week New York saw two such
important openings, stella Dallas"
(at the Apollo Theater) and THE Big
Parade" (at the Astor). Both pic
lures were watched by brilliant audi
ences, and both established them
selves instantly among the greater
| achievements of movie history.
Among those present on these aus
picious occasions were Leatrice JOY.
John Gilbert, Thomas Meighan and
wife, Richard Barthelmess, Lewis
,, Stone. Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky, Mar
Gus Lowe, Hope Hampton, Lois Moran n
| and Belle Bennett the stars of
Stella Dallas"). Lois Wilson. Alice
Joyce, Ben Lyon, Anna Q. Nilsson,
| James Kirkwood and Lila Lee, Sam
uel Goldwyn and doubtless many
other celluloid celebrities who escaped
my attention.
I may be pardoned for falling to see
| them. The crush at these opening
nights is something awful, what with
| the stars themselves and the swarms
| Of eager fans whom they attract. The
| casual spectator, who comes to see
| the picture rather than the audience,
must fight his way to his seat and
| back to civilization-sugges that
| the ideal movie critic at such times
| would be Harold Re0 Grange.
| y r * X
Stella Dallas" the latest and most
| ambitious of Samuel Goldw-yn's trib-
utes to art, is a beautiful and haunt
| ingly wistful story of a mother who
| wasn't good enough for her child. 1t
| has been directed with fine feeling
| by Henry King (who was responsible
| for "Tol'able David" and THE White
| Sister'), and it is played in it's two
| principal roles by pair of actresses
| who names are comparatively new in
| the world of the filfls-Belle Bennett
and Lois Moran.
| Miss Bennett is the crude. vulgar,
ostentatious. Gaudy. but warm hearted
| mother, and Miss Moran is the quiet,
gentle, we'll bred and loyal daughter.
They both approximate perfection in
| their performances. Cold and unrespon.
sive as may be, am compelled to con-
| fess that Miss Bennett and Miss Mo-
| ran caused me to shed more than one
furtive tear. The lady on my right
sobbed openly and without shame.
| There are other good performances
in Stella Dallas" by Ronald Colman,
Alice Joyce and Douglas Fairbanks,
| jr.
| y X X
"The Big Parade" is also calcu-
| lated to inspire tears, but in a vastly
different way. For here Is the great
| est war picture of them all, the ulti-
mate denunciaIion of organized
slaughter as it was practiced on the
fair fields of France in the years
| 1917-1918.
| 1t was written by Laurence Stall
| ings (co-author of What Price
Glory') and directed by King Vidor,
one of the real artists of Hollywood,
whose work up to now has not had
the recognition 1t deserves.
"The Big Parade" tells Of three
men-one a wealthy idler, one a
structural iron worker and the third
| a bartender-who marched shoulder
| to shoulder up the highways of
France and there discovered horror.
John Gilbert, Karl Dane and Tom
| O'Brien are the three soldiers, and
| all are splendid. Renee Adoree is a
little French girl, through whose life
! marches the American Expeditionary
Force The big parade itself is an
| apparently interminable procession
| of brown motor trucks carrying the
| troops forward into the zone of fire.
There art tremendous battle scenes
| in 1.-The Big Parade"-more stirring
| than any battle scenes I have ever
seen in the movies-but the finest
moment in the picture are provided
in the simpler and more intimate cpl
sodes, when Mr.. Gilbert shows Miss
| Adoree the picture of the girl back
| home, and she realizes that there is
| another girl to whom he will return
when Mr.. Dane las Slim, the corporal)
lies dying in no mans land; when
| Mr.. Gilbert tries to bayonet wound
ed German machine gunner, and then
Instead gives him his last cigarette
1.-The Big Parade" is a great pic
! ture-one that deserves to be remem.
] beved when another "war to end war"
| Is imminent.
(Copyright. 1925-