Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-17
The Moving Picture
By Robert E. Sher7Uood.

The Warmers Theater, in New
! York. is now ringing with the strains
| of sea charities and nautical ballads.
| in celebration of the presence, in that
playhouse, Of the new John Barry
more picture. THE Sea Beast" This
is one of those 12-reel specials, which
is displayed twice daily, at 81 a throw
There are some gorgeous sea scenes
| in the picture, and a great many rich
| characteriZations. but THE Sea
! Beast viewed in its entirety, is dis
I appointing. 1t takes several hours to
reach a gwen point, and then moves
! past that point with all the reckless
speed of a procession Of tanks.
The Sea Beast" was adapted from
/ the famous story Of whaling days,
"Moby Dick" and was selected by
| Mr.. Barrymore after he had seen
| Down to the Sea in Ships" He
yearned for the opportunity 10 har-
! pooh a whale. and The Sea Beast"
| gives him more than one chance TO
! do so. He goes forth from New Bed
/ ford determined to conquer the most
! vicious of all whales, Moby Dick.
! whose white head has been a source
! OF terror to Seamen on all the seven
! seas.
/ In his first encounter with Mobv
! Dick our hero comes out second best:
! he lands the harpoon successfully, but
| the Infatuated whale turns on him and
bites off his leg Several years fand
several reels) later. Moby Dick again
crosses his rath-but this time our
hero is too much for him. He swims
| after the whale, mounts his white
back like cowboy on a broncho and
drives the harpoon up to the hilt The
whale meekly surrenders.
The heroine In The Sea Beast" is
played by beautiful young lady
named Dolores Costello, the daughter
OF that celebrated idol OF the old days,
Maurice Costello, whose we'll chiseled
countenance was dear 70 the hearts
of all feminine fans IN the days when
the movies were really young.
II is interesting TO see the new
generation appearing on the screen;
there are two Costello sisters now en-
ployed by Warner Brothers.: there is
a Francis Y. BuShman, jr., and
Douglas Fairbanks. jr. One of these
days some of us old timers will see
star bearing the name of John Coo
gan, Sd, and we shall be constrained
to murmur, Yes, the kid is good, all
right. But you should have seen his
old father play Oliver Twist"
Many of the pictures that have been
shown recently in New York have
oeen unaccompanied by any pro-
logues. or incidental presentation
| programs, of any kind. This is
source of vast satisfaction to me.
When 1 go to the movies l desire to
see pictures, and l am always an
noyed when I have to wade through
a series of ballots, harp solos and
mixed quartets before l can reach the
desired objective.
1t has frequently been maintained
that an atmospheric prologue is es-
sentlal to pictures success. In spite
Of this, The Merry Widow" The
Big Parade and "Ben.Hur" have
done very we'll all by themselves. In
deed. THE Big Parade" is making
more money than any picture that
mas ever been shown in New York.
Maj. Edward Bowes, who succeeded
Samuel l.. Rothafel ("Roxy'D as man
aging director Of the Capitol Theater.
recently remarked: 1.-THE prologue
extracts an important part of the plot
and reveals and destroys the dramatic
effect which the makers of the picture
nave gone to great lengths to achieve.
The medium of the stage is different
from that of the screen: the tempo.
the elements are entirely foreign: the
whole stage picture is SO far afield
from the elements Of the motion pic
ture as to make the contrast appear
ludfcrous."
This Is true falkland 7. for one
hope that 1t will be absorbed and di.
gesteG by exhibitors throughout the
country.
Copyright. 1e26.)