Evening star., 1926-03-07
The Moving Picture
By Robert E. Shermood

| BF hOOPTL Il. CHPTUOOu
THE exceedingly dressy little En-
bassy Theater. in New York
opened It's doors last week for the
world premiere of King Vidor's pro
duction of La Boheme," with Lillian
Gish and John Gilbert in the stellar
positions.
For the occasion a typical hrSt
night audience turned out and the
entrance to the theater, as usual, was
blocked by an excited mob Of people
who had come to feast their eyes on
the celebrities Ticket holders were
compelled to force their way through
these stalwart lines of defense, and
more than one orchid was crushed
in the scuffie.
John Gilbert was there. with Norma
Shearer and Richard Dix. When the
orchestra burst forth into the over
ture. | saw Mr.. Dix lean over and
shake Mr. Gilbert's hand: just what
words accompanied this fraternal
clasp I do not know. but it is safe to
assume that the phrase best of luck
came in somewhere.
Mae AIlirry also was present. as
were Hope Hampton. Adolph Zuker
CdIllutl 1tlhN IL, AiiONli ms ~ hAiiAS -
Nidor. Eleanor Boardman. Mayor
Walker. Gertrude Olmstead and prob
ably great many other nota bles whom
| did not happen to see. Not the least
conspicuous of the spectators was
Mary Lewis. the young American
soprano who recently made her debut
in La Boheme" at the Metropolitan
Opera House.
Those who attended this movie
opening expecting to hear Puccini's 6
score as accompaniment for the
picture were doomed to disappoint-
ment. The publishers who control
the Puccini copyrights had withheld
permission to use the music of La
Boheme" in conjunction with the film,
on the grounds that it might preju-
dice popularity of the opera itself.
A satisfactory substitute was found.
After the general hullabaloo con-
nected with the arrival of the audi
ence had subsidized. and when the
cash coustomers had finally managed
to struggle to their seats, the picture
itself burst forth from the projection
machines, accompanied by flurries of
polite applause.
Gradually, as the reels unwound, a
dense cloud of boredom settled over
the generally festive scene. and long
befort the unfortunate Mimi had
coughed her last the realization
dawned that another pretentious
effort had Topped in it's tracks.
Viewed with all the tolerance that
the most impartial witness can
muster. la Boheme" cannot be class
flied as other than a failure. Equipped
with cast that Includes such re-
liable performers as Lillian Gish, John
Gilbert Renee Adoree, Karl Dane.
Roy Darcy and Edward Everett
Horton (all of whom have achieved
outstanding performances in their
time). and directed by so expert a
craftsman as King Vidor, La
Boheme" still manages to be almost
painfully dull.
Mr.. Vidor has tried to emphasize
the romantic aspect of the story to
such an extent that his characters
never, by any chance. behave like
legitimate human beings. Even his
Perhaps this method of treatment was
sound in theory but in practice it
fails to come off. The romance of
La Boheme" appears as phoney as
its scenery.
There are moments when Miss Gish
justifies reputation AS the first
actress of the screen; there are other
moments when she is downright ham.
Mr.. Gilbert, whose work in THE
Merry Widow and "The Big Parade
was so flashily brilliant, is away off
form IN La Boheme." He is too
strenuous. too blatantly emotional. to
be convincing.
OF the rest, only Renee Adoree
manages to substain her previous
reputation.
The producers of La Boheme" have
courageously retained the unhappy
ending, but that really makes little diff
ference. Even with a happy ending it
would still be pretty dreary affair.
In passing I should like to utter a
word for the previous tenant of the EN-
bassy Theater. THE Merry Widow. y
which opened that pretentious play.
house last September and remained
there for some 800 performances.
| saw "The Merry Widow" the night
it opened, and again the night it closed
and it remains one of the most thor,
oughly delightful pictures in my mem
ory. incidentally, it has meant great
deal to those who were most actively
engaged in its production.
First of all, THE Merry Widow
saved Erich Won Stroheim from the ash
heap. toward which he had been head
ing since his disastrous experience
with Greed" Metro-Goldwyn his
previous employers, had fired him and
no other producer cared to give him a
job. But the enormous success OF
THE Merry Widow has restored his
prestige and he is now about to pro
duce two pictures for Famous Players
THE Merry Widow was similarly
beneficial to Mae Murray, who hao
been fading so materially as popular
star that she had even decided to give
up her career in this country entirely
and go to work in Germany. Miss
Murray has now signed a new contrac
with Metro-Goldwyn.
AS for John Gilbert, his performance
as Prince Danilo in "The Merr,
Widow" represented the turning poin
! in his life. 1t caused him to be Sc
lected for the important part of the
hero in The Big Parade" and boosted
him automatically to stardom
| have heard from many people wht
disagree violently with my favorable
opinion of The Merry Widow" bu
these protests cannot impel me to re
wise my original verdict. This picture