A real nice fella. I wonder if he hated his mother.scsu1975 wrote: ↑April 21st, 2024, 12:19 pmThe reviewer was named H.E. Shumlin. It is possible this is Herbert Elliot Shumlin, who later directed Watch on the Rhine.laffite wrote: ↑April 21st, 2024, 11:57 am The reviewer of that execrably scathing review of Miss Forrest ought to be named for posterity. She might be as bad as all that but she nevertheless needs a name so that her ancestors can have a target for retribution or even revenge. On the other hand, the wordage is one of the most brilliant and entertaining take downs in the literature of criticism. : - )))
Here is a sample of what he wrote about the screenwriter for The Satin Girl:
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NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
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"The Murri Affair" (1974)
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
The Estate of Mable Forrest is reportedly ecstatic that the movie has been labelled "presumed lost" for obvious reasons and some have sued to have it changed to "totally lost" status though an insider note has suggested that they are having second thoughts about that.
There is a picture of Mable on IMDB where she is looking up and smiling, as if in some rollicking comedy. She was actually in "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" but alas as an un-credited newspaper reporter. She is "known for" a 1959 episode of the Twilight Zone and she lived until 1967 and lived to be 74.
RIP Mabel, we love you anyway.
There is a picture of Mable on IMDB where she is looking up and smiling, as if in some rollicking comedy. She was actually in "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" but alas as an un-credited newspaper reporter. She is "known for" a 1959 episode of the Twilight Zone and she lived until 1967 and lived to be 74.
RIP Mabel, we love you anyway.
"The Murri Affair" (1974)
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/7AVWwCl.png)
Torment, directed by Maurice Tourneur, starred Owen Moore as Jimmy Hansen*, Bessie Love as Marie, and Jean Hersholt as Count Boris Romanoff. The film was released in February of 1924 at six reels, and is presumed lost.
*The synopsis in the Library of Congress lists this character as Jimmy Burke, but all contemporaneous reviews list him as Hansen
Plot: Count Boris Romanoff is a Russian noble who has escaped during the Russian Revolution. In exile, he carries the Russian crown jewels. He has plans to sell them, with the proceeds being distributed to the suffering people in Russia. When he arrives in America, a gang of crooks attempt to steal the jewels aboard the train. They are thwarted when they discover the bag they steal contains only a few trinkets. Meanwhile, the real jewels have been entrusted to the Count’s valet, who is in Japan. Boris negotiates for the sale of the jewels with Jules Carstock, who ostensibly is a wealthy society man. In reality, Carstock is the head of the gang of crooks who attempted to rob Boris. Boris and Carstock travel by yacht to Japan, along with two of Carstock’s men, Hansen and Fogerty. Carstock passes the two men off as cooks. The plan is to rob Boris before the sale can be consummated and sell them to millionaire Flint. En route for Japan, Hansen falls for Marie, Flint’s maid.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/TLlWi5t.png)
Upon arrival in Yokohama, Hansen tries to go straight, because of Marie.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/y0cntYH.png)
But he is forced to take part in the scheme.
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While Boris and Carstock are negotiating the sale at a bank with Flint and his wife, Hansen and Fogerty rob the vault underneath. Marie rushes in to tell Boris of the plot. The robbery is completed, when disaster strikes. The building is leveled by an earthquake, and everyone is trapped in the vault.
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Fogerty attempts to monopolize the meager water supply, and gets Hansen in on a scheme to keep themselves alive and share the jewels after the others are dead. Boris’ religious talks lead the crooks to confess their real identities and pledge to reform. Boris’ attitude converts Hansen to the right side, and Hansen returns the jewels. Fogerty fights for the jewels. When he attempts to shoot Hansen, Boris steps in the way and is mortally wounded. Before dying, Boris asks Hansen to fulfill the sale of the jewels and the distribution of the proceeds to the poor in Russia. A rescue party arrives, and Hansen and Marie plan to be married.
The two stills below show Maurice Tourneur and Maude George (who played Mrs. Flint) between takes. The slippers that George is wearing were bejeweled and cost $200:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/3EGHRcS.png)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/kXVNUtG.png)
On September 1, 1923, a major earthquake struck Japan, and devastated Tokyo and Yokohama, among other cities. Director Tourneur used some of the actual earthquake footage in this film.
Motion Picture News wrote “Maurice Tourneur has planted a punch in the latter reels through the use of the Japanese earthquake. He has succeeded in getting much realism into the crumbling of the sets. … The story has suspense and a climax that at least is off the beaten path.” Exhibitor’s Trade Review wrote “Owen Moore is at his best in the portrayal of Hansen, a part he plays with plenty of reserve power, avoiding the temptation to overact which a role of this kind usually presents, and giving a convincing, well-balanced performance. … Jean Hersholt never appeared to better advantage than as the human, self-sacrificing Boris. The camera offers a profusion of beautiful scenic shots by sea and land, besides the realistic quake views, and perfect lighting prevails.” Exhibitor’s Herald called the film a “crook story with big punch,” adding “it is another regeneration story, with crooks outwitting crooks, and serves to pass an agreeable hour’s time.”
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
Is that Bessie Love in the top two stills? None of the critics you cite mentioned her. I think a critic should have said, "Bessie Love's acting was not noticed because she is so cute."
note: i didn't quote you, Rich, all that bandwidth ...
note: i didn't quote you, Rich, all that bandwidth ...
"The Murri Affair" (1974)
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
Coming in May:
After The Ball, with Gaston Glass and Miriam Cooper
Let Not Man Put Asunder, with Pauline Frederick and Lou Tellegen
The Love Bandit, with Doris Kenyon and Victor Sutherland
The Rendezvous, with Conrad Nagel and Lucille Ricksen
After The Ball, with Gaston Glass and Miriam Cooper
Let Not Man Put Asunder, with Pauline Frederick and Lou Tellegen
The Love Bandit, with Doris Kenyon and Victor Sutherland
The Rendezvous, with Conrad Nagel and Lucille Ricksen
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/qYeCkDL.png)
After The Ball, directed by Dallas Fitzgerald, starred Gaston Glass as Arthur Trevelyan, Miriam Cooper as Lorraine Trevelyan, Thomas Guise as Mark Trevelyan, and Robert Frazer as the District Attorney. The film was released in December of 1923 at seven reels, and is presumed lost.
Plot: Fun-loving Arthur Trevelyan is the idol of his sister Lorraine, but their father, Mark, feels that Arthur’s popularity may lead him to ruin. Arthur spends an evening in a Los Angeles cabaret.
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Afterwards, he and his friends take an early-morning joyride on a milk wagon.
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When the group runs into Mark on his way to work, Lorraine pleads on behalf of Arthur, and the lad is given one more chance. Another evening at the cabaret ends with Arthur eloping with his sweetheart. When Arthur arrives home with his wife, he quarrels with his father. Arthur and his bride set out for New York to start a new life. But Arthur takes up gambling and finds it easier to keep up with his new friends this way, instead of by working hard. Lorraine sends money to help out the couple, but then fate intervenes. Two crooks steal $150,000 from a jewelry store, and, while fleeing in their stolen car, have a falling-out. One takes the jewels and jumps into another car, and escapes to a bench near the river where Arthur is sitting. The thief forces Arthur to change clothes with him. But the other thief shoots his partner. Arthur, standing over the mortally wounded crook, with jewels at his feet, is seized by the police.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/ukqnzCS.png)
Not wanting to bring disgrace to his father, Arthur identifies the dead crook as himself, and goes to prison. He sends word to his wife. As she rushes to get to him, she meets with an accident and is taken to the hospital. Not knowing what has happened, Arthur now feels completely alone. Meanwhile, Mark and Lorraine, who are on a trip, get word that Arthur has been killed. Five years pass. When a friend is released from the prison, Arthur uses him to send word to Lorraine. The friend does some detective work on his own, and discovers Arthur has a baby daughter, unknown to him, who was born after Arthur’s arrest. The real murderer is caught and convicted for another crime. He and Arthur meet in the same prison, and recognize each other. The crook convinces Arthur to join him in a breakout. The pair travel to Los Angeles, where Arthur learns that Lorraine is going to lead the Grand March at a big charity ball.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/A6cVShs.png)
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Lorraine is now engaged to the District Attorney, but his gossiping friends tell him about meetings between Lorraine and a stranger at a local hotel, not knowing the stranger is Arthur’s friend from prison. After the ball is over, Lorraine steals away onto a balcony to think about her brother. Her fiancé goes looking for her. Arthur surprises Lorraine, and the two kiss and embrace. Lorraine’s fiancé sees this, and an argument ensues. Lorraine, unwilling to explain the situation, and wanting to shield her brother, returns his engagement ring. The District Attorney buries himself in his work to forget his troubles. He engages a pretty widow as a stenographer and becomes very fond of her and her little daughter – not knowing they are Arthur’s wife and child. Arthur, constantly shadowed by the crook who escaped with him, selects the dead of night to secretly call upon his sister at his father’s house. The crook, believing Arthur is going to commit a robbery, follows him. Lorraine tells Arthur he has a daughter.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/GkJ7mx7.png)
As Arthur leaves the house, the crook enters and Lorraine screams. During a struggle, the crook is shot and wounded. The District Attorney now has to prosecute Arthur, who is an escaped criminal. He fights hard to convict Arthur, especially since he recognizes him as the man who was in Lorraine’s arms. But Lorraine takes the witness stand and the truth finally comes to light. Arthur is freed, and learns that his wife is alive. The wounded crook confesses to the murder from years go and Arthur’s name is cleared. The District Attorney and Lorraine reconcile, and Arthur is reunited with his wife and daughter.
Motion Picture News noted that “although the picture plot follows a well beaten path and has been done in various ways before, there is something doing every minute and the director has planted a “big scene” in almost all the reels.” Moving Picture World wrote “an elaborate plot has been developed that holds the interest more because of its continuous melodramatic twists than because of its originality. The story is not impressive in the latter respect. But as most of the incidents and the general character of the picture conform to the entertainment standards of a large class, it can be counted upon as an average success.” Exhibitor’s Herald was not impressed, writing “the story is an involved melodrama of the most pronounced type based on a number of situations which are, if not downright impossible, at least highly improbable.”
The film was suggested by the 1892 waltz “After The Ball,” written by Charles K. Harris. The popular song sold two million copies of sheet music in 1892 alone. The lyrics tell the story of a man who abandons his sweetheart after seeing her kiss another man after the ball – only to discover too late the “other man” was her brother.
This was Miriam Cooper’s final film. She was a star for D. W. Griffith, in both Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. “As long as I knew Griffith he never swore or took a drink,” she said. “He treated everybody very fairly. So far as I know, Mae (Marsh) and Lillian (Gish) were the only two girls he ever took out … but I think he had a case on me.” To make her cry on camera, Griffith told her her mother was dead. Cooper called Erich Von Stroheim “a foul-mouthed terrible man” and said Louis B. Mayer was “short and fat, with squinty eyes and a big nose and the worst case of halitosis I’d ever been close to. There was green stuff on his teeth, like moss.” Her opinion of Theda Bara was less than stellar. “I thought she was terrible. Her only expression was to duck her head and stare at the leading man with what appeared to be a searching look. It was searching. She was so nearsighted she kept walking into the camera and knocking it over.” Cooper later married Raoul Walsh (which ended in divorce), but became disenchanted with Hollywood and left. She spent her final years in Charlottesville, VA, and in 1973 published her autobiography Dark Lady of the Silents.
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/rZ8V5Rx.png)
Let Not Man Put Asunder, directed by J. Stewart Blackton, starred Pauline Frederick as Petrina Faneuil, Leslie Austen as Harry Vassall, Lou Tellegen as Dick Lechmere, and Helena D’Algy as Felicia De Proney. The film was released in February of 1924 at eight reels, and is presumed lost.
Plot: Petrina Faneuil, wealthy descendent of Boston Puritans, is engaged to Harry Vassall, who shares a similar background. Dick Lechmere, Harry’s old friend, is cynical, and advises Harry that Petrina may be loyal but may not be suitable to someone of his temperament.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/mG03kD7.png)
Dick tells Harry about his own experience – how several years ago he met Felicia De Proney, an opera singer, and married her against his better judgment – and how the marriage ended in divorce.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/4pgVyYo.png)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/XXDZKuo.png)
Still, Dick tells Harry that he loves Felicia. Harry tells Dick to go find her and reconcile. After Harry and Petrina are married, they go to London on their honeymoon. There they meet Harry’s sister Emmy, her husband, Sir Humphrey de Bohun, and their seventeen-year-old daughter Polly. Emmy is set on divorcing her husband, and Polly fears for the publicity such a scandal would cause. At a dinner at the Carlton House, the Vassall’s meet Dick, and take him to Covent Garden with them. There, they see Felicia performing in Aida. Dick becomes gloomy, especially when Felicia flaunts his applause.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/KvtonCL.png)
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Meanwhile, Emmy’s divorce is finalized, and she and Petrina dine together in a public. The pair are spotted by Humphrey and Harry.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/60mwdTD.png)
Harry is enraged, and afterwards warns Petrina to obey him, telling her he is her master. Petrina snaps her fingers at him in contempt. Petrina decides to enjoy herself and takes every opportunity to irritate her husband.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/6qUWCWi.png)
When the two return to Boston, Emmy and Polly go with them. Emmy and Polly move in with Harry’s mother, while Petrina and Harry move into Petrina’s mansion. Petrina decides to give a party on New Year’s night, but since it falls on a Sunday, Harry objects. Then he tells Petrina he will be in Chicago that day to attend a conference. Petrina gives the party anyway, and hires a number of vaudeville entertainers to provide amusement.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/fEP5RHP.png)
Liquor flows freely. Dick is among the guests, and finds pleasure in Petrina’s company.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/bnMo350.png)
Harry returns at the height of the party but holds his tongue. But after the guests have let, he and Petrina have a violent quarrel. Petrina tells Harry that the next time he leaves, she hopes he will stay away forever. He takes her at her word, and the next day warns her that if she will not live with him in his own house he will never return. Petrina tells him she prefers to stay in her own house, and the two separate. Two years pass without reconciliation, even though both long for each other. Then, feeling hope is gone, Petrina obtains a divorce. Meanwhile, Sir Humphrey has taken up with a woman named Gentian Tyrell, much to the disgust of his ex-wife Emmy and their daughter Polly.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/RfaKSC0.png)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/zDJkjR4.png)
Polly decides to help Emmy and Sir Humphrey reconcile, and her plan works. She then leaves Boston and travels. She meets Dick, who tells her he is still in love with Felicia.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/2b8eoqC.png)
Despite this, he and Petrina decide to get married for companionship. Afterward, they go to live in the home of Dick’s ancestors near Boston, where they lead a quiet and secluded life. Harry is crushed by this turn of events, and pours out his love for Petrina in a diary. Emmy finds the diary and brings it to Petrina. Petrina has her eyes opened, and burns the book. She now realizes that she is not, at heart, Dick’s wife. Dick reads in a London paper that Felicia, having lost her voice, is now in America, penniless and in need. Learning she is in New York, Dick goes to look for her, to no avail. Meanwhile, Felicia comes to Dick’s home during a storm. Petrina, in a moment of jealousy, sends her away.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/FoWOao2.png)
Dick finds Felicia on the road, wet and unconscious, and Petrina trying to drag her back to the house. As Felicia is dying, Petrina tells her that she, Petrina, has never been Dick’s wife. Felicia dies in Dick’s arms. Petrina calls Harry and asks him to come over at once. Harry arrives with his mother. They hear a pistol shot, and discover that Dick has killed himself. Harry’s mother sees Harry and Petrina weeping, and opens her arms to both of them, saying “Whom God hath joined together man cannot put asunder.”
The still below shows Lou Tellegen, Pauline Frederick, and Director J. Stewart Blackton:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/RoOT4yg.png)
Screen Opinions noted “the psychology of the picture is correct, the characters are admirably cast, the direction is masterful, and at times the photography and illumination is much above par. … We do not recommend “Let Not Man Put Asunder” as a sure-fire program feature. But we are inclined to think that the title will attract, and that the majority of people will like it.” Moving Picture World wrote that the film was “a production which is marked by undoubted sincerity of purpose in which the action of the characters are swayed by the message they convey. While affording entertainment for the masses it goes deeper and succeeds in focusing attention on the divorce evil and should secure the endorsement of those who have this great problem at heart.” Exhibitor’s Herald noted that the film was “splendid entertainment and leaves in its wake many points for serious minded people to think about.” But Photoplay panned the film, calling it “one of the worst pictures that was ever put together … poor direction, over-acting and an inexcusably bad story. … When this comes to your local theater spend the evening at home with the radio and the kiddies.”
Re: NOW PLAYING (100 YEARS AGO)
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The Love Bandit, directed by Dell Henderson, starred Doris Kenyon as Amy Van Clayton, Victor Sutherland as Jim Blazes, Cecil Spooner as Madge Dempsey, and Christian Frank as Buck Ramsdell. The film was released in December of 1923 at six reels. A private collector holds an incomplete copy.
Plot: Jim Blazes owns a tract of timber in Northern Maine. Raised in the lumber country, he knows little of the outside world. French Annie runs the local dance hall.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/FeWpnml.png)
When Annie tells Jim she is surprised he is not married, he replies he’s never met the woman fit to be the mother of his children. Annie is secretly in love with Jim, but turns her attention to Buck Ramsdell, a rival lumberman. Jim has the legal right, by his location along the river, to float his logs ahead of Ramsdell. Ramsdell plots to delay Jim’s timber production so that Jim’s priority rights will lapse. Amy Van Clayton, member of an aristocratic New York family, comes to the lumber country with her brother. When Amy almost drowns, Jim saves her life. Amy, believing that Jim is merely a lumberjack, offers him money. He refuses, but Amy tells him if he ever comes to New York, her father will be glad to help him. Jim has an office in New York, so after Amy departs, he decides to give the city end of his business more attention, with the hope of seeing Amy again. Amy’s father dies, leaving her and her brother Fred penniless. The family lawyer gets them both positions – coincidentally – in the Blazes Lumber Company. So when Jim reaches New York, he discovers that Amy is now his secretary. After a short time, Jim works up the courage to propose to Amy, but she rejects his offer.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/Jc7Bxs9.png)
She has learned that he has the reputation of getting what he wants, and she supposes he expects to get her love too – like a bandit. Fred steals some money from the office safe, goaded by a clerk in the office named Snapper Collins. Fred bets the money on a race. Jim discovers this and threatens to send Fred to jail. Amy offers to marry Jim if he will drop the charges. Jim agrees, and the two are wed, but he soon finds that Amy does not love him.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/A2k2RT4.png)
Fred, unaware that Jim has married Amy, comes to Jim’s house and accuses him of betraying his sister. Fred is about to shoot Jim when Amy intervenes. Jim decides to send Fred and Snapper to his lumber camp in order to make men out of them. Amy begins to see Jim in a new light. However, Jim has already decided he will go away and give Amy her freedom. Before leaving for his camp, he befriends Madge Dempsey, a stranded actress. He obtains work for her at French Annie’s place. Arriving in Maine, he discovers that Buck Ramsdell has imported a gang of thugs, intent on putting Jim out of business. When Jim and his foreman, Henri, catch a man from the Ramsdell camp spying on their land, they know there is trouble ahead. Meanwhile, Amy writes to Jim and tells him she is coming to him. But the letter falls into the hands of French Annie before Jim receives it. She and Ramsdell plan to capture Amy and hold her until Jim permits the Ramsdell logs to be floated ahead of his own. Madge steals the letter, and enlists Snapper in a scheme to frustrate the plot. Madge heads out on horseback towards Ramsdell’s mill, where she knows Ramsdell will take Amy. Snapper sets out to warn Jim. Jim encounters Ramsdell, and the rival lumber factions battle it out.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/M8rF53e.png)
Madge reaches the mill where Amy is being held. When the mill is surrounded, the two women escape through a log chute.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/9ColoBn.png)
Jim and Ramsdell, fighting on a bridge, break through the railing and continue their fight in the river. Jim has the upper hand, when one of Ramsdell’s men fires at Jim and hits him. Amy’s brother Fred kills the shooter, and with the assistance of Snapper, rescues Jim. Madge gets Amy to Jim’s cabin. Jim is brought there, badly wounded. Amy, realizing she loves Jim more than ever, cries out to him that she has come back to him.
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/4IPhozk.png)
Spring arrives, and with Ramsdell out of the way, Jim and Amy say goodbye to Madge, who is leaving on the stage. Madge’s last wish to the couple is that they have “a lot of little lumber-Jacks and lumber-Jills.” Snapper drives Madge to the station, but is it clear they will see each other again.
Motion Picture News noted that the plot was “interesting, and for a picture of its type it is well done. No claims will be made that it is a big picture; it is just a good old time “meller” put on the screen to answer a demand for features of this type.” Exhibitor’s Trade Review wrote “it isn’t the type of picture likely to appeal favorably to all classes of film fans, the plot being obvious and far-fetched for severely critical audiences. But there are many theatres where it is pretty sure to be given a warm reception and register satisfactory box office results. Even those who refuse to take the feature seriously will doubtless find much amusement in viewing it from the mock heroic angle, or setting aside its seeming impossibilities, rejoice in its wild hurly-burly action and time-honored stage thrills. And there are plenty of folks who will enter into the spirit of its romantic urge and exciting situations.” Exhibitor’s Herald wrote that the film “carries one back to the days when for a dime one could sit in the gallery of the Music Hall back home and get a series of thrills for two hours and a half watching a burley villain chase a timid heroine all over the map and finally get “his” in the last act.” Finally, The Billboard wrote “here is a lively melodrama of the outdoors, with a story of the lumber camps that, while is unpolished drama, nevertheless keeps going straight to the end. The story is quite the usual thing in the main, but has enough of a twist to it to hold the attention.”
The still below is rather amusing. From left to right, the actors are Lorenza Valentine (as French Annie), Christian Frank, Cecil Spooner, Hal Briggs (undetermined role), and an unidentified actress. Spooner is reading a copy of The Billboard, which is where the photo was published:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/FnT9Txn.png)