Dick Turpin. Tom Mix displays his values in the present film with the aid of silk breeches, boots and a feathered hat He plays the famed bandit who robbed to help the poor. Beside robbing, he fights barehanded with the Bristol Bully, makes love, sticks up a bishop. A sense of comedy assists materially. Many critics noted that Tom Mix is acquiring agility, more resilient than that of Douglas Fairbanks.
The Golden Bed. Cecil B. De Mille is the man who made the marble bath tub and the towering music room symbols of riches and society. Silk sheets and aquatic revels in the garden were his stock in trade. He became one of the conspicuous cinema cheaters of truth. He prospered. This one is about a bed with an ancient history and how its influence affected modern characters. It has specimen splendor of the De Mille method. It is about as tasty as painted candy.
Excuse Me. Polite farce is seldom exploited favorably on the screen. It is so much easier to be funny, flinging pies. Excuse Me disturbs the tradition and manages to amuse considerably. The plot sets down in an express train a couple who have not had time to get married because their honeymoon boat leaves so soon for Honolulu. Later, arrived an airplane to speed up the [situation. Rupert Hughes was responsible for the plot; Norma Shearer and Conrad Nagel were the principal performers. Miss Shearer demonstrates that she can omit emotion and still impress the watcher as a leader of the younger actresses. . . .
A Man Must Live is one of those anti-journalism diatribes in which the spotless hero is driven by his wicked editor to ferreting facts which wreck young ladies' and old mothers' lives. One of the young ladies he loves; one of them dies. The end is sweetness. Richard Dix plays the hero. The picture is not recommended. . . .
The Last Laugh. The first of the German Ufa films has come at last. With Emil Jannings in the part, it tells the simple story of a hotel door- keeper who is dismissed because of old age. He dies of disappointment in the hotel lavatory and is abruptly brought to life in a regular Hollywood honey ending. The economy of effect, the brilliant play of detail, the simplicity make it a text book to U. S. directors. Unfortunately, even the performance of Herr Jannings cannot make the kindly character tragedy of deep dramatic interest.