lokkeheiss.TakeThisOut@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> Anyone know of any contemporary reviews?
June 23, 1923 Christian Science Monitor
WILLIAM DeMILLE has made a lifelike picture for Paramount from A. E.
Thomas' comedy, "Only 38." To be sure, the action frequently
lapses into conventional sentimentalism, where it concerns the behavior
of the professor who pays court to the widow of 38. Her children feel
that she should settle down, and like the children of the woman in
Barrie's "Alice-Sit-by-the-Fire," rather insist on bringing up
their mother in the sober way they think she should go. One has a
feeling that Clara Beranger, who made the scenario from Mr. Thomas'
play, understands men less well than women for the widow and her
daughter manifest the little individualizing touches in their
characterizations that one misses in the widow's son and the
professor.
Mr. DeMille has succeeded in photographing the story in terms of
thought rather than in terms of melodrama, and thus has attained to a
natural effect in many of his scenes. His work has been made easier by
a well-chosen cast of sensitive players--Elliott Dexter as the
professor, Robert Agnew as the son, Miss May McAvoy as the daughter,
and Miss Lois Wilson as the widow.
Miss Wilson indicated the distress of the widow--longing on the one
hand for the romance that she missed in her youth and yearning on the
other for the love and respect of her children--with an effectiveness
that was at once strong and delicate. Mr. Dexter's one dramatic scene
came when the professor makes the daughter realize that she has been a
rather selfish little prig. George Fawcett plays a small part with all
his usual mellow humor.
The production, apart from a rather conventionalized small-college
atmosphere, is satisfying. Once again a good film is marred by a faked
village boating scene made in the studio tank. In the photoplays, where
something close to an illusion of actuality is possible, elaborate
stagey backgrounds fairly shreik out their falseness, where they would
pass unnoticed in the more artificial theater from whence they have
been adapted.
----------------------
June 11, 1923 New York Times
"Only 38," the production that is honored this week by being
presented at the Rivoli, is one of those pictures guaranteed not to
overtax the mentality of a babe. The serious titles furnish the only
amusement in this William de Mille photoplay that deals with the life
of a woman of 38 after her iron-bound, puritanical husband dies. The
acting consists largely of the players rolling their heads to express
sorrow or regret and frequent gestures with their hands. This picture
does not possess the usual redeeming features of good lighting and
photography, and one slips down in a seat, hoping for Morpheus to come
to the rescue.
Lois Wilson plays the part of the widow, Mrs. Stanley, and little May
McAvoy is Lucy, her daughter. Miss Wilson has a sorry task in an
attempt to put character into the widow's part. Soon after Mrs.
Stanley goes to Greenville with her old furniture, the Professor of
English Literature at Greenville College becomes interested in her.
Mrs. Stanley is constantly reminding the world that she is 38, and
Professor Giddings (Elliott Dexter) tells her just as frequently that
she is only 38.
Professor Giddings is apparently an omnivorous reader, so much so that
when calling on the widow he has two books with him. From the way he
acts one might take it for granted that he is really bored by the
contents of the volumes, and he looks at them under his arm as if to
say, "How did you get there?" The professor tries to appear
absent-minded at times, and therefore meanders along the sidewalks, up
on the doorstep without taking his eyes from a book, except when he
rings the bell. Invariably he asks either the widow's son or daughter
whether their mother is at home, and each time the subtitle is set
forth distinctly. Dexter looks as if he would be better cast with a
part suited to a husky, big man, especially when he brings with him as
a gift a tiny bunch of flowers.
The widow in her rejuvenation decides to cover the old furniture with
chintz, to bundle up all the old ornaments and bring from a barrel her
treasures, one of which is a plaster miniature of the Winged Victory.
Her son and daughter object to her new ideas, and they are
inexpressibly shocked when she takes up dancing. The latter causes Lucy
to go for a trip in a canoe on the lake with Sydney Johnson, and, as
luck would have it, the canoe strikes a ragged rock and a hole is torn
in it. Lucy is soaked and young Johnson takes her to his room and waits
outside. She locks both doors, and is most demure, but forgets that her
shadow decorates the shade. The college dean, a short-sighted
pedagogue, is not sure whether the silhouette is that of a youth or a
woman. He ventures to ascertain. Meanwhile Professor Giddings rescues
Lucy through the window, and she is returned to her mother, who has
been worrying about her. Mrs. Stanley harkens to her children, takes
off all the new chintz from the chairs and sofas, and robes herself
once more in old-fashioned clothes. Eventually the son and daughter
become more sympathetic and the professor wins the widow.
"I'm the fairy godmother come to take Cinderella to the ball,"
says the enlightened genius, the professor, when he takes the widow for
a dance.
For a Professor of English Literature, Giddings uses the tritest of
phrases throughout the spoken titles. One can almost tell what he is
going to say before the words are screened.
Miss McAvoy has a livelier part than Miss Wilson, and it is not always
her fault that the action falls flat. George Fawcett, as the widow's
father, attempts to get into the spirit of the picture, but it is a
thankless job. This is one of those productions with only a sequence of
scenes, and some villain has stolen the plot.
----------------------
June 10, 1923 Chicago Tribune
"Only Thirty-Eight" Strongest as Film
.... By Inez Cunningham.
RARELY is the picturization of a play better than it was on the stage.
In the first place, the plot has been strengthened somewhat by adding
the episode of Lucy going innocently to the boys' dormitory. Then the
captions--which knit the picture together in a photo drama much as the
dialogue does the events on the stage--are cleverer than the lines of
the play. And the allusion of the differences in the respective ages of
mother and children is better done in the picture than on the stage--in
a word, it is better cast than the drama was.
You must go to see it if for no other reason than to watch the marked
improvement Lois Wilson has made. She does some excellent work as Mrs.
Stanley, seeming exquisitely conscious of the character throughout and
forgetful of her own personality.
The story is that of the widow of a minister who was a Puritan and
starved his wife for beauty and gayety, reared his children in such
fashion that every unaccustomed thing in their lives--including bright
chintzes and lovely sculpture--seemed sinful, and then died, leaving to
his wife little money and the difficult problem of enlightening his
offspring. With the generous help of her father she goes to a college
town, puts the children in college, and obtains work for herself in the
library.
Dexter Plays Role Skillfully.
It is then that the heart interest enters in the person of a younger
professor, played by Elliott Dexter, who plays most things skillfully.
Lucy and Bob, the widow's children, are shocked when they see their
mother at a college dance with the new suitor. They rebel and the poor
lady feels condemned at only 38 to a life of loveless loneliness.
The professor then manages things for himself. He gets the children on
his side and all goes well. It is the sort of picture most people
enjoy. Well directed and photographed, a proper melange of heart
interest, humor, excitement, tears, and happy ending to be extremely
popular. [sic] If you are that sort of that acrid person who is never
hoaxed by hocum you may not like it. But, fortunately, if you are that
sort you are a rare and the hocum of "Only Thirty-eight" is
acceptably presented for popular enjoyment. [sic]
----------------
June 17, 1923 Washington Post
Big Book Order Needed in Film To Be Seen Here
Two motor trucks were required to transport 75,000 books, the largest
indivdual order ever filled, to the Famous Players-Lasky studio at
Hollywood, Calif., where they became an integral part of a college
library that serves as the setting for important scenes in "Only
38," William de Mille's new Paramount production, featuring May
McAvoy, Lois Wilson, Elliott Dexter and George Fawcett, which opens a
week's engagement today at Loew's Columbia theater.
An entire book store on Main street and a good part of another on
Seventh avenue in Los Angeles were drained to supply the books
necessary to fill 88 shelves in the library with a total of 9,000
square feet of space.
Miss Wilson, who reads a great deal, spent hours going over the volumes
and was rewarded with an almost priceless find--an old volume of
Charles Dickens' works, a valuable book, which she purchased for
almost nothing.
The entire assortment had to be chosen by the property department,
under Mr. de Mille's supervision, with the utmost care, since certain
bindings, because of their colors, have poor photographic value.
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