Monday, Nov. 19, 1923
The New Pictures
Pioneer Trails. All normal children and those adults in whose mouths the taste of story book Indian blood is still strong will doubtless approve of Pioneer Trails. A masterly massacre is accomplished, in which a convoy of prairie schooners with their entire personnel, is wiped out. One small child escapes, to reappear 20 years later as the hero. Thereafter, the plot is simply a stencil, cut with the old familiar tools.
Alice Calhoun is the girl and makes the unfortunate error of too precise and obvious make-up for a simple, pioneer primrose. But the men are men and the openness of the scenic spaces is only exceeded by their width. Such productions are harmless to all; entertaining to millions.
Around the World with the Speejacks. Echoes of the loud hurrahs that greeted the return of the 98-foot honeymoon yacht which carried Albert Y. Gowen, of Cleveland, and his bride around the world have been preserved in celluloid. The result is a travel picture. It travels fast, and is, therefore, fragmentary. Nevertheless it will suffice for a vicarious voyage for vast sections of citizenry whose wanderings are bounded by the village store; the state fair; the subway kiosk.