The New Pictures

Broken Barriers. The main cause for lamentation over this unfortunate specimen of drama is that the barriers were not broken, only badly bent. These barriers seem to be the ancient restrictions which formerly hedged the placid lawn of life on which our grandmothers sunned themselves. Latterly, the dramatist contends, young women have broken the barriers and are being run over by the trams and buses of the iniquitous avenues without. One young lady, played by Mae Busch, does get a bit jostled in the crowd on its endless search for the Amusement Park. Her bad boy (Adolphe Menjou) dies off in a motor wreck, leaving her flatter than the punctured tires. The dramatist did not try to solve her problem. He just left her there with the dead man in her arms.

The rest of the picture, supposedly the important part, is flat, stale and unprofitable. James Kirkwood and Norma Shearer come up to the barrier marked "wife." He has a wife who will not divorce him. There is some talk of smashing the barrier and going off to live together. The problem is avoided in time to send the audience home in a comfortably virtuous frame of mind.

Being Respectable. A respectable scion (Monte Blue) of a respectable New England family is talked into marrying a respectable young woman (Irene Rich) by his eminently respectable father. Four years elapse. The hero has begun to turn back to one-time girl friend (Marie Prevost), not so respectable. In the nick of time a sleeping baby is shown in a cot modeled like a ship. The child is quoted as asking his father to "wock" him and as wanting a "dwink." As a matter of fact, Daddy was just about to snatch one himself and run off with his affinity. However, at the dawn of another day, child hands bring back love to hearts weary and estranged, and it's time to reach for your hat.

A Truthful Liar. Will Rogers plays poker in a barroom with a highly respectable Van Dyke-bearded gentleman wearing a crown and a frock coat, who looks suspiciously like George V. Will was everything, of course, including the crown. Most of the subtitles are Will Rogers.' "wise cracks."