Mrs. Julia R. Hurley (1915) 🇺🇸

To those who have seen Mrs. Hurley in photoplays, it is perhaps superfluous of the wonderful charm and splendid dramatic force instilled into every portrayal by this little lady. No matter how insignificant the part may be, in the hands of this gifted actress, it at once assumes stellar proportions; no better proof of this is her assumption of the part of the mother in The Jungle, as well as her later interpretation of the grandmother in The Price He Paid, by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

One has but to witness the recent picture production of Il Trovatore. Though the old gypsy mother is a small part in the original story, her taunts, her jeers and threats and finally her intensely gripping stake scene is uppermost in our memory.

Now that Youth and Beauty has had her full quota of adulation and stardom in the picture field, perhaps some enterprising producer will discover that a star chosen from the ranks of ability, ripened and mellowed by the finger of time, will go far towards re-awakening the somewhat cloyed public interest.

Mrs. Hurley’s long association with the things theatrical has won for her the soubriquet of “the grand old lady of the stage.” Her life story would almost be a history of the drama in this country and through all its vicissitudes she has retained the spirit of youth and a delightful personal charm that has endeared her to a host of friends. Pictures without number she has graced by her presence in the cast.

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“The Exploits of Elaine”

First instalment of the new Pathé-Hearst serial promises much that is interesting.

Reviewed by Margaret I. MacDonald.

Following on the success of The Perils of Pauline, the new Pathé-Hearst Serial, The Exploits of Elaine from the pen of Arthur B. Reeve and picturized by Chas. L. Goddard, bids fair to surpass in popularity its predecessor, judging from the briskness with which the first two-reel instalment, entitled The Clutched Hand, strikes the imagination.

In this first instalment the audience is given just enough daylight on the mysterious forms and happenings which characterize the story to arouse the most rabid interest as to what is to follow. From the mysterious death of Mr. Dodge, the wealthy president of an insurance company, and which, as the audience is shown, is brought about by the agent of The Clutched Hand, through some mysterious use of an electric current and the fumes of a certain chemical diffused into the room above, where Dodge is in the act of using the telephone, by means of a connection with the heating register, the clever scientific detective work of “Craig Kennedy” is brought into play, when he discovers with astonishment that the finger-prints on the safe and articles handled by the murderer are an exact duplicate of his own.

At this point of the story our curiosity is suspended on to the next instalment, when the hope of solving the mystery will no doubt be deferred for several succeeding releases, the first of which is expected to make its bow to the public on Monday, December 28th. Fourteen weekly episodes of two reels each compile the series.

The mystery to be solved by “Craig Kennedy” is, “What, or who is the Clutched Hand that so surely descends and crushes life from the unfortunate individual who ignores its warning?”

Arnold Daly plays the role of “Craig Kennedy,” Pearl White, that of Elaine, whose exploits will be followed with intense interest. William Riley is seen to advantage in the short-lived role of President Dodge. Other well-known names appearing in the cast are Sheldon Lewis, Raymond Owens, and Robin Towney. Director Wharton is engaged in the work of guiding this excellent cast through the intricate paths of the big serial.

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Scene from The Exploits of Elaine (Pathé-Hearst)

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Without Hope Wins Applause

On Sunday night, December 20th, the first of the Flamingo Comedies was shown for public exhibition to a crowded audience at the Olympia Theater, Broadway and 107th street, New York City.

Without Hope was the first production decided upon from the prize-winning scenarios of the American Telegraph and Chartered Theaters Corporation national competitive contest, and was a picturization of the work of Elaine Sterne, who has won many prizes recently for stories and scenarios.

The picture was greeted with loud applause and great enthusiasm. It certainly made a distinctive success and bookings from all over the country received through the Zone office of the Sawyer Film Corporation indicate that Without Hope will be a record-breaker.

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Chicago Police Pass Officer 666

George Kleine’s Officer 666 was passed by the Chicago censors last week after an exhibition before an assembly of city dignitaries which included Major Funkhouser, Chief of Police Gleason, Assistant Chief Scheuttler, a battalion of plain-clothes men, private secretaries and others. For an hour and a half the official crime-suppressing machinery of Chicago chuckled and giggled to the merry story of Officer 666. Major Funkhouser then passed the film with two minor changes; namely, the elimination of a subtitle and the shortening of the scene in which the thief gags Officer 666 before donning his clothes and making his escape on the seat of a patrol wagon.

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Mr. Polites Denies He Sold the Rex

In the Moving Picture World of December 26 announcement was made that J. D. Polites, proprietor of the Rex and Minerva Theaters in Steubenville, Ohio, has sold these houses to W. J. Curn. Mr. Polites informs us that he has not sold the Rex Theater, of which he says he is still the owner. He adds that he has promoted it to an amusement house of the highest standard, “and having made it the most successful enterprise of its kind in the country I have no disposition to sell it, and it is not for sale, and there is no prospect that I will ever place it on the market. The Rex is my baby.”

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Roskam Releases “Another Girl”

The little lady arrived in his new home at twelve forty-five Monday morning. Two hours before that time the the happy mother and Eddie were enjoying a special performance of The Pit.

At the time of going to press, the new arrival, the mother, Eddie, and the Life Photo Film Corporation were doing well.

Collection: Moving Picture World, January 1915