The Crimson Playgoer

While hardly approaching the ghoulish Intensity or earthy intimacy of the stage play from which it was adapted, "The Spider" fares acceptably under the auspices of Edmund Lowe and Lois Moran. Perhaps somewhat unsuited by nature to the role of a shrewd magician. Mr. Lowe maintains his usual affable suavity despite the fact that little chance is provided for humor. In general, the production suffers from the result of being little more than the photographing of a good stage play.

There is always something futile in seeing a magician perform on the screen. The audience knows it must be trick photography and wistfully thinks how it would like to see a woman's head cut off by a real conjurer. Thus, the introduction of an atmosphere of mystery by the medium of a sorcerer's performance lacks effectiveness. Grim closeups, however, may be had in profusion and the speaker's lines are often more effective over a machine of pre-determined volume than when spoken on a stage. These, at least, are compensating factors.

Perhaps the director of the motion picture felt obliged to change several of the sequences for the purpose of adaptation. Such alterations as appear, nevertheless, fail to add to the effectiveness of the plot and often obscure the action. Things seem a bit too hurried. There is not the careful focus and delicate shading in the tempo of the action which helped John Halliday win success on the stage.

The director forgets at times that he is working out a carefully planned stage climax and falls into the manner of a novel by Mary Roberts Rinchart.

We liked the show well enough, but there seemed to be too many stage assistants and policemen popping in and out; not enough spiders.