The Vavasour Ball

This fine two reel subject is notable for several factors. By all odds the best is the character work of Van Dyke Brooke as the Jewish pawnbroker. It is straight portrayal. Mr. Brooke makes of the pawnbroker a kindly old man, strict in business and worshiping his daughter. Leo Delaney is the playwright and Norma Talmadge is his wife, who pawns her necklace when her husband tells her he cannot afford to buy her a new gown for the ball. Ada Gifford is the daughter of the pawnbroker who from her father's safe abstracts the necklace that she may wear it to another ball. All do splendid work. Mr. Brooke is also entitled to the credit of directing the production. The staging is done with unusual care, the scenes of the ball and the settings of the pawnbroker's shop and home being especially praiseworthy. The story holds all the way and contains many dramatic moments. It is written by Francis Livingston. - The Moving Picture World, February 7, 1914