SOULS FOR SALE
Starring Eleanor Boardman, Richard Dix, Frank Mayo and Lew Cody
HARRISON'S REPORTS
April 7, 1923
No one will dispute the fact that there is much entertainment in "Souls for Sale." There is human interest all the way through, many thrilling situations, and the action fast from the beginning to the end. But no one either will deny that it is propaganda, pure and simple. And every exhibitor knows from experience how people feel when any one attempts to educate them.
The picture has been produced for the purpose of acquainting the people at large with the fact that Hollywood is not a hell-hole, but a respectable place, that the actors, who live and work there, are just as good as any people living in the United States, that there is no more vice, less in fact, in that city, than there is in any other city, and that if there is any vice and crime, this is brought in it from the outside.
There is an interesting love story running all the way through. The hard work an actor or an actress must do to reach stardom is shown in an absorbing way. But the propaganda in it is too obvious. And so offensive. It could, without making any radical changes, except omitting direct references in the subtitles, be made more subtle, and so more convincing. The picture could then be a genuine entertainment.
The picture has been written and directed by Mr. Rupert Hughes.
SOULS FOR SALE
Starring Eleanor Boardman, Richard Dix, Frank Mayo and Lew Cody
PHOTOPLAY
June 1923
This melodrama, written and directed by Rupert Hughes, is a personally conducted trip behind the scenes of movieland - a Cook's Tour of the empire of celluloidia. As such, it will fascinate those who have longed to visit a studio in operation - and, we suspect, their name is legion. It is for this reason that "Souls for Sale" lands among our chosen six. The story behind this journey through filmland is false and trivial, tracing a young woman from extra to stardom. But, when Hughes places his camera behind the camera and shows how make-believe becomes apparently real, then "Souls for Sale" has high interest. The action is loose, the story reeks with heavy villainy, and the acting is never impressive - but the background of studio life puts it over.
For more information, see "Souls for Sale" as our "Featurre of the Month"