"The Serpent's Tooth," featuring Gail Kane with an unusually competent cast, is one of those good-bad types of pictures that are somewhat baffling to the reviewer. It is a five-part melodrama, so well made, so artistically interpreted, that one hesitates to shelve it as unwholesome screen food for the masses. Yet this is entirely true of a production which deals in a spectacular fashion with the drug and alcohol habits, and presents a number of despicable types. The work of Gail Kane in this production is especially pleasing, and she dresses the role of the unhappy wife delightfully. In fact the picture is a singularly well-dressed one. William Conklin as the husband exhibits great dramatic power and makes a repulsive role stand out with fine individuality. The actress playing the role of Hortense, the vampire of the play, does an excellent piece of work. Jane Pascal and Edward Peil are also noticeable for their fitness for the roles entrusted to them. The story centers about the home of a wedded pair between whom a coolness arises on account of differences in taste. The husband, who has been an artist, loses his moral balance in mixing with the smart set, and becomes infatuated with a fascinating woman of the vampire type. A child born to the man and his wife dies and because of the nervous condition of the wife her doctor administers a drug with caution. One day, however, the bottle containing the drug drops from his satchel, is found by the husband and his affinity, who plot together to convert the wife into a drug fiend. By the time that this is accomplished the husband has degenerated morally and mentally from the excessive use of alcohol to such an extent that he becomes subject to hallucinations and falls dead. The only fault to be found with the construction of the story is a matter of consistency. For instance, the wife who has become addicted to drugs becomes apparently instantaneously detached from her affliction. This of course is beyond reason.
Review of The Serpent's Tooth
