The Washington times., 1915-07-09
THE BEST
Photoplay Department in
WASHINGTON
"Hdmlet" Succ eeds
AS A Picture
But Not AS A
Photopldy.

For students of Shakespeare or Of
the drama generally, the Forbes
Robertson production Of Hamlet"
which was seen here for the first
time at the Leader Theater. yester-
day. was a remarkable exhibition.
For those PATRONS OF the motion
pictures who are not familiar with
the dramatic story of the melancholy
Prince of Denmark. the exhibition Is
interesting only for the unusual
quality of the acting and the excel
l9nce of the settings.
No performance Of Hamlet with
Forbes Robertson. Gertrude Elliott.
and the members OF their London
company could be other than a no.
table event. even though 1t were
done without costume or scenery, or
any of the things that have come
to be expected in the modern thea
ter. The quality of the artists would
demand respectful attention, and
their acting and reading of their
lines would hold the interest even
of an audience that could make little
Of the story that was being acted,
This. II seems. Is the principal
trouble with the film production Of
originally photographed the play
must have been much longer than
the three reels of II that are included
in the production exhibited here.
The scenes succeeded one another
too rapidly to give proper sequence
to the story for the man or woman
who was not thoroughly familiar
with 1t.
The producers Of this play have
evidently found their great difficulty
making q picture study of 1t for all
kinds Of theatergoers in the fact
that Shakespeare work 10 too great
to be in the least amplified. In the
telling of a dramatic story the his
tory of literature has, of course,
produced no person the equal of the
great bard. But it must be remem-
bered in adapting these plays for
the spoken stage and that, especially
in the historic dramas, there was q
tremendous amount Of action vital to
the working out of the plot which
by the principals as something that
had been or was to be.
In the photoplay Of Hamlet"
much Of the dramatic force Of the
story is lost by the reason. OF the
fact that there was no possible way
the audience had been watching
almost half of the production. And
oven then it was difficult to follow
the sequence of events, as has been
stated. Had Hamlet" been written
by any other dramatist the story of
the death Of Hamlet's father would
have been shown as the first part Of
the drama itself-acted, we mean,
Just like the remainder Of the play.
And then the manner In which Ham
let was informed by the ghost and
how he went about the business Of
exposing the King and Queen would
have followed in a perfectly natural
succession of incidents.
But no one had the temerity to at
tack Shakespeare in tust that way.
said to have prepared the production
personally. would permit nothing to
be done with the original. The re-
suit Is that the photoplay Is Ham
let with a set Of most beautiful
scenes. without the life and breath
dent that the great English star
simply acted his regular perform
ance of the play as given on the
stage with the ideal outdoor ana
indoor settings for the piece that
were obtained through the use of
picturesque medieval castle and its
park. All of the characters in the
piece recited their lines. and. as
nearly as one could judge without
being lip reader. they followed the
text.
The settings. as has been indicated,
were OF quality and character that
would provoke comment and admira-
ton even from an audience that did
not understand the story. Especially
was this true of the scenes on the
10 ramparts of the castle where the
ghost appears and of the stream
along which Ophelia wandered in her
madness. In selecting the location
for the production of the play great
care was exercised to secure a
castle that exactly fitted the descrip-
tions of Elsinore. The titles that were
used throughout the production
were lines from the play itself, and
were easily understood by those
familiar with the play, but were