The Washington times., 1915-02-01
PHOTOPLAYS AND
PHOTOPLAY YERS
Suffrage Plea
OF a Real Drama
in "YOur Girl
and Nine"
By GARDNER MACK.

The National woman's Suffrage
association appears to be the first
organization to take up the motion
picture hlm and utilize the purely
photoplay feature for propaganda
work For some time past attention
mas been called to the opportunities
mat lie In this field for getting be-
Iore the people the various pleas that
organizations for social reform have
peen making in tracts and pamph-
lets: The suffragists saw the oppor-
n,,y tmnity and seized it with the pro:
duction OF the play. Your Girl and
Mime. which will probably be fol-
iowed by plays that will be OF a less
general nature and will bring out
some Of the benefits that have al
ready been accomplished BY suffrage.
The performance of a photoplay Of
propaganda sort need not be any
different from any other photoplay
except that the moral 1t teaches is
directly concerned with the evil the
organization behind 1t is trying to
combat. In the case of Your Girl
and Mine" the suffragists have at
tempted to show a great deal of the
legal difficulties with which woman
meets In number OF States. The
criticism that seems mostly justified
by the play is that they have
tried to get too much into the one
play. With the wealth of material
at their hands. however. 1t Is only
natural that such a mistake should
be made in the first play. a mistake.
critic would call to their attention
us a criticism of the play itself. 1t
is mentioned here for the purpose Of
pointing out what might be avoided
next time.
With the acting Of Your Girl and
Mine the very highest level OF abil-
ity has been maintained. The cast
celebrities as Olive Wyndham. Kath-
crime kaelred, and Sidney Booth and
a number of well known stars from
tho Selig forces SO that the very best
that the dramatic possibilities Of the
piece permit is obtained. In the scene
In the shed where the wronged woman
and the man who has betrayed her
night to prevent the mans wife from
learning OF his duplicity. one of the
most realistic struggles Is staged
and SO well done is the work Of both
artists that the result is in doubt up
to the final moment.
The settings that Selig has given
the play are the best that could be
obtained. Some of them are es-
pecially noteworthy. The most i'm
portant thing about this play, how
ever. Is the manner in which tho
suffrage organizations have taken 1t
up throughout the country. The play
was first shown here about ten DAYS
ago as regular feature film at one
of the most important Of the feature
film houses. 1t draws large audi
ences and so pleased the members Of
the Congressional Union and other
organizations here that it was de-
cided to secure its return. The de-
mand to see the play that came to
the organizations led them to be-
lieve that week would not be too
long to keep the picture on view.
Manager Brylawski of the COLONEL
Theater. was taken into the conf
dence of the suffrasists. and the re-
suit is that throughout this week
the big film will be shown at the
Colonial Theater. A campaign Of
publicity for the film was started
last week by the womens organiza-
tions. and 1t is expected that the
production at the Colonial will be
greeted with crowded houses. In 9TH
er cities where the film has been
shown the same sort OF spirit has
been met in the women's organiza-
tions. Every suffragist has Loyalty
offered her services to make tho
film a big success. and to urse
people to go to see it. They have
worked INCREASINGLY in this way be-
cause they believe that the merits Of
their cause are being most effective
ly demonstrated in the play.