Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-03-27
HEIGHT OF REALISM REACHED N
GREAT PRODUCTION APPEAR.
ING AT opEoN.
coUNTRYS HISTORY SHOWN
IN GRAPHIC PoRTRAYALS
Exciting Battle Scenes Mako Audience
Think They Are Part Of Picture -
Acting and Details Of Spectacle Es-
ceptionaIIy Well Worked Out-Music
Adds Greatly to Enjoyment.

aDle TO SO portray tnelT pdTtS III q
play that the audience forgets that it
is Witnessing acting and that all was
tprea arranged: forgets that the men and
women on the stage are merely speak
ing lines put into their mouths, and
when. feeling this way, the audience is
carried along until it becomes part
of the play, it is called triumph or
acting and character portrayal.
How much greater a triumph is 1t
then when people who appear before
the audience on moving picture
screen, are able not only to make the
audience forget it is seeing merely
acting, but make that audience part
Of the picture so that individuals rise
and fall to the heights and depths to
which the picture does and are car
ried along with the action as tho all
were an actual part Of it.
| Such a triumph was achieved Sun
day night at the Odeon when The
Birth Of a Nation" opened weeks
engagement before large audience.
Audience Part Of Play.
| Members of Sunday nights audience
sat in their seats and virtually be-
came a part of the great spectacle as
lit was unfolded before them. accom-
pa MED by excellent music and stage
mechanics which made it seem all the
more real. The waves OF applause
which swept over the people from time
Ito time were not forced. but were per-
fectly natural, as If the audience were
actually there with the actors and
actresses. 1t is hard to believe thai
all the acting and scenes were ar
ranged so realistic do they seem.
The story of THE Birth of a Nation"
has appeared in these columns before.
It is in two great parts, the first por-
troying the north and south in the
great struggle for supremacy, and the
second the period Of reconstruction
following the war. when the negroes
were given authority. when in the
words Of Woodrow Wilson's History
Of the American People they knew
none Of the uses of authority except
its nsolences." Thru the entire story
run two pretty love plots, northern
girl and a southern youth. and
southern girl and a man from the
north. These add heart interest, and
serve to relieve the sterner scenes OF
battle and devastation. .,s2-
Battle Scenes Stimulate.
In the first part the battle scenes
are not only wildly exciting and ex-
J ceedingiy realistic but they react on
the audience to such an effect that
one seems to be on the sidei;nes cheer
ing the soldiers on. In the battle OF
Petersburg. when the little colonel"
in a last desperate charge. PUSHES up
and rams the confederate flag into the
very mouth Of the union cannon, the
orchestra shrieks and blares. and the
! nH a
wild hurst Of applause. Again in the
second part when the negroes are do
ing their awful work of devasting
homes and lives. drunk with power
and the mystic Ku Klux Khan riders.
in their white robes, come rushing
along on their horses, the excitement
Is as great. if not greater than in the
battle scenes.
Many Realistic Scenes.
But apart from the big scenes there
are many that seem wonderfully real
and that give mute evidence Of the
time and care spent by the producers
to make the production complete In
every way. The assassination OF
President Lincoln is carried out in all
it's intense interest, with the details
as accurate as could be conceived by
men who had only histories to guide
them. Besides the big battle scenes
there are scenes Of fighting that stir
all the good red blood that runs in
the veins of every American. There il
a scene in a blacksmith shop where
one white man fights and 'overcomes
ten or twelve negroes only to be shot
in the back eventually. Again. q little
band Of whites is in cabin in an
open field and the negro militia, In
tent only on ravaging people and prop
i erty is closing in on them with the
lust Of blood in their eyes. The ku
Klux Khan arrives and a battle royal
is staged. Mention is also due the
| night battle scenes. especially the
siege of Atlanta, made intensely real
by shots and thunderings behind the
scenes.
Details and Acting Fine.
! Altho the effect Of the picture as
massive whole Is sensational, an an
alysis shows that it Is the careful
| working out Of details that produces
many Of the natural effects. For ex-
ample, the very way Abraham Lincoln
puts on his spectacles VIXEN signing the
proclamation calling for $4,000 volun-
| teers, WHITES the the meaning OF the
act wonderfully well. Again, when
Lee surrenders to Grant, the southern
general stands straight and stiff, while
Grant is at his ease, smoking a cigar
| and with a half smile on his face.
When mail is brought to the folks at
| home a soldier carries 1t, but he limps
and has his arm in sling, making
plain that he Is unfit for service. The
individual acting is also fine.
| Henry Walthall, as Ben Cameron. the
little colonel" Lillian Gish as Elsie
Stoneman, and the other members of
the Stoneman and Cameron families, all
do their parts we'll. Josephine Crow
ell, az Mrs. Cameron. adds d human
touch many times, as she sees her sons
fall in battle. George Steigmann Of
fers an exceptional characterization OF
Silas Lynch, the nnulatto lieutenant
governor who is led on In his dream
for power by Austin Stoneman. played
by Ralph Lewis. Joseph HenaberyZ is
startlingly real as Abraham Lincoln.
while Raoul Walsh does his bit as
John Wilkes Booth effectively. Walter
Long has an unpleasant part in Gus.
81 nc