New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-08-09
On the Screen
Italian War Pictures Graphic
Portrayal of Fighting on
Austrian Front

The Italians are courageous peo-
pie. They proved this at the Forty
fourth Street Theatre last night, where
the official war films Of the Italian gov
eminent were shown for the first time.
They proved it on the screen by their
proves on the battlefield, and they
proved il in the theatre by defying all
conventions and boldly shedding their
outer apparel.
The heat was intense, and 1t was not
long before the people in the boxes
began to realize IL. Then of came
their coats. and the people in the stalls
rapidly followed suit One man re-
moved his coat but kept on a derby
hat until asked by the usher to remove
| IL. But II they were unadorned they
we're filled with enthusiasm and patri-
otism. Each one seemed TO reflect
| Brownings lines:
open my heart and you will see
| Engraved therein Italy"
There was much cheering and waving
| of programmes when the Italian COM
|
| Ambassador and Countess de Cellere,
General Guglielmotti, of the General
| Staff, and Chevalier Poccardi, Consul
General. Splendid looking Italian off,
GERS roamed around the lobby and Wis.,
tied one another in the boxes, and pres
emily Ex-Governor Hughes arrived and
! was escorted in state to the box OF
| Count de Cellere, and every one had
to stand up and cheer all over again, so
| IL was some time before the real bust
ness of the evening started.
1t was worth waiting for, however,
! for not only are the pictures an au-
! thentc portrayal of the war in Italy,
| but the production is wonderfully ar
tistic. The picture Is divided into four
| episodes. The first is a stage picture
| showing a traveller in the Alps far
| above the clouds. Then the screen Is
| dropped and the first of the war pict-
ures is shown. The initial instalment
| is called warfare In the Adamello,"
and shows the Italian soldiers dragging
| the heavy artillery across the noun
tsins,
Part II is "The Battle Of Gorilla
| This shows the capture Of supposedly
| impregnable Austrian fortress and the
| taking of thousands of Austrian pris-
oners, with General Cadorna in COM
mand.
The third part shows Italy's warfare
In the sky and on the sea; the defences
Of Venice and Italian submarines in &C.
ton. The most popular pictures were
those showing Italy rejoicing over the
entry of the United States into the war
in behalf of democracy.
The Italians seem rather un-
demonstrative, for when the spectators
applauded the pictures, as is their GUS
tom, there were Kisses from all quar-
tiers of the theatre TO still the demon
stration.
The titles were printed in English
with the italian version just Lelow, al
! though a majority of those in the tho
atre were from the country which was
waging such fierce battle on the screen.
When the orchestra played the ma
tional anthems Of the Allied nations
one was glad that the United States
! had entered the war so that orc might
| be justified in cheering and waving
programmes as the rest OF the. people
were doing.
Every seat in the theatre was taken,
and disappointed persons filed the
! lobby waiting for some OF the people
to go home and give them their seats.
The opening performance was bene-
fit for the American Red Cross and the
fund for Italian families made desti-
tute by the war. II. U.