The Washington herald., 1918-07-28


Kenneth MacGowan. formerly as
eistant dramatic editor Of the Boston
Transcript, has written the following
Interesting analysis OF the present
state Of the movies, as revealed In
'Hearts Of the World" for the New
Republic-which Is. as everybody
knows, Q publication that rarely
1eigns to notice that there is such a
thing as an art Of the screen:
1T u q singular and significant fact
that twenty years of progress In the
movfes-progress greater than any
pther art has shown In q like time
leave the main source Of interest Just
where they found II: How II 1t all
done? When the movies showed us
trotting horses and locomotives in
motion, we suffered the passion Of
Bulge and Toddis to see the wheels
,go round II is a little dfsheartening
10 discover that this Is still the only
really important reaction when q gi-
gantic and costly film like d. W.
Grtfith's Hearts Of the World shows
ms two OF three army divisions. q
Hook Of mammoth cannon and large
sections Of the Western front given
over to arousing our emotions about
war-stricken families and the fate of
effectively the deep animal patriotism
which turks in the most pacific Of US.
Twenty years ago we wanted to know
how they made the trotting horses
move. Today we want to know how
they make our emotions move. For
the unmistakably meretricious effect
of almost every story screened drives
as back to discuss the problem of
how the thrill is made
Hearts of the WorId'-for all its
combination of Lyod George. the
ruined town Of Ham, and Q tremen-
dous emotional sweeps meretricious-
The reason might be its obvious story
Of q Franco-American lover separated
from his fiancee by outbreak of the
war, and his fight to rescue her from
the customary designs Of q genuine
newspaper Hun. II might be this
common, stupid. leaky old tale. II It
weren't for the fact that practically
every story. however good 1t may
have been in some other medium,
seems to leave something Of the same
effect when really well done on the
screen Perhaps physical narration
reduces life to its too crude essentials.
Perhaps the tremendous bare emotion
of the movies turns US aside. Is the
screen the demonstrating laboratory
Of the new psychology, which poses
US as striving to escape from emo
ton to reason, from importunate de-
sire to sentimental fulfilment, from
the physical life to the mental?
AT any rate, Hearts of the World
thrills and sickens beyond measure.
and drives US back to a keen interest
In how Mr.. Griffith does the trick.
h. oP oTha Qirft, ~
o Nation comes out of a year or two
of retirement to show a new three
hour spectacle, we are always ready
TO set upon the peak of American film
achievement some new director who
has been employing those years in
making rapid strides from one little
sixty-minute film-hillock to another
men like George Loane Tucker and
Marshall Neilan- Then Mr., Grifith-
who has meantime been fortunate
enough not to waste his efforts on
polishing lollpops for Mabel Normand
or Mary Pickford-displays himself
once more as the great legendary fg-
ure Of the films. the great inventor
and invigorator Of their youth, yet
also the great, consistent, progressing
genius Of today. As the inventor Of
's-close-up'' and "cut-back'' and half
n dozen OIner LecnnlCal 0eV1ce9, ne
might be content to occupy somewhat
the position of q Masolino. of one of
the early Italians who worked out
the problems Of perspective. Yet each
new production demonstrates that he
a a Masaccio as well-an artist of full
and splendid naturalistic power. For
Mr.. Grifnth never allows himself to
be led by his technical abilities into
the neglect Of the one essential Of
motion picture art-the creation Of
emotional conviction out Of the clos
est naturalism.
Technical ability has unquestion-
ably led others astray. Thomas II.
Inee. for example, the organizing
brains behind the scores OF pictures
Of W. 8. Hart. Charles Ray. Dorothy
Dalton and Enid Bennett released each
year, has set himself to the working
out Of very close-bound, almost the.
atrical form Of production which Is
tremendously interesting and effective
for time. but which loses in the end
because its final effect is hammered.
Now Mr.. Grifith has never allowed
his technical inventiveness to run
kway with him: surely never less than
IN Hearts Of the wc-,S' He Is still
experimentins. with an eye to the fu-