The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-09-16
HEARTS OF THE WORLD" GRIPS BIG
 CROWD AT POLES
Spectacular Film of Love and War First Time Here
 Last Night.
(Review.)

Hearts of the World" the spectac- ular film produced by David W. Grif- filth, which made its initial appear ance at Polls theatre last night, may we'll be described as a monumental production deserving of all the praise a critic has to offer. It is not flaw
 lessly perfect, few things are, espec- cially in the world of moving pictures, but 1t is real enough and gripping enough to hold the spectators tense with emotion through a three-hour- and aDhalf interval, with saving mo- ments of humorous episode, when the strain threatens to become too great. The film is described on the program as "an old-fashioned play with a new fashioned theme" It may better be called a "a new-fashioned play with an oId-fashioned theme" There is no older theme in the drama, real or
 pictured, than that of love, which is
 what this film deals with.
 The peaceful life of small French
 village is shown in the early part of
 the play Here we see the principal characters in their wonted environ
 ment---the youthful romance of the
 boy and girl, played by Robert Har-
 ron and Lillian Gish, respectively; the
 boys parents and little brothers, the
 girls mother and grandfather, Won
 Strohm, the German spy; the little
 disturber," played by Dorothy Gish
 (and very well played, tool; and other
 village characters. The wedding day
 of the boy and girl was set and every
 thing gave promise of happiness, when the war intervened. The boy,
 an American who thought that "a
 country worth living in was worth
 fighting for" enlisted at the first call
 and was one of the small, ill-equipped
 army which France thrust to the front to stem the German horde which was
 trying to reach Paris
 The village was caught in the mael-
 stror1. When the evacuation order came the terrified peasants with their dogs, cattle and belongings, streamed out of the village. Some, not believ- . ing that the Germans were so near,
 and not knowing where to go, re- mained there. Among these were the
 girl, her mother and grandfather, and
 the boys family. The village was
 shelled and finally occupied by the Germans. The beginning of the sec- ond act showed it under German oc- cupation---showed the French women laboring in the fields, living in cellars of shattered houses and terrified by their hard taskmasters. The girl if
 made an orphan, the father anC , mother of the boy are killed, and con-
 ditions are at their worst when the
 tide turns, and the allied forces sue ceed in driving the Germans back {. The last ecene shows the British anc ! the French passing in review and : finally, the Tanks arriving in Paris II greeted with Gallic enthusiasm. Hap piness seems to be promised the bo1 and girl, although with admirable re straint the producer has refrainet from showing the end of the war.
 s The battle scenes are done with . realism that is startling. The Ger ; man pill boxes are shown, the gian 5 guns, the tanks, the waves of f1amt T and poison gas, the bursting of bomb: 3 and all the other paraphernalia tha goes with modern warfare.
 | The acting of Dorothy Gish in the
 part of the little disturber," a stroll n ing street singer, was excellent. Lil = Han Gish as the girl, and Robert liar = ron, the boy, took their roles very ca @ pabIy and the acting of Ben Alexan @ der, the littlest brother, was of th'
 sort which makes women murmur
 The cunning little thing" The gooC music by the orchestra added f1na ouch of artistry to a gripping film.