The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-02-26
lheaters
.eThe Birth OF q Nation"

David w. Griffith's epoch making
spectacle. The Birth OF a Nation" will
be shown in one Of its original produc-
tions at the Academy Thursday, Fri
day and Saturday With daily matinees.
This work, partly from the nature of
the new art, partly from the oppost-
ton aroused. has excited keener curl
osity than any other Offering of the
current season
The Birth of a Nation tells by film
ard music the story of a nation re-
born through the storm and stress of
internecine strife Instead OF the four
20 six scenes Of the conventional play.
its technique permits OF filming liter
ally thousands of scenes and covering
wide range of history and characters.
Slavery, the prime cause OF the war;
Lincoln's call for troops to subdue
the Southern states. the ball on the
eve OF Pull Run. and the first triumph
Of Confederate arms; the devastation
wrought by Sherman's march and the
awful ordeal Of the siege OF Peters
burg. Lees surrender to Grant az APP
pomattox; the assassination OF the
federal president: the harsh radical
policy to the stricken South. the up
rising Of the Ku Klux Khan, and the
overthrow of the carpet Dagger regime
these great factors and events pass
IN review before the thrilled spectator,
The love interest Of the play is based
on the friendships between the
Camerons, of South Carolina and the
sltonemans, OF PENNSYLVANIA, two fami-
lies involved in the struggle. IBen'
Cameron. the gallant clansman of the
Dixon stories. appears again In the
lroIes of romantic hero. the oipuant
Northern girl Elsie Stoneman as the
heroine.
HIS Bridal Wight
The speed limit is likely TO be ex-
reeded when the musical farce His
| Bridal Night" comes to the Aca denny
tonight and Wednesday and wednes-
day matinee. Produced last year II
served TO crowd the theaters OF the
principal cities where 1t played and
public and critics pronounced It a brill
liant package OF fun. done up In gay
colors. Probably the most attractive
part OF the story ia its youthfulness,
as II concerns the love affairs of two
very young ladies, twin sisters, whom
none can tell apart. One of the twins
is married in the first act, auarrels
with her husband and convinces her
self that she prefers her sisters sweet
heart, The other girl upon discovering
her with the young man, determines
to teach her lesson and without
thinking OF the embarrassing pos
sibtlities that might ensue, imperso-
mates the bride and begins the wed
ding journey with the BRIDEGROOM
The bride become s repentant and then
enraged upon discovering that she has
been left out of her own HONEYMOON
and follows them with the other young
man. When they arrive at the cottage
in Tuxedo, the husband Is still at a
loss to tell which Ia the bride and the
young man cannot tell which ~ his
sweetheart when both are together.
The girls being angry with each 9TH
err and also with the young men refuse
to set matters right and the humor GUS
complications are many.
The story sounds risque but it never
oversteps the bounds, the humor of
the situations being used with splendid
restraint by that expert farceur, Mar
garet Mao, whose Twin Beds" met
with merited success. Frederick V.
Bowers. who starred in The Girl
Question" and My Cinderella Girl"
and who has been a headliner in the
leading. vaudeville house since then.
will portray the role of the distracted
husband. The Duane sisters, Virginia
and Angie, twins in real life are the
twins of the play, Alma Youlin, the
prima donna with Hymans and Nc
Intyre in My Home Town Girl" last
season. will play the cha peroning aunt
who ioees her charges: ALT Bruce is
the mystified lover and Harry I.illford
will be seen as the butler, which part
he created in the original production.
Others in the cast are Lois Lamar and