New-York tribune., 1919-05-18
Drama That Loses
Itself in Atrocities

of romantic devotion in which all ne
lives for is the moment when she shall
speak and tell him who has hurt her.
Then. while she is still mute, there is
at last found hidden in her money
belt the letter which reveals to him
that this American princess of his is
Simply another victim of the Belgium
INVASION: that when she was struck
down in the streets of her own country
and before his own house it was the
fist of Germany which had reached far
enough to strike her. Germany's
champion looks up from the dreadful
letter to the face of his first love and
Now, if this is not dramatic, what
is? And what becomes Of its drama
if the picture opens with Mr.. Noll
Windsor already so deeply reused
against Germany's villany and Bel
GUMS wrongs as to be departing for
the relief of the latter country forth
with? When the girl comes along she
is merely like something extra thrown
in. Then the whole middle-class, com
monplace background for the lovely
bird of passage to shine against Mr..
ness, for compression, for getting com
ing events promptly and positively
planted, has been cut out at a stroke
And in this clearness and promptness
he has allowed even the absorbing mys-
tely of the girl herself somehow to
evaporate. If he was at all in1uenced
by the desirability Of concentrating
the interest on his star instead of on
his hero's state of mind we think he
took the wrong turning for his own
goal; the emotional medium through
which heroine is presented being
surely as important to the impress sion
she makes upon us as anything she
herself can do; particularly when
she is in a trance and can't do any,
thing.
This incident typihes to us the
handling OF the picture which has
somehow let slip the high dramatic
temper Of the books earlier part. And
when the book itself collapses into
an endless quagmire Of atrocities Mr.
Neilan has been unable to gather Major
Hughes's evidence into one great fu-
nereal march of accusation or to drama
tize 1T into q single representative and
memorable gesture. We remember
Wells saying that Henry James sought
expression for the minutest thought.
like an elephant who has lost a pea
and goes diligently searching-"I must
have that peal" AS to the smallest
detail of Belgiums misery, Major
Hughes must have that pea, and az
the worst mas been told at the be-
ginning we seem listening to cries for
sympathy, declaring: "They murdered
my family and burned down my house
and stole my pocketbook and dirtied
my front steps and left my gate open!"
Mr.. Neilan has attempted to make his
way through this crescendo of dis
tracted writings, given it up and sub
stituted low comedy.
~ 04oi'SS Su1eeA9 9i!fpe Afohl hdlSAS
gloriously boarding the Germans and
requiring a funny-hre Of cheap sub
titles becomes the real hero; never
was anything better calculated to
smash what little illusion we may have,
more obviously lugged in to allow the
tragedy few good laughs. Now no
living creature need pretend to admire
Charlie Chaplin more than we do, but
we should not welcome him jumping
back and forth over the bed in the last
act of "Othello.' In fact, it seems large
ly this tendency to play it both ways
which deprives the picture of any con
tinuity whatever. 1t must keep its hor-
rors within bounds of the most delicate