New-York tribune., 1919-08-10
Out Of a Weeks Films,
Here Are Ladies!
By Virginia Tracy

OUt Ol inc Weeks CdtCn IN pictures
1.-THE Woman Under OATH" 1.-THE Bet
ter Wife," "The Way Of Woman''--we
must have cast our net in something
Of q feminist pool-what did we got
that was worth while? Of course, a
! lot Of fine acting and photography, but
these grow so thick on every bush that
people take them for granted and look
surprised when we excite ourselves
about them; child and dog.
The latter two are peerless. We
know the name Of the child because
everybody, to his or her own happiness,
knows Ben Alexander's name, But for
the last six months VIC have been
searching programmes for that dogs
name without finding it. Professional
jealousy, we suppose! Anyhow, if that
distant relative whom we must have,
somewhere, were to die and leave us
our hundred million this very night
we should be less equipped for getting
into touch with that dog than the Sara
cen lady who went through the streets
OF London calling Hubert! Hubert!"
after a mere lost husband. Should we
have the nerve to wander through the
streets Of Los Angeles screaming for
the dog which played in "Till I Come
Back to You" and "The Bronze Image"
and now in "Tho Batter Wife,? Or
perhaps, if any offer to finance him in
film company Of his own-with his
name on the programme--were set up
in an electric light sign, it might catch
his eye. For let nobody try to tell US
that he couldn't read 1t!
However, what is dog which you
have no means Of possessing compared
with a contribution to social-political
philosophy? The sponsors for "Thc
Woman Under Oath" offered US no
less. Its presswork announced that it
dealt with the nervous and impression
able nature of woman and her ten
dency, even under oath, to be ruled
rather by her emotions than her in
tellect. In fact the picture was to
put and to answer tho question,
would woman be reliable and un-
emotional juror in a murder trial?"
Thriller Poses as Problem Film
We told ourselves that we were not
so green as to suppose the picture
would do anything of the kind. We
knew that the "timeliness" which
scenario cries for almost as loudly as
for publicity" is generally confined
to the title. A timely title having in
itself secured publicity, one can then
get back to tho safe old-timeliness at
the double quick. How many pictures
announced to speak the last word on
Bolshevism and really treating of the
beauty Of mother love have we not
seen! How many that were to finish
the prohteers and turned out to deal
with the legality of the heroine's mar
riage certificate! We told ourselves
that "The Woman Under Oath" prob.
ably would be something about an err
ing husband and the joys of reforming
on q farm. We were wrong. The picture
was about what it said it was about.
Would woman be reliable and un-
emotional juror on a murder trial?
"The Woman Under Oath" does put
that question and does answer it. The
picture answers with bold and solemn
firmness: "No. Not when she her
self is the person who committed the
murder; no, she would mott"
After six crowded reels "The Woman
Under Oath" proudly lays this con-
tribution on the altar Of social
science; with the perhaps considerable
number Of cases when the woman
drawn on the jury might not be the
murderers 1t does not confuse or
trouble itself. If only it hadn't con-
fused or troubled itself or us with anv
question at all but simply gone about
its business as a good, commonplace
thriller with q lot Of rapid, violent
action we'll kept up and sufficiently
intriguing to retain it's interest
through the very worst photography
we ever have seen in modern picture,
we shouldn't now be able to dismiss
it with hollow laugh. It is packed
full OF good acting, not only by Flor
ence Reed and David Powell and
Gareth Hughes, but by the two wronged
young ladies whose names were
snatched past US too rapidly for US to
grasp them, and, in fact, by every
member Of the cast
Hero Shows Human Emotion