The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1919-05-21
ASurprise
A Study in Crowd Psychology,

Ell, indeed, with the best people
in the town, too.
You see, the show had been
advertised, and the price had
been raised n little also. There
fore the crowd, And curiously
enough every man had his wife
with him. This was the the in.
teresting feature. Naturally
you would have thought that
Mary Pickford or even Charlie
Chaplin was playing. At least
it might have been u Govern.
ment "Wur Picture. But no,
the actors were not especially
we'll known, and the govern.
ment had no part at all in fca.
turing this interesting movie.
The attraction was all in the
maine of the show. 1t was cali
ed "For Husbands Only" The
posters showed the actors in the
role of society folks. That was
enough if not too much for our
good, gossipy towns-people. OF
course some were there as they
always are night after night,
but we have the word of an
authoritative source that there
wore numbers there who had
not seen the inside of the
theatre for weeks and months
y large majority ofpeople came
to see something, they didn't
know what, but at least some
thing that would prove interest.
ing, shall We say from sug-
gestive point Of view.
From Mr.. and Mrs. \. to Mr..
and Mrs. h H., all were there.
The bachelor, too, Of high and
low degree. They expected to
see some fun. \ few
honest people came to be edu
Gated or perhaps enlightened
But they were few and far be-
tween, no doubt.
Wonder of wonders, it was
the honest people who were sur
prised and the others, we Will
not call their names, who were
enlightened and educated.
There were no scandalous seen
es strictly speaking, in fact the
motif of the play was highly
moral, and when the spectators
felt that thrill coming on at
certain times, when they didn't
see how scandaious scene ORR
suggestive word or act could be
avoided, the tables were turned
most naturally, both upon the
william and upon the spectators
themselves, unexpected though
this turn of affairs seemed to
be.
Imagine, then, ii you will all
those worldly and sophisticated
people of our social set who
were either disappointed or,
and we give them the benefit of
the doubt, who accused them
selves in their heart OF hearts of
being attracted by n suggest
i've play. In short the thing
was IL surprise, and n very good
one too, for it revealed the gu
periiciality Of the social and re-
ligious preten ton Of people that
like suggestive plays on both
stage and screen alike, and yet
outwardly are Mortified, scan.
dalized by adancing parson or
a rank socialist.
a mo,bid curiosity charac
teriZes all etfete civilizations, a
curiosity which shuns disease
and poverty, or feeds then from
tables laden with delicacies,
but at only at u distance.
We are proud of being Ameri.
cans, and it is right and proper
that we would DO proud, bul
when we stop and look beneath
the surface of the peoples out
ward behavior to -day, when we
see conditions all around us
which are indicative OF decay
and change, of discomfort
among the wage. earners. and
the like we cannot but feel that
our pride liable to precede a
fall. And all this because of
one little incident in u little
town of Southwest Virginia
an incident, indeed. that is re.
peated wherever a crowd gath
ers to see one of the best little
movies we have seen in quite
while, For Husbands Only"