The New York herald., 1921-05-23
Our Own Book Review.

Our Own Book Review.
HAMLET. PRINCE or DENMARK.
tragedy. BY William Shakespeare. Lon
don. Henry Smithers & Co. Ltd. Liverpool
r r the moving picture producers have il
in mind to present Hamlet" to a bored
and suffering public they had better
hurry, because the play would not have a
chance before any well organized board Of
censors Every one admits that our lives
are governed largely by what see on the
screens Of the theatres. If Charley Chap
lin hits some one in the eye with a custard
pie we are Immediately seiZed with a desire
TO do likewise, and many a family tilt has
been started because an impressonabe wife
has spent the afternoon in movie: when
Fatty ArbucIle falls down stairs a couple
OF times maintain our equilibrium with
extreme difficulty; when Doug. Fairbanks
takes his wife in his arms and loves her
50 do tours. Of course. not his). and SO II
goes. The consequence is that when we see
murders on the stage our very natural i'm
pulse Is To 90 forth and snuff out the lives
Of few innocent and unsuspectng fellow
citizens.
The story Of Hamlet Is the record OF
crime wave among the upper classes that
swept over the Kingdom of Denmark dur
ing the reign Of Ciaudius Nearly every one
was murdered. Claudius really started the
whole affair ~ killing King Hamlet, which
he accomplished by pouring poison in his
ear.
one dead.
Claudius then married Gertrude, the
widowed queen, ! couple Of months later
being fast worker among the ladies' there
BY causing Prince Hamlet the only son
Of the late amented, 70 acquire permanent
crouch OF course the first thing he did was
70 have d row with his best girl one Miss
att y
write her 4 letter 50 fun Of extravagant
terms Of passion that she showed 1t to her
father who thereupon coined that famous
phrase. "Yon said Il, Prince" which later
came into general use.
Prince Hamlet became 20 melancholy A.
ter the quarrel with Miss Ophelia that h
wrote q play which was produced at the
palace and which was such a rotten play
that King ClaudiUs decided 70 send him to
England 70 be put to death Hamlet being
2 wise bird, changed the letter or instruc-
tions about his death by rubbing out his own
name and substituting those Of the two splen-
did young men who had him IN charge thus
eliminating them from the play and causing
their unexpected demise soon after they
reached Blighty
Three dead
Then Hamlet assassinated Mr. Polonius ~
running him through with a rapier through
d curtain behind which the old fellow had
concealed himself in order to eavesdrop on
2 conversation between Hamlet and his
mother
Four dead
Miss ophelia decides to become 4 flower
girl and she goes gayly singing among her
friends asking them 20 buy but they do not
take her seriously. and she has very little
success IN her business venture She finally
falls in the river while gathering garlands
and IS drowned
Five dead
At the funere Lacrtes her brother. Jumps
IN the grave. Hamlet gets jealous. thinking
that the brother Is trying 70 show him up as
a piker III the grieving business. but he can
not think Of anything original that would
show greater grief than Laertcs has shown
- n he jumps too, and they stage a fight
without rules on top of the coffin in the
grave. 70 the delight Of the spectators II is
Z draw, however. 80 they shake hands and
decide TO become friends
Later they engage In fencing contest
hut Laertes decides 4 viii be q good Joke 10
put poison on the end of his sword while
they are fencing gayiy Queen Gertrude.
thinking Il y hootch. drinks some Of the
poison which Laertcs has carelessly left OIL
tho table and dies.
Six dead
Lacrtes sticks Hamlet with The poisoned
sword They exchange swords and Hamlet
sticks Laertes. The latter then confesses
about tho poison and dies
Seven dead.
Hamlet runs King Claudius through the
the body with the poisoned sword and hc
dies
Eight dead
Mr. Horatio a friend or Hamot's observ
ing that tho very best people were dying
rapidly. wishes 70 be included In tho nst
Of fashionables and seeks to die, but Ham.
lei points out to him that somebody win
have 70 stay alive in order 10 tell the story
70 Mr.. Shakespeare the playwright. and
Horatlo unseiAshly agrees 20 1.-Two "A little
longer in order that the story may not D.
lost TO literature.
Hamlet then dies
Nine dead
The curtain falls with the stage an clut.
tered UP with corpses
Mr. Shakespeare might have saved him
SELF lot Of trouble and the theatregoirp
public a lot Of time bv the simple expedient
OF having Tor8tio throw a bomb at the
whole crowd In the FIRST act. which would
have attained az once the same result that
now requires ali entire evening