The Washington herald., 1921-01-16
POLA NEGRI is THE STAR X.
OF THE SPECTACLE "PASSION'
Famous Continental Actress Plays Difficult
Role to Perfection.

Perhaps never before has a pho
toplay producer asked the girl star
OF a picture TO combat a cast OF
5000. all Of whom Un the story)
hate the woman in the case, and
Pola Negri, the famous continental
actress who plays the stellar role In
the First National spectacle, Pas
sion,g scheduled to open an engage
ment at the Metropolitan today, can
testify to the truth of the assertion
that II is no fun to perform against
such odds, and, furthermore, that
such q crowd of actors can be as
motley and as mean as the real
thing, When in this plays denoue-
nant ithe woman who rose to be the
uarioh'8 dIatg or. from the humble
station OF tile milliner, comes
s-co 70 IA tn the necessity Of
doing battlo "a the thousands Of
irate citfzens alone, and shorn of her
olG-time gowers THIS woman of such
mixed ylFtues and follies is swept
through most thrillingly dramatic
situations, all of which are enacted
in the shadows Of deep, dark, i'm
pending tragedy.
IL - sdAu L4ldL q NC ~ INV CALAOAA As-S
made possible the showing OF such
a large mob as 5000 people in an
extremely expansive setting and
that this new method of reproduc-
ton is introduced for the first time
on the screen by Passion" First
Nationals mammouth film drama,
which opens its Washington en-
gagement at Crandall's Metropolitan
Theater today.
However the photography was
accomplished the conspicuous fact
is that Passion" achieves what In
tolerance" failed to embody-mam-
moth scenes in which every atom of
humanity reflected on the screen is
in frsnzied action, but action that
centers in a common object, moves
to a given point and successfully
encompasses a single aim. Thus,
instead of initiating against the
effectiveness and the power Of a
drama that pursues a consistent Gre
scendo from its opening scene to its
final stark tragedy, this e1raord-
mary subject expresses its simple
but oyerpowering message in terms
so colossal that they cannot salts
factorily be translated into Ian
guage. 1t Is this quality of great
ness that leaves an audience stun
ned by the immensity of the spec
tacle it has just witnessed. Not the
mere sight OF crowds of gesticulat-
ing people but the consciousness
that a nation has just thrown of
the yoke hitched around it's neck by
a slender woman dragged strug-
Cling now to pay the penalty Of her
seIfshness, her extravaganza and
her lust for power to the shining
blade Of the guiIlotine!
II is regrettable that more COM
plete Information concerning the de-
tails Of this mighty films produc-
ton during the two years that ii
was in the making did not accom-
pany the masterpiece to this coun-
try from abroad. Only with the re-
suits Of the labor that was occa-
stoned by it's immensity can we con-
Germ ourselves, not with the man
ner in which those labors were ac-
cOmplished. II Is only after two
complete viewings Of the full nine
reels Of the picture that these lines
are written.
Aside from Pola Negri, who is des-
tined to become one OF the most IA
nous actresses known to American
theater- gOers, purely thrOu-h the
eNceptlOnal DTlIIlance OF heT charac-
terizatiOn Of Du Barry, the mem.
bers Of the cast are not even named
But all are artists. The most cru
dite and discriminating audiences
hat this country can assemble
and Washington can outdO most
other cities in the distinguished per-
sOnnel of its theater patronage
may confidently be defied to detect
a faulty imDersOnatiOn among the
many that are concerned in the pri-