The New York herald., 1922-01-08
High Lights and
ShadOwS on Mems
of Motion Pictures
Griffith's 'Orphans Of the
Storm Pictorially Stirring
and ImpressianOble.
BI FRANK vREELAND.


fhe issue of the French Revolution at
the Apollo Theater last week, that one
review cannot hold them all, especially
when hustled together late at night
With one eye fighting the clock. That
B part of the Importance of Griffith:
be packs his pictures with so many
significant details that reviewers have
10 go right on thinking and saying
things about him for weeks afterward,
whether they will or no. His own
productive fertility is one Of his best
sources of advertisement.
At bottom the picture has a diff
Msion of dramatic interest. though the
spectator may not be exactly aware of
1t at the time and IL may almost re-
uuire psycho-analysis to bring that
thought from cover. This diffusion is
not due to the fact that Griffith keeps
the narrative running in several par
hllels, q modified form of the method
he used in it's extreme variety in
Intolerance" so that the story as
sumes the character of a quadratic
equation and part of the interest clus-
ters about the query whether both
sides of the problem will be solved
Simultaneously at the finish.
No: in this exposition Of film algebra
and Y emerge very patty at the end
from the struggle with the numerous
figures, great as they are in the mob
factors. Moreover, the interest Is
sharply sustained in each thread of mar
rative, so that it never snaps. Dramat-
lcally, each of the concurrent episodes
Is sufficient unto itself-almost any
pther director would admit himself that
he couldn't improve on their histrionic
appeal. The search OF Henriette for her
blind foster sister. louise. and the mo-
ment of recognition, are surely among
the most poignant elements photo
play could have-one wouldn't want
them any more narrowing, for the sake
Of ones feelings.
there was no single dominant protag-
onist, no one human factor that stood
eput all through the picture as being bent
Upon the destruction of the two flutter-
Ing little country butterflies for the sake
of a dramatic climax. First it is the
MARQUIS de PrdiHe who preys upon
them; then it is Mere Frochdrd; next
the Count de Linieres sets himself
against them; presently the rabble
sweeps them along and interferes with
their destiny, and finally it is the malig-
hant RobespierTe who seeks to adminis-
ter the coup de grace through the handy
Ruillotine. Amidst all these divergent
agencies no one seems to have monop-
oily on being the hand of fate. There
Is no single personality who Is fought
by them, who is out to crush them for
whatever satisfaction he can get out
bf it.
The general impression one gains from
~ ,a,ia, r,1rraUfa of the DiCt-
ure Is that of two little water bugs be-
Ing swept along ON the tide of great
forces. which is q fine conception in a
symbolic way, but is so impersonal that
some spectators may notice more history
than heartache. 1t Is exactly what Grif-
fifth touched upon in his written intro
duction when he said something about
this being a story dealing with two weak
straws ground between the upper ana
the neither millstones Of tyranny.
The idea becomes all the more
pointed by contrast with "All for q
Woman" the German picture in which
the antagonism between those two very
vivid figures, Danton and Robespierre.
becomes the supreme concern. and one
Is so enthralled by the struggle be-
tween these two that one forgets his
tory and gasps: WHO will win?" In
tOrphans Of the Storm" that hostility
Is treated on the whole in casual man
ner as incidental to the enveloping con-
flict of forces-the kind of thing that
Henri Bergson loves to write about
Whether one loves to envisage such
conflict is a matter OF taste. where ar
guInents should cease-though they gen.
erally begin. This method of handling
does not necessarily vitiate the drama,
especially IL one can get excited about
the abstract. Certainly Griffith has
made his theme so pictorially stirring
that impressionable spectators will have
to repeat to themselves feverishly:
"Gosh, it's only n movie" Kate Clax-
ton. by ARRANGEMENT with whom this
adaptation of "The Two Orphans" was
made. witnessed the premiere presenta-
tion the other night and applauded re-
soundingly, and from her decision there
would seem to be no appeal.
To vivify his thesis Griffith had re-
course TO a series of expedients which.
while exciting in themselves, some
times seemed TO give a peep at the ma
chinery in action. One OF these was
the thunderous ride OF the rescuing
cavalcade toward the gulllotine. for
which the trade secret seemed to have
been given away by The Birth OF a
Nation" Here Monte Blue gave a
thrilling suggestion OF Paul Revere es-
tabllshing records. IL captures one so
that afterward one rides the subway
with a gallant bounce.
Others of these fictitious aids are the
battle and mob scenes. though IL must
be confessed that the fight before the
Bastille did not give one the sense OF
stunned wonder that the raging con-
flict about the gates in Intolerance"
did. perhaps because too many pains
were taken in this combat to show the
technique OF delivering each blow. But
In general the mobs were marvelously
well handled. revealing the bowling
spirit Of the Reign of Terror. the utter
abandon OF ferocity, much better than
the hordes in foreign pictures, who
were quite obviously drawing pay for
waving, sticks and were fearful of tread
ing on each others corns in the un-
avoidable hurry or battle.
The live quality about Griffith's
crowds was effected not only by re-
markable close UP flashes OF groups IN
the tribunal scowling with their hearts
patiently in their work. but by having
separate figures leap or do something
distinctive from the ordinary hurried
toddle. In this way the multitudes on
a rampage in the palaces and perform
Ing the wild dance of the carmagnole
took on an individual quality that diff
ferentiated them from the ordinary
football rush OF mass play in pic
lures.
That battle before the Bastile. pic
furesuueiy framed in a window with
n Meissonier effect. illustrated Grifflths