The Washington times., 1931-09-09
True to Type
FILM OF DREYFUS CASE
SUGGESTS NEW FIELD
FOR MOVIES
Nv GILBERT SELDES'

|By GILBERT SELDES
= Last summer met provincial French lawyer, man
approaching So who up to Paris perhaps once
every two years and terribly amused by the fenzed
effort of his Partisan cousins to be American and the
equal effort of his American friends to appear Parlsan
He was asked to choose the wine at unch and although
he knew that host rolling in wealth. he selected
quite moderately priced Burgundy because it hap
pened go well with food and because paying any
more would be ostentatious and wastetul
Families Divided
He was an extremely intelligent and as we drove
through the streets lin of the few remaining horse
drawn vehicles of Paris we fell to talking ABOUT tne
Dreyfus case The lawyers name was almost ldentlcal
with that of Dreyfus lawyer Maitre Labor and asked
my friend whether he had been pro or anti Dreyus at
the time of the trial. He told that his life had been
made miserable by the similarity of names, because ne
was opposed to Dreyfus-he must have been ABOUT 10
at the time-and his friends taunted him with being
father proDreyfus, the mother anti My friend had
to conceal the newspaper he subscribed to- because his
father would not have it in the house. AT various times
the family quarrel almost broke up the household
American Parallels
1--WE have no such cases in America" I said thinking
that since the civil families did not break over
questions of guilt and innocence. "You have two right
now," said my friend, and when l asked him Wnat IN
heavens name they were, he cited the Mooney case
and the case of and Vanzet both of which give
the impression in France as the Dreyus case gave
to
The stumbling and awkward makers of British talkies
have hit upon the Dreyfus subject and the tm
they have produced is drawing substantial crowds now
in New York. it will probably be advertised throughout
the country as it is here to make it story OF sensa-
tional intrigue, of great love by which is meant the
patient faith of Mme Dreyus through the terrible years
of her husbands imprisonment). The story is there
for once you say of picture the truth is there
Slowly and fumbngy the conspiracy twists itself into
knot until the rope nearly strangles an innocent man.
Few scenes-n history the stage or on the SCREEN
equal the presentation of the moment when Dreytus is
stripped of his epaulets and his sword is broken while
he cries out: 81 am innocent am innocent" to the
hostile Partisan mob.
: Almost Too Good
The story itself is almost too good too right Ester
hazy too utterly villain, Colonel Henry too completely
a dupe and misguided FOOL the generals were too
faithful, too pompous; Dreytus was almost TOO innocent
What the picture does not give is the atmosphere OF
Paris at the time When Emile Zola threw himself into
the fight with Clemenceaus journal to help him, when
he flung his "Jaccuse in the face of the whole dom
nant system of France Paris went mad. The dgnifled
peering, elderly novelist assaulted wherever ne Went
dirt was thrown through the windows of his house, he
demanded prosecution for libel got it, and fled to Eng
land when he convicted But he forced reopening
of the Dreyfus and brought about the strangest
verdict in all history "Guy of treason, with extenuat
ing circumstances"
Vindicaton at Last
In the end, Dreyfus was pardoned, and it was only
after the that the complete vndicaton came to light
when certain papers in the hands of the German
ment made public. The fears of the mllltarlstS
were unfounded they could grant justice to the innocent
without being compromised The Royasts and the Cath
oc party, who tried to make capital out of the case
were QeIeaCeQS france WenC through Lue wal
a revolution in the ranks People still exist who feel
that although Dreyfus innocent, he should have
been held guilty-for the honor of the But they
few. Among them, apparently, is G. K Chesterton
who all for justice and wrote stirring poem in de-
fense of Dreyfusand then years later, reprinted 1t
with apology, saying that he had changed his mind
1t is great story and although the filming is pretty
bad it makes moving talke. After months of looking
at unreal people, whose problems artificial far
fetched completely trivial picture with the honesty
and heartbreak of actual life profound relief Un
like American historical pictures this does not in
troduce alien love story everyday the which
occurs naturally in the events 1t is almost jour-
naistc record of what happened departing from head
lines only to go behind the to show what was
unknown at the time and is revealed.
A Lesson for Hollywood
wish producers would look with kindness on this
picture About IL years ago made the suggestion that
unnecessarily limiting the field Of the pictures
We dealing only with fcton-and cheap fiction
at that I proposed biography and history as equally
available I still do not why screen biog-
raphy of Roosevelt, told in the modern manner, with
carefully selected episodes giving character giving the
drama which Roosevelt threw around everything he at
tempted should not be fine film and popular one.
N the DreVf1S is DerfeCt material, What