Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1917 - Jun 1918)

|gy_E_JC H I B O R H R D Willi' KlilliNIII'HillNIHiirilt: WWIll'llll i|!lllll!lllll!llli:|i|l'i'H MMUO ' i ii:iiii:iOii:ii!!:iiii!iii;:!i!iJ!i,;iii;jii/iiini!W^ Los Ange les B ows to D. W. Griffith rremiere of 'kHe arts of the World Occasion of Enthusiastic Outburst — New Production Said to Surpass "The Birth of a Nation" mwihiiim^ iiiiiimi! nwwiiiin^^^ SWIFTLY and with ever increasing: momentum sweeping eastward from the Pacific coast comes the tribute of Los Ange!es to David Wark Griffith, the master hand, whose latest production, "Hearts of the World," had its premiere at Clune's auditorium recently. As the last reel faded from the screen a tense silence pervaded the three thousand persons present which was broken by a mighty cheer in a distant corner of the house. Spectators rose from their seats and amidst trie thunderous applause that followed the one insistent note was the demand for Mr. Griffith's appearance. The wizard of the ;inema art walked unsteadily to the center of the stage overcome .vith emotion by the tribute paid to his .vork. He strove vainly :or the words that ivould not come and :hen in a choked voice hanked his admirers. "If you mean this md the picture makes ;o honest an appeal or our fighting boys, am well repaid for all he hard work I have >ut into it," he said, md withdrew. THE film has been ' more than a year in he making and has denanded Mr. Griffith's •resence in the war one, in England and his country. It deals vith the large humaniarian subjects involved n the European strug;le in a powerfully xamatic way and inolves scenes in the renches which are of indoubted authenticity. Mr. Griffith was Ihosen by the British par office as the one nan who had the genius to film a historic drama of the great war. It was decided a motion picture of the quality Mr. t Griffith could produce would be of immeasurable value for ropaganda work. It is the statement of an official of th" I pnematograph committee of the British war office that no i ther citizen has been given the opportunity to visit the battle |"onts the producer has. This fact is borne out by the picture itself which contains attle scenes so far superior to those which have thus far been Miown as to make comparisons ridiculous. Many were taken h the war zone by cameramen actually under fire and they ear the stamp of actuality which increases their effectiveness. "It is a triumph of motion picture work," said W. E. Bur>ck of the British war office," and I believe the story will live irever. Mr. Griffith has more than proven worthy of the condence the British war office placed in his genius and high urpose." "THE story of "Hearts of the World" is that of the daughter 1 and son of American parents who grow up as companions in France. The boy and the girl plight their troth but before the wedding date is reached the declaration of war comes. The boy, though an American citizen, declares that a country worth living in is worth fighting for and enlists in the French army. It is in his connection with the army that the many battle scenes are shown. As D. W. G many as 150,000 men appear in some of the scenes and in others the opposing battle lines appear to stretch out before the eye for miles. Every conceivable kind of weapon is shown in action. Charge of the British tanks in actual conflict, aeroplanes, balloons, thousands of horses, innumerable units of artillery and infantry appear on the screen in bewildering magnitude. The village in which the girl lives falls into the hands of the Germans and she is put to work in the fields. The village is recaptured by the French and the boy, on a special mission, arrives on the scene in time to rescue the girl from a German officer who is about to despoil her. The boy and the girl are trapped but are again freed by the arrival of French troops. The story itself ends with the marriage of the two, the young soldier enjoying a furlough in Paris. The picture closes with an impressive scene of the arrival of American troops in the great French metropolis. Robert Harron, Lillian and Dorothy Gish are the featured players with George Fawcett in support. IN "Hearts of the World" Mr. Griffith is said to have surpassed "The Birth of a Nation," up to the present time the masterpiece of the cinema art and bearing the stamp of his handiwork. Nothing could be more fitting than that this great master should contribute a deathless memento of the greatest struggle in which mankind has ever been engaged. Among the celebrities of filmdom who witnessed the premiere were Theda Bara, Robert Harron, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett, Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston, James Young, Edna Purvience, J. Gordon Edwards, Douglas Fairbanks, C. Gardner Sullivan, J. Stuart Blackton, Fannie Ward, Jack Dean, Mae Murray, Mary Miles Minter, Dorothy Dalton, Louise Glaum, Reginald Barker, Bessie Barriscale, George Seigmann, Roscoe Arbuckle, Olive Thomas and Lottie Pickford. 21