The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry (1914)

of^cience 277 that before leaving New York he was given letters of credit, with authority to spend $40,000 if necessary in "evolving the greatest aquatic spectacle of all time." Incidentally it should be stated that both Miss Kellermann and Mr. Brenon nearly lost their lives through the bursting of the tank used for the scenes taken many feet under the water. Miss Kellermann's injuries v^ere less serious than Brenon's; the latter was in a Bermuda hospital for several months and has not yet fully recovered. "Neptune's Daughter," as produced by the Universal Company, will have a greater influence in hastening the day when stage plays will lose their appeal than any series of pictures released up to this time, because the producer will realize how vast is his opportunity in virgin fields and how great is the public response for a real motion-picture production, for this is precisely what "Neptune's Daughter" is; surely it is not a photoplay. I have seen "Neptune's Daughter" three times, twice in the afternoon and once at night. The capacity of the Globe Theatre was tested at each visit, and even at night the audience was largely composed of women and children, and the spectacle of Miss Kellermann revealed as God made her, in the transformation from mortal to immortal and vice versa, actually drew forth applause with not the least indication of the sensational effect which a theatrical producer might have wished to invest the scene with. That this "study in the nude" has caused not a ripple of excitement and has been regarded with equanimity by the censors and other authorities is but a tribute to Kellermann, the artiste and woman alike Of course, the spectacle presented otherwise would have