Educational film magazine; (January-December 1920)

THE HISTORY OF A> AMERICAN FAMILY An interestinH photodrama. not strictly educational, but imewhat above the average in its conception, and of value ; a studv of American social conditions, is The Third Gen- ation. so named, says L. C. Ha\-nes, the producer, "'to sug- !st that it is not really until the third- generation that the al American is established and the ideals and solid strength hich he mav have drawn from his alien ancestors are laken down and adapted to his environment in this luntry." Mahlon Hamilton portrays Alden \ an Dusen, of the third genera- »n, and the characterization cleverly embodies the whole of the his- ry of the \ an Dusen family. Brought up in every' luxury and in a Uef that social duties are of paramount importance, he becomes the lancial victim of tvto unscrupulous partners who play upon his iakness and neglect. The business is on the verge of bankruptcy, ne partner proposes a crooked trick to save the day, to which our JO replies "I choose death rather than dishonor my grandfather's jne." and walks ofif to the rivers brink, tiiinking that his wife and ild will share in the profits of the heavy insurance which he caxried [d that he has done all that can be expected of him. But Fate, not wishing the struggle to end so easily, sends a thug lio attacks him just as he is on the water's edge. In the ensuing apple the thug is drowned. A change of clothes, and "Jim,", once ;den Van Dusen, seeks the west, where he almost goes under. But e '"real .\merican"' and the fighting spirit of the pioneer who w^as 5 ancestor come to his aid. Vhen he learns of his partners' trickery turns East again, to fight to a finish, .\fter the tangle is unravelled. I goes back to the west with his wife and child, to make a success r himself in a simple, genuine way. The theme is a good one. The lavish negligence, easy dis- )uragement. and triviality of a generation brought up with- it a knowledge of responsibility; the acute sense of honor, le love for home, the courage and integritv of the pioneer— lese qualities in conflict produce a struggle not uncoimnon I the indixidual and to the nation. The man who makes the ght response to the tempting arguments of the sophisticated -■■\\ ill your sense of honor get you anwhere after you're roke'r" and "Don't be a fool—self-preservation is the first iw of nature"—is of the right caliber, even though he does ot act tmtil the crisis comes. It seems hardlv necessarv lat he should literally follow the saying "From shirt-sleeves ) shirt-sleeves by the third generation,'' but no doubt he jund exactly his environment in the course of time, which i all that matters. As the motion picture tmiverse is arranged, it seems to e quite the usual thing to eat one's cake and have it too. t is refreshing to see for once a picture which has dared to ollow. instead, the order of life as most of us know it. f the motion picture as a whole could be made to grasp this erhaps tmpleasant but undoubtedly true maxim, it might elp us to solve otir .Americanization problem before the lird generation. The Third Generation. Produced by Brentwood Fitm Corporation. Dis- ibutec bv Robertson Cole Companr. 5 reels. A >E\r ENGLAND IDYL "Still sits the school-house bv the road, \ ragged beggar simning—" ^XTiittier s poem School Days is dramatized in color imder lie title Memories. .Admirably suited for almost any non- heatrical (as well as theatrical) use is the storv of the little irl who regrets that her succcess in the spelling match aeant disappointment for her little sweetheart. In New -ngland meadows and cotmtry roads and in a typical road- ide school-house the action takes place, captioned whenever >ossible in the words of the poem. "Recess,'' with the jovs if games and lunch, the spelling match, the afternoon walk lome are portrayed vividly and charmingly. The little Irama of childhood is enacted well, and the part of the •Id school-master in whom all this awakens "memories" s excellentiv taken. A series of .American poems would be welcomed bv >choiils, churches, and welfare organizations. Will not ?ome producer give them to us? M.".ories. Produced by Prizma. DUtriSuied by Republic. 2 reels. "LADY CLARE" ^'«.'labIe for its distinction and beauty as a production, this cttarming romance of Georgian England is a picture-version, considerably ex- tended and elaborated by Dale Laurence, of Tennyson's well-known ballad, says a reviewer in the London Bioscope. In developing a full-grown drama from what is in the original merely an episode .Mr. Laurence has worked with the scientific care of an anatomist reconstructing an organized body from the evidence of a single bone. Not merely has he supplied credible full-lengih portraits of characters whom Tennyson merely sketched, but he has also reasoned the story" backwards from the vaguest data to a point some twenty years before the action of the poem begins. In accom- plishing this feat of literary craftsmanship. Mr. Laurence had been concerned to preserve the style and spirit as well as the facts of Tennyson. And the scenario has been pictured by Wilfred Noy. with a similar reverence for a great tradition. Since the modem film drama has little in common with the idylls is an imusual kind of picture, related but remotely with the average of Tennyson either in form or in feeling, it follows that "Lady Clare" screen play of quintessentihsed plot and concentrated passion. Its very pace has been modulated to the stately, well-measured Tenny- sonian rhtyhm, and. although this minuet movement is grateful to the eye that is wearied by the furious jazz-time of the .\merican high- speed drama, it risks a charge of dullness by the ordinary picture-goer. Without suggesting that Mr. Laurence should have sought to instil "punch'' into Tennyson, we think he might have compromised so far as to have sharpened somewhat the edge of his dramatic situations which are, at times, over-soberly developed. In view", moreover, of the fact that one of the film's chief charms lies in its perfection as a period-picture, he could still further have increased its interest by the introduction of further historical characters of the events. Lady Clare is undeniably one of the most beautiful and most fin- ished pictures yet created by a British producer. The detail work in the staging of the interiors is extraordinarily perfect. The whole production has the rich tone of rare old mahogany, the soft, deep polish of fine silver. In such episodes as the country" wedding of "The Merry" Bachelor." the Earl of Robhurst, you seem to be transported back to the very heart of Georgian England. \nRELESS TELEPHONY EXPLAINED ON SCREEN A marvelous invention developed in the stress of the world war is the mechanism by which the human voic« talks across the ocean, linking continent with continent How" is it possible for the voice to travel 3,000 miles when the shrillest call that man can make is limited to a mile or two? Expanding the range by which the human voice may go by wireless is even a greater manel than sending a telegram without the use of wires. F. Lyle Goldman, of the Bray Pictures Corporation, has directed an unusually clear exposition of how" this manel is accomplished. The picture, edited by the Western Electric Company, is scientifically correct. It shows how" sound waves travelling in the air are similar to ripples of water when a stone is thrown in. A device for transmitting electric waves, which readily travel a great distance, is clearly pictured. Then the remarkable invention by which the electric waves are made to carry the sound waves is shown with telling effect. Even a child can comprehend this clear and thrilling story. THE HUNTING \^ ASP IN PICTOGRAPH 7025 The days of the relentless freebooter have not passed. The Picto- graph camera man has caught a modem Captain Kidd red-handed. while kidnapping and poisoning a helpless victim. He shows a rogue's gallery portrait of this celebrated criminaL known to law as the hunting wasp. This unusual insect is shown committing his infamous deeds. You see pictured a complete kit of his tools— fearsome jaws, the grappling hooks on the bottom of his feet, and the poison dagger. Can you imagine that this ruthless freebooter is a lady wasp? Yet, such is the case. She first digs a hole in a safe spot for burying the loot. When the cave is dug, off she goes to start the "dirty work." One thrust of the poison dagger, and the victim is no more The helpless body is lugged into the murderer's den, where it is used for feeding the wasp babies. XiTien the larder is filled this winged hunter "gum- shoes' outside to conceal the crime, and when the job is complete she goes hone-gathering as frivolous as any debutante at an after- noon tea. 23