The educational screen (c1922-c1956])

88 The Educational Screen THE LIGHT IN THE CLEARING This story, advertised widely, makes a promising contribution to the years films despite its obvious flaws. As a produc- tion, technically, it is beautifully made. Its settings are simple and not numerous but they are accurate; the town's Main Street is a picturesque "New England- ish" village center, the senator's office the typical hodge-podge office of non- descript furnishing, dusty law books and rickety swinging gate. As a well unified story the film is doubled barreled so to speak. It has two plots equally stressed in footage and story emphasis. One ought to have been subordinated. In this film either story could have been diminished in emphasis as the continuity writer chose. The Light in the Clearing, the symbol of that gleam of sudden knowledge of the right and big minded thing to do or say that comes in the crises of life, is the pivot on which the stories of the two young men, the miser and his outcast "wife," are turned. There- fore, either tale might be the more prom- inent. It would, however, seem more logical to give the miser and his con- version the centre of the stage, keeping the senator*r> secretary and his conscience struggles subordinate. At any rate, well written in detail, this film lacked a center- ing it might easily have had to enhance the force of its moral. There was another weakness. Why must we have, persistently in films, an unconvincing right-about-face of the evil force in the story? The effect of the "uplift" of a picture is thereby lost. Vil- lains do come to see the cruelty and absurdity of their ways and they do change; too, the reformation comes swiftly to its fulfillment. Yet, in the visual representa- tion of such a conversion, the movies fail nine times out of ten. The Light in the Clearing present's a cold, cynical miser, embittered during long years by his at- titudes. We have his own lean, stooped carriage and slit-eyed countenance to impress us; we read several leaders ar subtitles, confirming the impression; la there is the long scene at the breakfl table between father and son, loaded wf the implied suffering of the son, I sullen rebellion and a fierce hatred i his father. There are, too, the glowers looks of the townspeople and the su picion against the miser that he is some, sinister way connected with | mental condition of crazy Kate. In sh« by long and unmistakable elaboration \ are made to hate this man. His turn life is brought about normally enoul: fear, when his deeds were fully compf hended, drove him to the only thing tlj might save him,—repentance. But! came too suddenly to be convincing, j does not make a particle of differef that such conversions do come swiftly* real life. Psychologically a persists visual stimulus has created a mind=J that must be changed, again, by a m< elaborate sequence of visual images w> help, perhaps, from a leader or two si' gesting how human nature is capab under pressure, of rapid renascefl Otherwise the audience will make it evitable comment, "He'd never chal like that!" Also, forgiveness, the mq of the episode, is destroyed. The tv» tieth century believes more in the real! of retribution and compensation th it does in the principle of forgivene The Light in the Clearing had a mess* for us but it is lost. In addition to this grave error the r ments of affection between the sena and his protege were sustained so tl one felt a certain amount of weak set mentalism blurring the strength of 1 man's joy over the discovered courj of his young friend. As a whole, we felt throughout j film, a high mindedness that rose ab< even the indicated errors. The charact ization of wandering Kate was onfl the finest in the months' films. 1 George Hackathorn, as the bitter, low