The Educational screen (c1922-c1956])

196 School Department The Educational Scree Amsterdam. A lax Dutch government had failed to provide the colonists with ammunition, in spite of the urgings of Stuyvesant, a half Stuyvesant refuses to submit the English terms of surrender to the colonists. hearted burgher army is poor defense, and the people plead to hear tiie terms of surrender which the English have sent. Stuyvesant tears the paper to bits, and to the cry, "Accept! Surrender!" he replies, "No, if it costs every life in New Amsterdam." The English frigates close in upon the colony. On shipboard the cannons are placed, and in the fortress on land, guns are primed and ready. Sand is sprinkled on the decks of the English ships, against the shock of the firing, but the terse observation is made, "It is the streets of yonder Dutch town that'll need sand for tlcir running blood." The people realize only too well it is madness to resist; the burghers revolt and desert their guns, the women beg tlie old Dominic in terror, and to Peter Stuyvesant, about to direct the fire against the English ships, there is brought an appeal from the citizens — his own son among the first signers — that he will not resist longer. The film story gives Stuyvesant credit whicii undoubtedly he deserves for "the bravest, hardest thing he ever did in his life" — and there is a real pathos in the figure of the stormy old governor as he stands alone on the rampart of the fort, watching the insignia of the Dutcl Company give way and the English flag wav in its place. Thus, "through a popular revolution, Dutcl New Amsterdam became English New York. It is a temptation to enumerate with no smal degree of enthusiasm the many excellent fea turcs of the production, from the standpoin of genuine artistry. There are many delicat touches, and no detail seemingly is too insig nificant to have had the most scrupulous atten tion. Costuming is perfect, photography mos artistic and beautiful and settings, both interio and exterior, without a parallel in a subjec of this kind, unless it be in Columbus, the firs of this series. The picture of Dutch life ii the colony is charming — the early golf game o the serious burghers interrupted by the strollinj geese, followed by the Dutch housewife; thi old ale house with the thatched roof under th( trees, and the tidy homes of the Dutch colonists each with its trim wall and garden. No less excellent, and all the more artistic fo the contrast it oilers, is the picture of the cour life of Charles II — the king as much given t< playing with his pet monkey as listening t( arguments for the annexation of New Amster dam; the courtiers and their ladies at play ii the formal English gardens of the place, oi gathering around the fountain to drink a toast in the rare new beverage, the strange te; from India, to the success of the English flaj across the waters. The garden scenes ar< beautiful, and furnish ideal setting for a pictur( of the airs and graces, the artificiality and th( frivolity of the court life of the time. No less delightfully done are the scenes o the English vessels, their sails full in the wind oflf New Amsterdam, the view of the settlement from the water, and the pictures of the Dutcl fortress itself. The action moves to a definite climax at th( end, and it is not prolonged beyond its logica conclusion. Much commendation must b( accorded to Frank Tuttle of the Film Guild who directed the production. (3 reels). Dis tributed by Pathe. School Film Reviews for May SCENIC them so easily recognizable as to need no iden Main Street the World Over (1 reel) Castle tification by explanatory title. Everyone will Films— As its title suggests, the reel is a sue recognize the opening scene of Pennsylvania cession of glimpses of the famous thorough avenue in Washington, followed by a splendid fares of the world's largest cities — many of view of the Capitol, and Fifth avenue. New