Exhibitors Herald (Apr-Jun 1921)

J'ACCUSE (MARC KLAW, IXC.) "J'Accuse" is a masterpiece of French cinematic art. Abel Gance, the author and director, has developed a stirring war epic that discloses new heights in imaginative direction. The tragedy is splendidly acted and elaborately produced. It compares with the best of the foreign importations. \4"ARC KLAW. in presenting ■*" "J'Accuse"' to the American public, has given one of the finest examples of the French picture art that has been exhibited in years. The production is the work of Abel Gance. a member of the Legion of Honor of France. It is a gripping portrait of a sex triangle enmeshed in the grim realities of the Great War. It is the indictment of the horrible fruitage of warfare, in one terrible accusation against the creators of international hatred. At times the direction reaches unusual new heights in sketching dramatic situations by suggestion and thereby enhances the dramatic virility immeasurably. A realistic panorama of the great conflict surges across the screen, piling incident upon incident in such a fashion that the audience is held breathless. It will be a valuable motion picture attraction for the best houses. It goes a little farther than the rest of the war pictures in realism and magnitude and it will appeal to those who like powerful drama and excellent acting. Seldom has such imaginative direction been seen on the silver screen. Director Gance is to be congratulated for getting afield from the stereotyped, both in technique and creative story telling. At times he gets away from his story, but this fault is forgotten when a new angle of dramatic construction is outlined upon the screen. The story is that of the tragedy of a young wife, her elderly husband and her lover, a man of her own age. Their lives are encompassed by the tide of the war. Severin-Mars, as the husband, Romuald Joube, as the paci fist lover. Marise Dauvray, as >oung wife, and Desjardins, as the her with splendid father, enact their role> distinction. * * * Possessing as it does great exhibition possibilities, "J'Accuse" will be rated as a real money-making feature. The production is a real work of an. It should be given wide exploitation because it is the first great drama spectacle to come from our Allies of the Great War. It is a lesson in the sublime love of country and of home that was crystallized by those who died superbly and well. The production will live as a splendid memorial to the people of the Allied countries who loved peace enough to fight for it. There are more big scenes, both from the standpoint of drama and from that of the spectacular, in this production than in three or four of the general run of features now on the market. The scene on the deathstrewn battlefield, wherein the spirits of the dead leave their earthly bodies and form in serried lines, to march through the Arc de Triomphe with their living comrades in the great Victory Parade and then leave to march back to their own villages only to find that the loved ones for whom they died are unworthy of their sacrifices, enthralls the audience, for here is the power of the creative dramatist at its best expression. The picture lives, moves and has its being in distinction. It points the way to better achievements in the production of motion pictures and in doing so it helps to elevate the art of picture exhibition. "J'Accuse" is a step forward both for the theatre and the producer. It will undoubtedly prove to be a splendid drawing card in any motion pictur theatre. — S. C. She Sighed By Seaside (ASSOCIATED PRODUCERS') Mack Sennett's two-reel comedy. "She Sighed by the Seaside." is along more or less familiar lines containing the much photographed Pacific coast for a background and several Sennett bathing girls for artistic effect. Ben Turpin is in it though, as well as the other Sennett comedians, and the fun is fast and furious. It is all about two ardent lovers who seek the hand of the same girl. A tennis game in the opening scene is very funny and the incident of the lost trousers and the barrel costuire that loses staves at every step is worth a laugh or two. One of the dramatic moments from "J' Marc Accuse," the French feature imported by Klaw.