The Film Daily (1921)

Sunday, May 15, 1921 jMA DA9UV A Striking Indictment Against War But Much Too Long Marc Klaw presents "J'ACCUSE" DIRECTOR Abel Gance AUTHOR Abel Gance SCENARIO BY Not credited CAMERAMAN Not credited AS A WHOLE As title indicates, an accusation against war and all the horrors developing therefrom; questionable whether message told will particularly appeal to Americans STORY Based upon novel of same name; while containing love incident, probably stressed with too much war incident to prove especially entertaining DIRECTION At times excellent PHOTOGRAPHY Usually good; some excellent effects LIGHTINGS Occasionally are not used to best advantage CAMERA WORK Very good PLAYERS Severin-Mars gives one of the strongest performances ever noted on the screen ; Marise Dauvray excellent ; Romuald Joube capable EXTERIORS Chiefly war sequences INTERIORS Satisfactory DETAIL War scenes dominate; fairly well carried out CHARACTER OF STORY Questionable whether or not American audiences want entertainment so heavily depressed with war incident LENGTH OF PRODUCTION. . . .About 10,000 feet When "J'Accuse" appeared as a novel during the height of the World War, it created a tremendous impression, condemning vigorously, as it did, war and its subsequent effect upon peoples and nations. In its present form as screen entertainment, it is questionable whether American audiences will particularly care for it chiefly because of its length. Almost from the very start, with the exception of a few thousand feet, war incidents and sequences so completely dominate the production that in all likelihood it will become tiresome to the average audience. If this was cut to possibly six reels, the interest might be sustained to greater advantage. But then it is a question whether the continuity could be maintained. There is a love story spread throughout but at times it is so thin that it fails to hold interest. The heroine, who, though the wife of one man is in love with another, becomes the mother of a child of a German. This, of course, is due to the ravages of war. In turn the jealous husband imagines the child is that of his wife and her lover. In the end the lover becomes insane. The husband dies and there is a general air of depression at the conclusion. Toward the end of the picture the director has sounded a tremendously strong appeal when the poet-lover in his madness, summons all of the villagers at ten o'clock at night to receive a message from the soldier dead of France. In this Gance has tried, and very effectively shows, how the people of France need a message from their heroic dead and the manner in which the dead arise from the battlefield and stalk before the horrified villagers is a striking sequence. Unfortunately this was so long and arrives after such a tremendous overwhelming mass of war material that it fails somewhat to register as definitely and as powerful as the idea deserves. During this sequence Gance shows an unusually clever manipulation— the lower half of the screen being occupied by the horrified villagers, while the upper portion shows the straggling dead in review before them. Leading actors of this country might well see the performance given by Severin-Mars. It is one of the finest pieces of acting ever shown on the screen. Marise Dauvray also gives a striking performance. Huge masses of extras are used excellently for the war scenes. If Your People Like War Pictures, All Right— Otherwise Be Careful Box Office Analysis for the Exhibitor You know better whether your audience will stand for war pictures and you must be the judge of whether "J'Accuse" will please them. The love incident and the anger of the jealous husband is hardly strong enough to carry the picture from that angle, and the fact that neither the husband nor the lover participate in a happy ending is another matter for your consideration in view of the more or less general liking of American audiences for the happy ending. It is a serious question whether the message delivered to the people of France by the heroic dead will appeal to the average American audience, even though Americans might well heed this and consider the preachment as coming to them as well. The aver age audience in America does not like to be preached to through the medium of the screen. If, however, war pictures are liked in your neighborhood, you can play "J'Accuse" with certainty that it will draw because the war incidents are usually well handled, sufficiently so to please. If the production is cut so that it can be run in the average house and not necessarily as a road show, you may be able to get away with it nicely. In its present form it would be difficult because of the footage. You will have as a possible asset, the popularity of the book during the period of the war. That is about all inasmuch as the members of the cast are practically unknown to jour patrons.