Motion Picture Magazine (Aug 1914-Jan 1915)

The Trouble War Films Cause By ERNEST A. DENCH If you were a Britisher and, while walking thru your town, you were suddenly confronted by a motorcar apparently containing German soldiers, you would naturally grow alarmed and wonder whether the Germans had invaded England. You will, therefore, sympathize with the villagers of West Wickham, Kent, who experienced such an adventure the other week. But, fortunately, these Huns, instead of committing any outrages or pillaging, left their motor-car and then lay on the high street in a deathlike pose. Just as the eye-witnesses were growing anxious, the Motion Picture camera, clicking merrily away, told them the truth. They were, of course, indignant at being deceived in this way in these troublous times, when every one desires to have his feelings spared. Both sides continued to argue for and against, and a stormy situation was prevented by the appearance of a London coster 's donkey and barrow. While the owner went into the inn for a drink, the animal brayed so long and loud that all laughed heartily. At this stage the "German" soldiers "retreated from the front." The film company have good reasons for being pleased at the humorous turn in the crisis. One little girl was so impressed that she ran home with the news that a party of wounded Belgians were waiting attention by the local Red Cross Convalescent Hospital. Even worse was the effect of filmproducing on some simple village folk in Belgium. A cinematograph operator began taking pictures of fleeing refugees, some of whom, however, were so terrified that they begged the camera man not to shoot. To them, the cinema camera appeared to be a machine-gun. After Results The soldiers at the front must be careful of what they do when on active service, for they will probably fhid the Motion Picture detective on their track. One, at least, has been found out. That occurred at a picture theater in Glasgow, where the wife of a British reservist saw her husband in a topical film flirting with a French maid. He may be assured of a "welcome" home-coming! It is remarkable how battle films affect people when they see them on the screen. When a London hall presented a particularly convincing picture of warfare recently, an old gentleman, evidently a pensioned officer, commenced coughing vigorously. The manager happened to be near this warrior and, in a sympathetic way, inquired as to the cause of the complaint. The aged soldier surprised the "knight in command" by telling him that the film was so lifelike that he could actually smell the gunpowder, which caused him to continually cough and sneeze. The real cause was an occupant in the balcony above, who accidentally dropped some of his snuff. The picture must have been realistic to have carried away the soldier, hardened as he was, to that extent. A "Reel" Bomb Some time back the inhabitants of a town in Florida were scared when they read in the newspapers of a villainous dynamite plot directed against one of their leading citizens. Outside his residence was found a dynamite bomb. Its partly burnt fuse indicated the failure to destroy the house. The infernal machine was taken to the police station, where it was placed in water and afterwards opened in the presence of local experts, who declared it to be a genuine bomb. Detectives, however, went on the warpath, and it came to light that a small boy had visited the field where a battle of the American Civil War had been reconstructed a few days before. Out of curiosity, the youngster took away with him a harmless article known as a "smoke-pot," which the producer uses instead of the real thing. 79