Motion Picture Reviews (1933)

Four Motion Picture Reviews who “learns new facts, his emotions are stirred, his attitudes are changed, his conduct patterns are modified and his sleep affected” by them. (Dr. W. W. Charters, Ohio State University.) In this respect the war film has perhaps unappreciated significance for, looking back to those films which are especially unforgettable and have therefore undoubtedly influenced our own emotional responses in one way or another, we are surprised to find that those which stand out clearest are usually war films such as “The Birth of a Nation,” “The Big Parade,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Hell Divers.” A commentator on films from Germany, C. Hooper Trask, writing in the Ne<w York Times recently, expressed the same opinion and added to this list “The Four Horsemen,” “Intolerance” and “No Man's Land” as having made a “ineradicable impression" upon him. He gave this explanation: “I can’t help coming to the conclusion that * * * the insufferable nearness of death, of unthinkable pain, creates a dramatic tension which sets the nerves quivering and which often gives to a superficial plot a sense of power and depth which is not really inherent in Jt***war themes seem to have roots that reach deep into the bedrock of human nature.” The questions which have been presented to the previewers to follow are: 1. What is the influence of the picture on war or peace attitudes? Does it glorify war? Does it associate it with adventure and thrill? Does it substitute for war association with adventure, the thrill of constructive building? 2. What influence would the picture be likely to have on the reactions of the child in relation to the peoples of other countries? Does it portray accurately? Does it build for friendliness and sympathetic interest or for racial antipathies? (Please give briefly the method and specific data used in reaching your conclusions.) During the past months we have looked at some half dozen films which are definitely on the subject of war. Only one, to our knowledge, is advertised as peace propaganda and this in our opinion becomes preparedness propaganda because of its heroic ending. This is “The Big Drive” (First Division Release), authentic pictorial records preserved from the Great War. With our attention definitely focused on the attitudes which films might create, the previewers’ reactions were very interesting. The chronological arrangement of the reels was such that the horror scenes seemed definitely overshadowed by the thrilling achievement of assembling and transporting American troops over seas, by the moral and physical support shown by their numbers and equipment, or by the exciting emotional glow of the Armistice and the martial music and feted return of the successful heroes. International good will was scarcely fostered by the lecturer who said the American war material entering France paid duty, or that salvage left there was never paid for. Nor did the closing shot of Mr. Coolidge’s speech for preparedness against another war leave the spectator exactly oriented for peace. This picture — avowed peace propaganda — seemed to us of very doubtful value in this light for children, to whom the physical horrors of war are almost impossible of portrayal, but who are always sensitive to the heroic side. “Men Must Fight” (M-G-M) took pacifism for its theme and raised the question of whether an avowed pacifist can be a good citizen. The story carries an embittered woman through years of sincere but ineffectual protest against war. The plot depends upon the doubtful assumption that the assassination of an ambassador can throw a nation into war on the basis of “national honor” — a nation already pledged to international, perpetual peace. The picture comes to no conclusion. It steers a mean course leaving to the spectator the interpretation of its subject and the emotional reaction which originate from his training and his inhibitions. It is questionable what attitude an adolescent would assume. We felt that it would provoke the war spirit because children admire personal valor, they follow the crowd, they shun being outside or “different” (as the pacifist boy certainly was) and war as brutal or dangerous has little meaning because their imaginations cannot easily visualize pain or injury which they have not experienced in any way. “Private Jones” (Universal) debunks the legend of the glory of war. The hero is no coward and actually wins a medal for valor but does not want to go to war: he is rebellious, incorrigible and insubordinate. He is punished with uninteresting camp duties. It presents a suggestion for international understanding, but no satisfactory solution to meet the problem of a young man unwilling to subscribe to the war attitude. It might stimulate independent thought in the average intelligent adolescent, we believe. “Cavalcade” (Fox) is of course significantly important because of its restraint, simplicity, its depth of understanding, and its truthfulness. It projects us back into history and takes us through the years of changing social structure until we get the perspective of the years and understand today with greater sympathy. It is this honesty and truthfulness which can