The Moving Picture Weekly (1916-1917)

1& ■THE MOVING PICTURE WEEKLY Pierre, Gabrielle and Anatole bid each other good-bye. T HE BUGLER OF ALGIERS," the fortyfourth Bluebird photoplay, is a refutation of the old saying that too many cooks spoil the broth. A great many cooks were concerned in its making, but the broth remains of super-excellent quality. Robert H. Davis, the editor of Munsey's Magazine, wrote the original story in collaboration with Perley Poore Sheehan, and it was published in the All Story Magazine, under the title of "We Are French." It had an immediate and impressive success, and was later brought out in book form. Sir Gilbert Parker wrote a preface to the volume, in which he said that reading the book reminded him of sojourning in an orchard where wild fruit grows, plentiful, ruddy and sweet. The story found its way into the trenches, and was translated into French at the express request of General Joffre, that it might be read to him. It is regarded in Europe as a sort of text book on patriotism. The authors saw its picture-play possibilities, and sold them to Bluebird, and Rupert Julian was chosen to produce the film, from the script by Elliott J. Clawson, because of his former Bluebird successes, because of his military experience during the Boer war, and because he possesses the imagination and sensitiveness necessary for a delicate piece of work like this. The other leading roles were confided to two of the most capable of the Bluebird players, Ella Hall and Kingsley Benedict, who have already appeared together in "The Crippled Hand" and "The Bugler of Algiers'^ WITH RUPERT JULIAN, ELLA HALL AND KINGSLEY BENEDICT "The Love Girl," former Bluebird successes. Everything possible was done to insure the success of the play. A special street of French houses was constructed, and one of the most elaborate sets ever erected was built for the scene of the presentation of the Cross of the Legion of Honor, to the patriot. The scene of the picture is laid in the France of 1870, but no attempt has been made to make the story in any way partisan, and no reference to the present European situation appears in the course of the tale. France was chosen by the authors of the story, because, as Sir Gilbert Parker says in his preface, odd things do happen in France, because the race is original. But the theme of the story is one which appeals to the deepest, finest instinct of the human race as a whole — patriotism, love of country, devotion to a cause. The authors have expressed the wish that the Marseillaise, acknowledged to be the finest patriotic song in any country, should be played all through the running of the picture, not because it is French, but because it is so perfect an expression of the devotion of a people to their cause. A few scenes from the FrancoPrussian war of 1870-71 are introduced, for the purpose of explaining the separation of Gabrielle from her home and kin, but when it is realized that more than forty years has elapsed since these events took place, it will be seen that the picture is historical, and has no reference to the antagonisms and conflicts of today. When Mr. Davis and Mr. Sheehan saw the picture on the screen for the first time, they sent a telegram to the Bluebird studio, which read: "We have just seen 'The Bugler of Algiers.' The laurel wreath is yours, wet with our tears. The picture is greater than the book — a miracle of photography, a marvel of continuity, a new and progressive chapter in the history of silent drama." In the little town of Miribel, where all the girls are beautiful, lived Gabrielle Picard, an orphan, and her younger brother Anatole, to whom she had been mother and sister, ever since their parents left them alone. The dearest friend of both, is Pierre Pierre relinquishes his borrowed honors.