Moving Picture World (Jul-Sep 1911)

THE MOVING PICTURE WORLD '93 covered one day in a cafe and Pauline provokes a quarrel. Swords are immediately drawn and, after a display of skill by both contestants, Captain Du Bois receives a death wound. With his remaining strength he snatches the mask from the face of his opponent and discovers his wife. Then he falls dead. THE LAST DROP OF WATER (Biograph). "The good men do," is not always "interred with their bones," but on the contrary nothing abides more lastingly in the recollection of the children of men than the memory of a noble deed, witness the inspiration of this splendid Biograph film. Centuries ago, a noble Englishman lay stricken and wounded on a field of battle. Prostrated by the heat and struggle he pressed a cup of water to his lips, when he heard the moan of a dying common soldier close by. Sir Philip Sydney turned to the soldier and gave the precious water to him with these Christ-like words: "Brother, thy necessity is greater than mine." The present picture shows us a display of heroism and unselfishness in the days when the pioneers were journeying toward the Golden West. In a little village in what we now call the Middle West a young girl rejects her manly suitor and following her fancy, marries a good-natured, but rough and weak fellow, given to drink. Shortly after her marriage to John, Mary and her husband with many neighbors decide to strike the trail for the Far West, and among the band of immigrants is Jim, the defeated rival, who has become reconciled to the situation, but who always Scene from "The Last Drop of Water" (Biograph). keeps a loving and watchful eye upon Mary. John, the husband, meanwhile has yielded more and more to the vice of drunkenness, though' for the sake of the young wife he makes feeble efforts to reform. As the canvas-covered caravan is moving through the great American desert, it is threatened and attacked by Indians. The immigrants succeed in warding off the Indian attack, but a new and more horrible danger is now upon them — lack of water. Both John and Jim start out to get water for the suffering camp. Each is provided with a number of empty canteens and a small amount of water for his own use during the perilous search. John is seen creeping and walking and sitting down to rest. He is getting ready to drink the water in his canteen, when he feels the touch of a hand upon his knee. It is the hand of Jim, who quite spent, has fallen down beside him, half unconscious. The situation is tense. The water on hand is not sufficient for both men, for Jim has drunk his. John has halted the hand on its way to the parched lips. The workings of his face show that a great inward struggle is going on. Does he think of his weakness, which he has been unable to conquer? Does he fear it will end in shame for himself and misery for his young wife? If one of them must die or brave the danger of death, is it not better to have the man survive whose features show no trace of the fatal vice? John gives the water to his old rival, who quickly revives and soon finds a tiny pool of water, more than enough to saVe the camp. John succumbs to the heat and thirst. Jim returns to the camp with the water, and but a few minutes afterward the soldiers from a neighboring fort drive away the Indians with great slaughter. Such in brief is the story. As has been seen it carries a deep moral, "that there is some good in the worst of us." Its dramatic power is too apparent to need particular mention. What lend> an extraordinary interest to the picture and gives it no little educational value is the fact that the pictures were actually taken in the American desert. At the sight of the barren solitudes and sandy wastes with their utter desolation a feeling of fear steals into the heart. We see everywhere the cactus with its straight, sharp thorns, fit growth upon such inhospitable soil, nor are there wanting the skeletons of animals and the bones of men, bleaching upon the endless plains of alkali. All the beauties of the picture cannot be crowded into Scene from "The Last Drop of Water" (Biograph). the. small compass of this article, but some allusion must be made to the scenes inside the threatened camp of the pioneers, the attack of the Indians, the rush of the cavalry from the fort, the long trail of wagons across the wastes and the forming of the stockade at the approach of Indian danger. To Americans pioneer stories must always be welcome, for not only have these humble heroes opened up a new and wonderful land, but they have transmitted to later and present generations the endurance and con Scene from "The Last Drop of Water" (Biograph). tempt of danger, which are to this day a heritage of the American character. Utica, N. Y. Arrangements have been filed with the Building Inspector by L. H. Chapman, president of the L. H. Chapman Toy and Novelty Company, for the building of an elaborate and commodious moving picture theater, to seat about 440. It will be modern and up-to-date in every respect, having a large and airy operating room. No money had been spared in making this one of the most beautiful fireproof picture theaters in this vicinity. The new enterprise will open its doors about August 1.