America (United Artists) (1924)

The Quotations From The Critics Can Well Be Used to Stimulate Your Own Advertising Copy AN IMPRESSION By Frederick Landis, Famous New York Journalist and Brother of Judge Landis Columbus discovered America, but David Wark Griffith made her picture. The discovery was an accident but the picture was not an accident. Griffith knew exactly where he was going and he arrived where he had planned— with a great result. It is so vivid, so powerful. It is not so much the glory of the picture, the genius of the builder, the skill of the players, the alternating currents of laughter and drama, the superb sequence of events, the appeal of straight souls, the epic grandeur of a Nation’s birth, but around it all and over it all the actual, sacred struggles of our common Mother, America. “The Fathers” step out of their guilded frames and draw their swords. They put off their marble and put on flesh. It is as if our silent benefactors enacted their struggles once again to rebuke the slumbers of their children. Patrick Henry’s lightning defiance flashes as it did in old Virginia; Paul Revere, the Mercury of Independence, rides, not only through the scattered settlements, but through your heart as well. You thank the stately Burke, when rising in the British Parliament, he pours a flood of eloquence against the enlistment of Indians to help subdue the aspirations of freemen. You pity, yet glory in the very rags of Independence. You see Washington! If “America” did nothing more than turn the Father of His Country from impassive majesty into surging, indomitable pur¬ pose, its mission would be fulfilled. You see him at Princeton, rallying his broken lines, amid a storm of death, compelling Victory. You walk with the great Captain. And through it all there runs, as gentle and as soothing as the old-fashioned song your Mother used to sing, the golden thread of love —of love, so pure, it rebukes the libertine—of love so constant, it silences the cynic—of love, that chaste ele¬ ment, which amid all profanation, still endures, the never-resting, never-tiring redeemer of human life. When the curtain falls you are a little better, a little bigger, a little more American than ever before. Your flag is not a thing of bunting now, but assembled from the shine of stars. " America“ is more than a picture. It is an institution. And it is even more: it is a resurrection —a resurrection of the finest band of thoroughbreds who ever merged their personalities into a state. This living, breathing document of the sacrifice and idealism of the men who freed America {Journal), is produced with the sweep and fire and fine indignation that spurred our forefathers to the signing of their declaration of independence {Sun). We are back on Park Row after seeing it and we are still shaky with the mightiest thrill we have ever met in the cinema {World). Mr. Griffith has taken another audience into his hand and moulded it into a shrieking, cheering mob {Eve. World)', with this tremendously exciting adventure, the most exciting true story in the world {Sun). Here is the greatest story that has ever been put on the screen {Tribune) ; something to be remembered, something greater than even Griffith has ever done {Times). With it, Mr. Griffith passes definitely into the ranks of the immortals, and America may once more go serenely about the development of its newest art, confident that the peer of all film directors is one of her own {World). Never in filmdom has there been such a spectacle as the ride of Paul Revere {Post) ; with a crescendo of frantic intensity {Journal) ; which you find heartshaking {News). It is the most thrilling episode the screen has ever achieved, without an equal for spectacular dash coupled with tremendous historic signifi¬ cance; and in every beat of this horse’s hoofs resounds the Battle Cry of Freedom {Herald). To the students of history, America will be an inspiration; to the schoolboy it will be an education, and to the man ignorant of the country’s early struggles, it will be a revelation. Film fans, you who rave about good pictures you have seen, see “America” and you will have something to brag about {Tele¬ gram). We have seen many big pictures, but the writer cannot recall once since “The Birth of a Nation” when we so much desired to give voice to our enthusiasm {Eve. World) ; for no one can outdo Griffith {News) ; and “America” is a masterpiece of the screen {Sun). Columbus discovered America, but D. W. Griffith has certainly discovered the romance in America {Eve. World). He has woven into the picture a beautiful, but never cloying love story acted by two young persons who deserve the highest praise {Tribune) , and you ace moved to contemplate Nancy Montague and Nathan Holden with a sympathy belonging to friends {News). A LETTER FROM MR. RUPERT HUGHES Dear Mr. Griffith: Your picture “America” has shaken me up and stirred me so deeply in so many ways that I must express my profound homage You have combined so many arts so greatly that your general¬ ship is as amazing as your infinite success with detail of every sort. There were so many thrills, heartbreaks and triumphs that it is ridiculous to praise any one thing. But the whole sequence in which the dead body of the son is brought to the bedside of the wounded father by that divine deceiver, the daughter, over¬ whelmed me as one of the greatest achievements ever attained by any of the arts from Greek tragedy on. The extraordinary tangled skein of Miss Dempster’s acting, with every thread sincere and distinct and unlike anybody else, also quite conquered me. Yours very respectfully, (Signed) Rupert Hughes. Mr. Edwin Worthen, President of the Lexington Historical Society, says: “In the magnitude of your task in making ‘America’ you ever have held to historic accuracy with remarkable fidelity. “Lexington salutes you. God speed you in this glorious work of telling the story of the sacrifices of your forefathers, and in your patriotic mission of teaching a higher and a finer Ameri¬ canism.” AS TOLD BY THE CRITICS “‘America’ is the best picture ever made; the best play ever staged. It sets a new standard in the picture play as high and commanding as ‘The Birth of a Nation’ set in its day.” (Quinn Martin in the New York World.) “ ‘America’ will be acknowledged as the best work of Mr. Griffith, so far; and if he does not make a better picture, no one else will.” (F. H. Cushman in the Boston Telegram.) “ ‘America,’ a real masterpiece, literally swept the audience off its feet. No other photoplay since Mr. Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation’ reaches the heights attained by ‘America’ from a patriotic and dramatic as well as artistic standpoint.” {The Phila¬ delphia Evening Bulletin.) “A series of views . . .which have the charm of an etching, ... the sweep and life of a battle-picture by Detaille or Meissonier ... the reminiscent charm of the historical paint¬ ings and engravings of our childhood.”— Literary Digest. It represents by all odds the most thrilling and satisfying motion picture entertainment of the day {Sun) ; vivid, historically accurate and fascinating {Journal). 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