America (United Artists) (1924)

Short Stories That Will Interest Fans Difficulties in Making Battle Scenes It is one thing to take a battle scene for a motion picture. And it is quite another thing to take a scene of the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill and make those scenes absolutely correct to the small¬ est detail. But that, according to Edwin B. Worthen, president of the Lexington Historical Society, is what D. W. Griffith has done in “America,” which will have its premiere at the .Theatre beginning.......... Mr. Worthen, who is a banker in Lexington, aided Mr. Griffith through the loan of necessary data, and of invaluable Revolutionary relics, includ¬ ing the drum, flintlocks, powder horns and other implements actually used in the battle of Lexington, in making “America.” Following its premiere, Mr. Worthen said to Mr. Griffith: “I am at a loss for words to express how deeply im¬ pressed I am with the picture. I had seen you and your company at work in Lexington. I expected much, but nothing so stupendous or stirring as your finished product. Yet ever in the magnitude of your task you have held to historic accuracy with remark¬ able fidelity. You cannot imagine the trembling and the thrills that grasped me as the little village of Lexington, the birthplace of American liberty, came before my eye. “Scenes taken on the spot where Hancock and Adams sought the hos¬ pitality of Parson Clarke,—the Han¬ cock-Clarke House where those two men were strengthened in their im¬ mortal task by the sound counsel of the Parson, and from which that patriot witnessed the massacre on Lexington Common—the same drum that summoned those humble farmers to immortality—the guns, the powder horns they wore, sacred relics kept for all time as an inspiration to future Americans—here was real drama to thrill me. “You have portrayed brave Jonas Parker as he was—the man who, hav¬ ing sworn he would never flee from a British red coat—wounded, trying to load his flintlock was struck down and bayonetted by the King’s troops. You have made live again Capt. Par¬ ker, the idol of his little band, the man who said ‘If they mean war let it begin here.’ “Mr. Griffith, Lexington salutes you and to your handiwork, ‘America,’ I say, God speed you in your glorious work of telling the story of the sacri¬ fices of our forefathers and in your mission of teaching a higher and a finer Americanism.” PAUL REVERE’S RIDE A THRILLING SCENE Famed in poetry and in prose, the historical ride of Paul Revere was never before invested with the sig¬ nificance, the thrills and the daring that it is in D. W. Griffith’s “Amer¬ ica,” the romantic epic of the War of Independence, which will have its premiere at the .Theatre .on. And Mr. Griffith’s picture gives the lie direct to Longfellow’s poem on the ride, for while the poet stated that “Hardly a man now alive remembers that famous date and year,” the vo¬ ciferous applause which greets every hoofbeat of Revere’s horse shows very well that women and children as well as men remember Paul, his steed, and the occasion of their journey very well indeed. There have been horse races pic¬ tured before; the movies have seen more than one bit of fine horseman¬ ship; but—and this is said with the universal agreement of the newspaper critics—never has the silver sheet known such a thrilling ride as that of Paul Revere, in Griffith’s master¬ piece. Every detail of the occasion is pic¬ tured with strict historical accuracy, and the tower of the Old North Church itself was especially wired for electricity in order that the view of the two lanterns might be taken for the screen. Revere is shown waiting in the moonlight on the Charlestown shore, “booted and spurred and ready to ride.” The two lanterns flash, giving warning that the British are coming by sea, and then begins a ride through Middlesex country which brings every beholder to his feet. Over fences, stone walls and streams, across pas¬ tures, down lanes, and along the high¬ way Revere’s noble steed pounds his way at a furious gallop to the accom¬ paniment of the heart beats of an aud¬ ience aroused to the loftiest possible state of patriotic fervor. Even back in ’75 Paul Revere’s ride could have been no more thrilling than it is in “America.” ACTUAL TREASURES USED IN “AMERICA” New England agreed to open its treasures of Revolutionary relics to motion pictures, when D. W. Griffith went to Boston with 150 members of his staff and players to photograph the incidents of the early war on the actual sites for “America,” which comes to the .Theatre. By arrangement with several of the historical societies including in par¬ ticular the Lexington Historical So¬ ciety, the weapons, drums, costumes, vehicles, etc., used during the war were used in the action. It is the first time these articles have ever been shown to the world through motion pictures. Battle scenes were taken on the fam¬ ous Lexington Common, where the historic “shot heard round the world” was fired. Buckman’s Tavern and the Adams house where John Hancock and John Adams were sleeping'"on the night the British came, were used as settings. The action under Griffith’s direc¬ tion continued along the road to Con¬ cord where' the battle of the bridge was fought. Griffith’s intention that all scenes should be taken on actual sites excepting where improvements prohibit, was carried out at a tremen¬ dous expense. OLD CUSTOM HOUSE USED BY GRIFFITH When the fair ladies of America, in 1775, wanted a new silk gown they could not walk along Main Street and purchase it at their pleasure. They were forced to send to England for material, and then wait many months before the silk arrived. And when the silk did come it did not arrive at a dock in New York, but was forced to come by way of Virginia, in order to pass through the custom house at Wil¬ liamsburg, Va. Today this same custom house, no longer by any means the only one in the country, is still standing, and it may be seen as a background of several scenes in D. W. Griffith’s “America,” the romantic epic of the War of Independence, now playing at the...Theatre. All materials imported into this country in 1775 had to pass through this custom house, which is still in its original condition, and through it were entered not only milady’s dresses and jewels, but her household furniture, and much of her food, and the rare wines for her husband’s cellar. Griffith and his large company trav¬ elled over a good deal of the Eastern part of the country in special cars in order to take as many as possible for the scenes, for “America,” on orig¬ inal sites, and in Williamsburg, prac¬ tically unchanged since Revolutionary days, they found much excellent mate¬ rial/but none more picturesque than the old custom house. UNUSUAL COINCIDENCE Erville Alderson, the actor who gives so touching a performance as Justice Montague in D. W. Griffith’s photodrama of the War of American Independence, “America,” now at the ...Theatre, came very near playing a similar role in real life. The son of a distinguished authority on judicial procedure, Alderson him¬ self studied law with the intention of pursuing a career in the judiciary. During his studies in his native city of Kansas City, Mo., however, he had been a regular patron of a stock com¬ pany there, and the virus of stagedom had obtained a grip on his system. On his twenty-first birthday, instead of reporting at the courthouse to take his oath at the bar, he slipped down to the theatre and completed arrange¬ ments to become a member of the stock company. Later he was a member of stock companies in Los Angeles, Calif., and in St. Louis, Mo. Following tours with William Faversham he founded and directed his own repertory theatre in Kansas City for several seasons. The stock company which he founded is still regarded throughout the coun¬ try as a model of its kind. In 1923 he joined the Griffith forces, playing an important role in “The White Rose.” CIRCUS TO PICTURES Charles Emmett Mack, whose per¬ formance of the role of young Mon¬ tague is one of the outstanding fea¬ tures of D. W. Griffith’s “America,” now at the ..Theatre, is a native of Scranton, Pa., where he at¬ tended St. Thomas’ College. While in college he saw the circus for the first time, and, lured by the apparently carefree gypsy life of a circus man, he decided that the mo¬ ment he got his diploma he would run away from home and become a clown. He carried out this resolve, joining a small tent show, and later adding himself to Ringling Brothers “Great¬ est Show on Earth,” with which he travelled for two seasons. He soon lost both his illusions as to circus life being carefree and easy, and his de¬ sire for travel. But his desire for a historic career remained, and he went into vaudeville. Finding even the traveling there too irksome, he joined a stock company, and settled down to a real apprenticeship 1 for theatrical work. Struck by the opportunities which the silversheet offered to young actors, Mack sought work in the! studios; and was finally successful in joining the Griffith forces, getting a small part in “Dream Street.” Since that time he has appeared ex¬ clusively under the Griffith banner. Bobbed Hair Fashion Started in 1776 A Boston girl, Miss Louise Thomp¬ son, began the bobbed hair fashion back in the romantic exciting days when is laid the story of D. W. Grif¬ fith’s thrilling entertainment, “Amer¬ ica,” his latest film to be shown at the ....Theatre. Private letters of that day tell the story of the defiant little brunette who shocked the powdered respectability of that time by shearing her hair which swept her knees as a defiance to show she was an American girl and would dress as she pleased. Style then came directly and severely from London. Every woman and nearly every man powdered the hair. Instances are told wherein a woman who had neglected to powder her hair was not admitted to church. And fifteen yards of silk, what with bustles, frills and flounces, was an ordinary dress pattern. When the Americans decided they were a nation rather than a colony, English merchants refused to ship articles to the American trade. Miss Thompson was one of the prominent young women of Boston who was un¬ able. to get powder for her hair. And since she was unable to powder it in prevailing fashion, she announced she was “cutting my hair short, man fash¬ ion, and I hope every American girl does it, to show the world we mean to be independent.” With that sensational example, the girls gradually cast aside much of the rigidity of English fashions in dress, introducing simple gowns and home- spun wraps. Some historians agree that this romantic period marked the beginning of the modern woman, stim¬ ulated by the adventures, the daring and the romance of that period in our national life. This change in woman’s attitude has been deftly caught by Mr. Griffith in filming the charm of that day in the gripping story “America” which many foremost critics declare the equal if not the superior of “The Birth of a Nation.” WHY FIRST LOVE INTERESTS Why is first love the most difficult of emo¬ tions to portray? A group of New York psychologists have attempted 1 to analyze it at the request of the motion picture industry. D. W. Griffith, the foremost producer, per¬ haps has been more successful in portraying this most fascinating of all emotions with succeeding pictures, notably in his great ro¬ mance, “America,” which is gaining greater fame e>ven than his celebrated “The Birth of a Nation.” Here is what the committee of specialists say is in first love: shyness, boldness; em¬ barrassment, audacity; alarm, delight; appar¬ ent indifference, yet complete absorption; dis¬ turbing, yet a great happiness; aloofness in act, yet complete constancy in thought; in all the greatest study in contrasts of which the human heart is capable. In “America,” Mr. Griffith has taken the first love of a vivacious, impetuous Virginia girl of fashionable family, intensely loyal to her father; and a young Massachusetts col¬ lege boy ablaze with the adventure, perils, and greatness of the cause he serves. These two, so opposite in every thought, are sweethearts at first meeting, plunging themselves into the complexities of first love as well 19 the opposing interests of the dsy. Perhaps never before has first love been so subtly and charmingly revealed. The boy’s part is played by Neil Hamilton, the young man who has been accepted by sculptors as the ideal young man of this nation; and the girl is Carol Dempster.