FILMING THE POETS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1054, 18 February 1911, Page 9

FILMING THE POETS.

;Froirva recent issue of the' "Kinematograph," a well-conducted and 1 obviously prosperous trado journal, wo learn (says the "Westminster ' Gazette',') that a A famous..-,firm hr.s . recently ; prepared ■ Tennyson'j'"Maud" as a moving ipicture. Ofir contemporary says:—"By all who have seen it, it lias been um- <' vcrsally admitted not to bo lacking in . any'of,those ess ?ntials which go to rnako a\gpod. film. Tho subject has . been admirably treated/is dramatically ' strong, tho jioem has been're-enacted i amidst beautiful natural sccncry, whilst the'characters aro portrayed by exponents of who aro amongst tho best of moving picture actors and ad.rcf.ses. And yet tho buyers hesi- • tate to purchase 1" Tho reason given, is tho fear of managers that tho poem • will be "above tho heads of picture patrons!" ' . ' , Combating this allegation, with 6trong .coiniiion sense, tho paper remo rlts: "Wo aro forced to tho opinion that tho truth lies in tho fact that in all probability it is tho buyers themselves who do not understand the "picture. Tlinyson's 'Maud* is a poem , which !!»:ds reading more than once in ■ order to grasp its full beauty; indeed, , the more, ono reads it tho greater tho charm which is revealed. To say .that the general habitu j of the picture thehtro • wouH not appreciate the dramatic portrayal of the stnry is a great deal too far-fetched criticism. . »jio is thorc, wc aro tempted to ask, who has , not heard the beautiful ballad, taken \ from the poem and made famous by the greatest of English tenors, the lato : Sims Reeves, 'Como Into the Garden, ; Hand.' in which the lady's ardent ad-

.tnirer serenades.his lovo? . Again, the film contains copious excerpts from the poem itself, which enables anyqiio of. averngo , iutolligcnco to follow tho storv." ' ; With tho other remarks nindo on tho subject" bv tha ''KinematograpV'_ wo aro in ontiro sympathy-. Such subjects as "Maud" undoubtedly sliould go.far towards tho uplifting tendency which is as necessary in nicturo theatres as elsewhere, aiid should create a taslo. which will not bo satisfied by tho in,mo and shallow subjects'often seen on tho screen to-day'. Thero" nro so many great stories and great poems availnb'i) that'the field of clioicc is practically unlimited.