'THE BATTLE CRY OF PEACE'

Evening Star, Issue 16263, 4 November 1916, Page 5

'THE BATTLE CRY OF PEACE'

This picture is said to \m ono of the most impressive and powerful that have been shown in the Dominion, for while other sensational and magnificently produced films have been screened hero, 'The Battle-cry of Peace ' strikes a deeper note •than any oilier. It deals with a problem of supreme importance at the present day —the fate of a nation utterly unprepared for war and subjected to hostile attack of the iv.imc ruthless and ghastly naliuo as lias characterised the invasion of defenceless countries in the present war. The story- centres round the homo life of two American families—one where, all thought of war is hated; the* other where the danger is realised. A period of uneasiness and suspense culminates in the actual invasion and bombardment of Xew York. The tragedy of the following scene's is h»tense. llostile warships shell the city from the sea, aeroplanes bomb it from the .sky, skyscrapers burst into flame, wholeblocks of buildings crash to earth, and presently hordes of armed soldiers come swarming into the ruined streets, while thousands of panic-stricken men, women, and children block every road leading from the city. Amid this wild turmoil, the story itself develops into supremo tragedy, the womenfolk of one family being killed outright by the bursting of a slidF, while a. still more fearful climas is reached in the other family, the mother finally taking the lives of her two daughters sooner than, seo them the victims of the drunken soldiery. But the picture is by no means a mere heaping of horror on 'horror; it is ono that must make even the most careless take thought. As a recruiting agency, it makes powerful and impressive appeal, and its screening at tho present time, when the ultimato cost of war ia being pressed homo so hard, is opportune, for it depicts the fato of a nation whoso men are unready and unwilling to save their country from just 6uch horrops as thoso described. - The box plan in connection with the screenings of this film at the Octagon Theatre on Monday evening next are open at Hie Bristol, where already fhe bookings denote a hiEhlv successful pps^^