New Picture

The Scarlet Letter (Lillian Gish). This latest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release preserves in spirit, mood, sequence, the true proportions of Hawthorne's novel. Praise for a picture can mount no higher. Hester Prynne and Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale break the seventh commandment. The heavy rod of seventeenth century New England righteousness falls upon them both --upon Hester socially, upon Dimmesdale spiritually. In spite of numerous opportunities for sentimental errata, the film records truly, as the novelist saw, the inevitably tragic and ennobling consequences of their suffering. One might wish that the bravery and sacrifice of the Puritan community had been represented as well as its harshness. But, in other respects, the picture leaves little to be desired. Lars Hanson, Swedish actor, who plays opposite Lillian Gish, deserves that distinction. Scenarist Frances Marion and Director Victor Seastrom (Swedish) have contributed to the cinema a notable work of art,