Foreign Invasion

Dawn has appeared in the U. S., thoroughly emasculated. A passive audience, brief applause greeted the first Manhattan showing of the British film that had put Parliament in a furor (TIME, March 12). The climactic scene--the execution of Nurse Edith Cavell--has been practically killed. Sybil Thorndike, who plays the role of Nurse Cavell, is shown facing a German firing squad. One German soldier refuses to raise his rifle when the command is given. There is a pause, a blot-out; then the grave of Nurse Cavell is flashed on the screen. In the original film, the disobedient soldier was shot dead by a German officer and the shooting of Nurse Cavell followed. Many Britishers and Americans, as well as Germans, regret that Dawn was ever filmed. It is too late now to decide whether a charming woman who helped 210 prisoners to escape should be executed for war purposes and re-executed for the benefit of cinemagoers. Most of Dawn is restrained and dignified; the performance of Miss Thorndike is sincerely beautiful. Among those who have cheered for Dawn is Pacifist George Bernard Shaw.

The End of St. Petersburg. After a prolonged inspection from dubious and dull-witted cinema censors, this interesting though not entertaining production was permitted to appear before Manhattan spectators. It delineated for their benefit the events that led up to the overthrow of the Tsarist regime. The picture was a Soviet government production and as such was intended as an advertisement of the home country rather than as the dire panorama it might otherwise have been. Its story--that of a young Russian peasant lost in the shuffle of war and disaster--excited the attention of neither the director, Vyesolod Pudovkin, nor those who viewed his efforts. The peasant and his troubles were forgotten when the chance came to show flashes of Lebedew's stock exchange interspersed with glimpses of soldiers in a muddy trench. The hero of the play was really that grotesque animal, the Russian mob: this was frequently seen running about, giving its loud roar. The happy ending of The End of St. Petersburg occurred when the Soviet rule became established.

The picture will certainly irritate those who dislike Communism as it will those who feel that they deserve a story in return for the effort of watching a screen for two hours. Its photography is sufficiently original and its glimpses of uncomfortable armies and furious peasants are good enough to make the film fairly exciting for those whose esthetic instincts can sometimes be aroused by the cinema.