ive for committing the most
detestable of all crimes was that he was behind in his rent! Even the
magazine that gave in fiction form the story of the picture failed to
mention what is brought out so strongly in the play--the innkeeper's
distress at the thought that his wife's life depended upon his being
able to raise the money to send her to the south of France without
delay. The author _mentioned_ that Mathias had a sick wife, but that
was all. The whole treatment of the story in fiction form, moreover,
was farcical, such names as "Mr. Parker" being intermingled with those
of the well-known characters, "Mathias," "Christian," and "Annette,"
while the wealthy, dignified Polish Jew was turned into a typical
East-side clothing merchant. The real fault lay with the producer who,
ignoring the great and pressing necessity that prompted Mathias's
crime, garbled the original plot to the extent of allowing the
innkeeper to murder the Jew because (according to the fiction-version
in the magazine) he needed one hundred and seventy-five dollars to pay
the rent! First, last, and all the time you must remember that your
story _is not_ a good story if the leading character is not, at all
times, deserving of the spectator's sympathy, even when his action is
not worthy of approval.

It is a matter for real regret to have to be compelled to state that,
in spite of the many artistic advances made in motion-picture
production during the past six or seven years, this most important
point was deliberately overlooked when the Pathe Company made its very
fine feature-production of "The Bells" in the Fall of 1918. We say
"deliberately overlooked" because the writer who prepared the scenario
for this modern five-reel version had the same opportunity as had the
scenarioist who made the other adaptation, years ago, to read the
original stage-play and to introduce this most compelling motive for
Mathias's crime. If anything, the fault is more glaring in the Pathe
production than in the older picture, for the wife is shown as a woman
in apparently perfect health, although naturally worried by the fact
that her husband's inability to raise the required amount of money may
result in their losing both their home and their means of livelihood.
All the fine acting of Mr. Frank Keenan as Mathias, and all the
wonderful scenic and lighting effects, were not sufficient to make us
lose sight of the fact that the ones responsible for the picture's
productio