The difference between a tract and a work of art if, at bottom, one of truthfulness to life. The writer of a tract is so earnest that he forgets the artistic need of seeming to be unbiased; he "rubs it in." It is easier for a moving picture to maintain the illusion even in a tract if the story is human enough for the players to act it sincerely and, while watching the first part of "Ten Nights," this reviewer was surprised at the remarkable power with which it was told. But when, next day, he watched the second part projected and saw the moral reiterated and pointed at the expense of truth, he was much disappointed. The acting of the second part is not convincing, nor are the settings. It gave a sense of distaste, because while it was poignantly moving it was not made to seem truthful. Nothing can be much more truthfully tragic than the condition "Drunk again, fired again and still drinking." But a thousand little lies around a truth don't help it, nor give it more force. When one sees a tragic picture without truth he is apt to feel like one who has received wounds without cause. - The Moving Picture World, June 24, 1911
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