France and Germany are at war! Even so musician Charles Kent doesn't care; he sits in his room, calmly playing music. When German spy Earle Williams seeks refuge, Kent lets him hide in his bedroom. Later, when the German troops march in and smash his viola, Kent finally resists and the Germans prepare to shoot him.
Although this movie is nominally about "the bond of music", it offers a pretty rough view of German soldiers; in a few years, Griffith would show Prussian officer smashing violins as a savage indictment. Despite Kent's semi-comic portrayal of the musician, it seems more an indictment of German savagery than of war itself.
A handsomely tinted print of this film can be seen on the Eye Institute site on Youtube.
Although this movie is nominally about "the bond of music", it offers a pretty rough view of German soldiers; in a few years, Griffith would show Prussian officer smashing violins as a savage indictment. Despite Kent's semi-comic portrayal of the musician, it seems more an indictment of German savagery than of war itself.
A handsomely tinted print of this film can be seen on the Eye Institute site on Youtube.