By 1912, advances in the art of cinematography and increased competition among American producers and importers of foreign films was becoming fierce. Features -- films longer than three reels -- were beginning to show up. If the story-telling techniques to structure longer works was not yet in evidence, still the film makers were cramming more ideas into a film.
That's what we have here. There are bits and pieces from at least three ordinary one- reeler of the day: a love story between a military officer (played by soon-to-be Paramount superstar Wallace Reid) and the Colonel's beautiful daughter; the story of a woman who joins Florence Nightingale as a nurse; and the Charge of the Light Brigade. Tennyson's poem is quoted extensively in the battle sequence.
It's all handled in a very episodic manner, as each of these stories is raised and then dropped. Perhaps this was intended as a longer production that got whittled down extensively to a standard length. The net result is a work that splits its cinematic seams in a confusing and definitely unsatisfactory manner.
That's what we have here. There are bits and pieces from at least three ordinary one- reeler of the day: a love story between a military officer (played by soon-to-be Paramount superstar Wallace Reid) and the Colonel's beautiful daughter; the story of a woman who joins Florence Nightingale as a nurse; and the Charge of the Light Brigade. Tennyson's poem is quoted extensively in the battle sequence.
It's all handled in a very episodic manner, as each of these stories is raised and then dropped. Perhaps this was intended as a longer production that got whittled down extensively to a standard length. The net result is a work that splits its cinematic seams in a confusing and definitely unsatisfactory manner.
