A Pathé film in which some of the unpleasant consequences of war are graphically illustrated. A man learns of an invasion of his country and leaves his wife and family to enlist. While on sentry duty he receives a message from his wife saying that their child is ill and asking him to return to her so she will not have to bear the trouble alone. He drops his gun and goes immediately. The officers in making their rounds discover that he has left his post and order out a detachment to arrest him for desertion. They find him at home comforting his sorrowing wife, but tear him from her side and hurry him away to execution. Just as the squad is about to fire, his wife, carrying the sick child, rushes in front of the rifles. The officer strikes the muzzles upward and listens to her story. He then draws his sword, but here the film ends, leaving the picture unfinished. Much can be imagined, but no one really knows whether the man is executed or not. The technical quality of the film is up to the Pathé standard, but the ending is unpardonable. Are we to understand that it is the work of the censor? Worse still, the manufacturer should have supplied a suitable ending. – The Moving Picture World, April 24, 1909
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