Civilization (film)

Civilization is a 1916 American pacifist allegorical drama film produced by Thomas H. Ince, written by C. Gardner Sullivan, and directed by Ince, Reginald Barker and Raymond B. West. The story involves a submarine commander who refuses to fire at a civilian ocean liner supposedly carrying ammunition for his countrys enemies. The film was a bigbudget spectacle that was compared to both Birth of a Nation and the paintings of JeanFranois Millet. The film was a popular success and was credited by the Democratic National Committee with helping to reelect Woodrow Wilson as the U.S. President in 1916. The film was also one of the first to depict Jesus Christ as a character in a motion picture, leading some to criticize the depiction as in poor taste.

Today, the great sorrowful eyes of this same Son of God gaze down upon blackened fields, where the mangled bodies of men are strewn as grains of wheat, upon flaming shattered hamlets and stricken firesides. As He listens to the screaming of the shells, the crashing of monstrous guns, all the ghastly symphony of the reddest war mankind has ever known, His heart must recognize the bitter truth in the statement of one of the worlds foremost educators That in nineteen centuries Civilization has failed to accept honestly the teachings of Jesus Christ. This is an allegorical story of a war that has laughed at the worlds flaunting boast of a higher progress. It does not concern itself as to which side is in the right or wrong, but deals with those ranks which are paying, the grim penaltythe ranks of Humanity. If the awful trail of battle stretches vividly through the scenes of the narrative, it is in the hope that a shocked and appalled world may henceforth devote itself more earnestly in the cause of peace. Let our Civilization not be a mockery of our cherished ideals, but rather a synonym of that glorious workHumanity. Dedicated to that vast, pitiful army whose tears have girdled the universethe mothers of the dead.The film opens with the outbreak of a war in the previously peaceful kingdom of Wredpryd. Count Ferdinand is the inventor of a new submarine who is assigned to command the new ship in battle. The King of Wredpryd orders the Count to sink the ProPatria for my country, a civilian ship that is believed to be carrying munitions as well as civilian passengers. In his minds eye, the Count sees a vision of what would happen if he sent a torpedo crashing into the liner, and he recoils. He refuses to follow his orders, saying he is obeying orders from a Higher Power. Realizing his crew will carry out the orders, the Count fights with the crew and blows up his submarine, sending it to the bottom of the sea. ........

Source: Wikipedia