LAUSR

in January 1921, Passion, the film that would put both polish actress pola Negri and german director ernst lubitsch on the radar of American audiences, appeared at the Strand Theater in brooklyn. Set in paris during the rule of louis XV, the film narrates the rise and fall of Jeanne, a sweet milliner’s apprentice who forsakes her love, Armand, and finds herself first in an affair with the nobleman Du barry and then as louis XV’s mistress. by the king’s side, she becomes one of the most powerful women in France, yet she never forgets her roots: when Armand finds himself in jail, she manages to negotiate a pardon and later uses her wiles to advance his military career. madame du barry remains hated by both Armand and the people of France, however, and as the revolution unfolds she is arrested and sentenced to death. Armand attempts to save her, but he is shot, and she is taken to the guillotine. For the crowds who attended the film’s presentation at the Strand, packing the theater’s thirtyfive hundred seats every night for a full week, what led up to the film was as memorable as the film itself. The show began with a performance of british composer Henry litolff’s