Civilization (film) - Prologue

Prologue

The film opened with a lengthy prologue. In some theaters, the prologue was performed by live actors and an orchestra. It included music composed by Victor Schertzinger and depicted a peaceful country home, with hills in the distance, a stream and clouds floating peacefully through the sky. Suddenly, the boom of a cannon is heard, artillery guns belch fire, and a Zeppelin flies over the city dropping bombs. In the smoke, "Civilization" is depicted kneeling pleadingly at the feet of a menacing "God of War." Soldiers are seen retreating before deadly gas. Against these scenes, the film's title cards express the film's anti-war message, concluding with the following comments:

"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 world's 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 world's 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 penalty—the 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 work—Humanity. Dedicated to that vast, pitiful army whose tears have girdled the universe—the mothers of the dead."