Over Here: Impressions of America by a British officerMacQuarrie, Hector
History
Over Here: Impressions of America by a British officer
MacQuarrie, Hector
United States -- Description and travel; United States -- Social life and customs -- 1865-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
I love the crazy ones, I love to see fat old ladies taking headers into
deep ponds. I love to see innocent fruit sellers getting run into by
Henry Ford motors. I love to see dozens of policemen massing and then
suddenly leaving their office and rushing like fury along the road
after--Charlie Chaplin. Give me crazy movies. They are all brimming over
with the most innocent fun and merriment. It is a pity that they are
generally so short, but I suppose the actors get tired after a time.
The society pictures must impress greatly the tired working woman; a
little pathetic this, really. Perhaps I am ignorant of the doings of the
four hundred, but if they live as the movie people live it must be
strangely diverting to be a noble American. The decorations in their
houses must supply endless hours of exploration, and the wonderful
statuary must help one to attain Nirvana. I've heard of ne'er-do-well
sons, but I did not know they had such amusing times.
In the society drama, the son leaves his beautiful southern home with
white pillars and his innocent playmate, very pretty and hopeful and
nicely gowned, and finds himself at Yale or Harvard. I wish Cambridge
and Oxford presented the same number of possibilities. Here he meets the
vampire, horrid and beastly, and falls for her and never thinks of his
innocent father and mother solemnly opening the family Bible and saying
a few choice prayers, while the playmate worries in the background,
praying fervently. It is all very sad and becomes heart-rending when the
pretty playmate retires to her room, puts on the most lovely sort of
garment all lace and things, and after praying and looking earnestly at
a crucifix, hops into bed, never forgetting to remove her slippers. Then
the scene stops and she probably curses the fellow working the lights
if he has not got a good shine on her gorgeous hair while she prays. But
don't worry, she marries the son all right. The vamp dies, probably
punctured by a bullet from an old "rough neck" accomplice, or a married
man.
The court scenes present wonderful possibilities for the services of
some dear old chap as judge. He is an awful nice old fellow.
They are all the same and bore me stiff unless a rather decent sort of
chap called Ray appears in them and he has a cleansing influence. There
is also a lady called Marsh whom I rather like. Besides being good
looking she can act wonderfully and is always natural. I can stand any
sort of society drama with her in it. Sometimes the heroes are
peculiarly horrible with nasty sloppy long hair, and not nearly as good
looking as the leading man in the best male chorus in New York.
The crook stories are fine. They take place mostly in underground
cellars. I love the wicked looking old women and fat gentlemen who drink
a great deal. However, there are hair-breadth escapes which thrill one,
and plenty of policemen and clever looking inspectors and so on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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