spense. Its use has been well
illustrated by Mr. C.B. Hoadley, who cites a play in which the
contrasting pictures of "a gambler seated at cards with convivial
companions, and his wife at home in a scantily furnished room keeping
vigil at the bedside of their sick child," are flashed back and forth
in such a manner as to keep the contrast before the spectators while
yet developing the drama effectively.

Another good example of the use of the cut-back was shown in an old
Biograph subject, "Three Friends." One of three friends who have sworn
never to separate falls in love with a young woman of the village and
marries her. A second of the trio is enraged to think that his friend
has broken up the triangle; the third, of better nature, is merely
very much disappointed. As a result of breaking up the trio, the two
bachelors leave the factory to go to another town. A baby is born to
the young married couple, and they are very happy for a time. Then the
second friend, Jim, comes back to his old shop to take the position of
foreman. As the result of a quarrel between him and the young husband,
the latter is discharged. From that time on things go badly with the
young couple, and soon bad is followed by worse. When they are on the
verge of starvation, and the husband has returned home after a
fruitless search for work, the wife goes out to try to beg a bottle of
milk. While she is away, the husband, thoroughly disheartened,
resolves to ask her to die with him, confident that neighbors will
care for the child. She returns home empty handed, and, though at
first shocked and horrified by his proposal, finally consents. Just as
the husband covers his wife's eyes with his hand and raises the
pistol, the two friends of former days burst into the room. One of the
husband's shop-mates has told the third friend of how "Jim fired
him"--as a leader tells us--and the reproaches of the third friend
have been instrumental in bringing about a feeling of remorse in the
heart of the foreman. The two hurry together to the little home,
arriving just in time to prevent the tragedy.

All through this picture the cut-back is used most effectively. Early
in the action, supposedly a day or two after the young man had met his
future wife, we are shown the two other men waiting for him at the
saloon, the three glasses of beer standing untouched upon the table.
The scene then switches to the young man and the girl out walking,
gazing from a bridge into