Has the Film Already Started?

At night, a pink screen stands outside the theatre entrance. An hour before the show, a projectionist screens Griffith's *Intolerance* on it. The film is announced for 8:30, but no one enters until 9:30. During that hour of waiting, people upstairs shake out dusty carpets, and someone dumps ice water on the crowd below. Actors hidden among the spectators start shouting insults at others on the first floor. Only then, to prevent a scandal, do the theatre doors finally swing open.