God Save the Empire

Examiner of Plays' Summary:

A patriotic play with a German spy for villain. In this case he has involved an old soldier in money complications and threatens to sell him up unless his grand-daughter consents to marry him, the spy. She does so, though in love with her cousin, the old soldier's grandson, a clerk in the War Office. Then - it all happens in the same morning - they hear that England has declared war on Germany; she refuses to marry the spy, who shows himself in his true colours and boasts of what he will do. But the War Office clerk arrives, having been already given a commission, the spy is arrested and taken off to prison and the young people agree to marry. The details of the play are, of course, all absurd. It is, generally, on the lines of others already licensed. I notice a few points, however, which are novel and may be thought questionable. 1) Allusions on pages 3 and 14, to the Fleet being mobilised for review just before the War and allusion to the idea that this was precautionary. 2) Page 15, an allusion to our 'lax alien laws' as responsible for the spies, and on page 17 'in London alone there is a complete Army corps, fully armed, ready to rise and sack', & c. 3) The description of the German Emperor as a madman, and 'Anti-Christ'. With regard to these 1) is a general idea and I think harmless, 2) is popularly believed and (now) does not matter, and 3) can be paralleled from letters of eminent persons in 'The Times'. I think, therefore, the piece may be, without reservation, Recommended for license. G. S. Street