Orphans of the Storm

During Louis XVI's tyrannical reign, a high-born woman is forced to give up her daughter, the result of a relationship with a commoner. Left to freeze on the steps of Notre Dame, she is rescued by a starving peasant who rethinks his decision to abandon his own child and raises the two as inseparable sisters (played by Dorothy and Lillian Gish) who are indeed separated during the turmoil of the Revolution. Despite its extreme length, D.W. Griffith once more advanced movie storytelling techniques with Orphans of the Storm. The Gish sisters are sublimely emotive and the rollicking finale and historical recreations are superb.

*** 1/2 out of ****

The Birth of a Nation

D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, basically just a simple "North and South" story of two families serving in the Civil War and the effects of Reconstruction, is one of the most contentious films ever committed because of its portrayal of black people and the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan (which was credited with the group's subsequent resurgence) and its place in forever changing the way movies are made. As to the film's qualities, the photography and editing are ahead of their time, the historical reconstructions are impeccable, the melodrama is trite and hackneyed, and the latter blackface representations are undeniably racist, speaking to the fears of Southern integration

*** 1/2 out of ****

Broken Blossoms

Amidst the squalor of the poorest district of London, the neglected daughter (Lillian Gish) of a barbaric drunken pugilist (Donald Crisp) receives kindness and sympathy solely from a dejected, opium addicted Chinese shopkeeper (Richard Barthelmess). D.W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms is a simple, silent melodrama, but surprisingly curt and with unforgettable performances by Gish, Barthelmess, and the terrifyingly odious Crisp. Although the film's depiction of its Asian lead character would be seen as grossly stereotypical by today's standards (not to mention that Barthelmess is an actor of European descent), the film is almost shockingly daring and eons ahead of its time.