Genre: Drama, Melodrama, Period Piece, Political
Plot: Legendary director D.W. Griffith (INTOLERANCE) delivers another sweeping historical epic with this film, based on the d'Ennery and Corman play, THE TWO ORPHANS. Sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish are the girls who become separated in the streets of eighteenth century Paris during the dramatic upheavals of the French Revolution. As Henriette (Lillian Gish) searches for her blind adopted sister Louise (Dorothy Gish), she falls in love with a kind and concerned young member of the aristocracy, Chevalier (Joseph Schildkraut). Unfortunately their love is doomed by her commoner status, and his callous uncle (Frank Losee), who railroads her off to prison to keep them apart. The revolution occurs, and Henriette is liberated, but then there’s more trouble when mob rule causes chaos in the streets, the guillotine awaits Chevalier, and Louise remains just out of reach.Griffith captures the class injustice at the heart of this story by contrasting scenes of lavish parties at the houses of the nobles with the abject poverty of the beggars outside. The thrilling use of crowds and meticulous historical accuracy make this an epic comparable in scope and theme to BIRTH OF A NATION, which is how Griffith undoubtedly meant it. The film is silent, with tinted scenes and film score.
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Related Movies:
- version of Deux orphelines, Les (1965)
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 Discussion forum for this movie
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| Directed by |
D.W. Griffith
The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages, Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl |
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| Written by |
| D.W. Griffith
Daphne and the Pirate, Diane of the Follies, The Birth of a Nation |
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| Cast |
Lillian Gish
The Night of the Hunter, The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages | Dorothy Gish
The Cardinal, The Burglar's Dilemma, James Dean: Forever Young | Joseph Schildkraut
The Shop Around the Corner, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Life of Emile Zola | | | | Lucille La Verne
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Caesar, A Tale of Two Cities | |
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