11. Orphans of the Storm (1921)

Directed by D. W. Griffith

Synopsis

There's this Countess right? And she gives away her newborn child (Louise) when her house is invaded by revolutionaries in France. Louise is brought up with a sister in a very modest house, by the age of four she becomes blind following a disease. When they are older, the sisters go to Paris to find a cure for Louise's blindness. One of the aristocrats takes a liking to Henrietta, the other sister. Henrietta is kidnapped and taken to a big aristocratic party, while Louise is left alone. When she asks if there is no one noble enough to save her, one of the guests does save her and they start a romance. Meanwhile, Louise has been taken in by an evil woman in rags who makes her sing for alms in the streets while beating her at home. While this is happening, Henrietta unwittingly helps a revolutionary, Danton, when he is being chased by the police. By an amazing coincidence the nobleman that she started an affair with is the nephew of the Countess who gave Louise away. Henrietta discovers this when the Countess goes to her room to ask her not to pursue an affair with her nephew. While doing this Henrietta hears some singing in the street, and recognises her sister, while going to meet her she is arrested by the Count's guards as a way to stop her affair with his nephew.

The Revolution kicks in and Louise is released from jail when all prisioners are released by the revolutionaries. The Count's nephew, even while putting his life in danger, returns to Paris from exile to be with Henrietta, they both get arrested in Henrietta's bedroom for being an aristocrat and sheltering one respectively. They go to trial, and Louise is there and "sees" her sister and her boyfriend being sentenced to the Guillotine. Danton, the revolutionary Henrietta helped, discovers this and at the last moment gets a pardon for Henrietta and her boyfriend. All ends well, Louise gets cured and reunited with her mother, and everyone gets married.

Review

That's a convoluted plot up there. Griffith is definitely more at ease with the historical epic than with any other form of film. And that is why this is a better film than either Broken Blossoms or Way Down East; still, it is probably the worse of his historical flicks. It can be seen as overly long, with some parts of the plot being frankly unnecessary, like the sub-plot of the Count's servant, Picard.

However, this is another great performance by Lillian Gish, who we will see again in Night of the Hunter in 1955 as an old lady. Also a very worthy film as there is a nipple shot at the aristocrat's party, as well as a scene of foot fetishism. So Yay! And these are the scenes worth looking at the big ones with great costumes and sets. And they are indeed great.

Griffith is therefore in his environment here, he gets thousands of extras to play the rabble, there are impressive scenes of the taking of the Bastille as well as huge sets, like the front of Notre Dame and the streets of revolutionary Paris. I wouldn't say this is as essential viewing as Birth of as Nation or Intolerance but it is still well worth your while.

You can get it as MovieFlix or at Amazon US or UK.

Final Grade

7/10

Trivia

WE ARE DONE WITH FUCKING GRIFFITH!