D.W. GRIFFITH'S THE LONELY VILLA 1909

[ericlk47]

if you freeze the scene at 1:38 there is a giant LETTER writen in the screen. Was this version cut? maybe they cut an intertitle. It freaked me out a bit

[tvdays]

@ericlk47 The original print had an insert for a letter that the characters read that all. It's missing from the orginal print. That was a note for teh editor to insert the letter during editing. Some Biograph prints or I shoudl say most are missing title cards and inserts.

[peasncarrots92]

does anybody know what the original score for this movie was?

[UltraMovieNerd]

Fun fact:

Mack Sennet got 25 Dollars for appearing in this movie

[bulelachion]

Is that 'B' logo you see in every indoor scene supposed to be a sort of Biograph watermark?

[tvdays]

@bulelachion  YES

[lukebccb]

Mary Pickford = eldest daughter.

[doomented]

This was based off of the play "Au Telephone" (1902) by Andre de Lorde, from the old Grand Guignol theatre which specialized in realistic plays of terror. The ending for this film is much happier than the play.

[AreYouFilmingThis]

1:38 - LETTER

subliminal message?

[GeminiNightOwl]

It's almost like watching a distant dream - thank you for posting I enjoyed it very much...

[jpdoulos]

Thanks for posting this one. From what I understand, this was the first time three simultaneous scenes were intercut. The husband, the thieves, and the family.

[thymolebesque]

@jpdoulos I don't know if you're right. There are films made in 1906 which have crosscutting in them. Apparently, a film called The Hundred-to-One Shot shows a racing car and stuff happening at the finish. These are only two scenes, so maybe you're right. What I do know is that this film had a very positive critical response, due to the crosscutting (which ofcourse raised the suspense).

[gwijthoff]

telephone connection inspires one of earliest examples of parallel cross cut editing

[Daigorou86]

Marvellous.

[fromgozowithlove]

Thanks!