DW GRIFFITH MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY 1912 LILLIAN GISH SIELNT FILMS on DVDS at TVDAYS.com

[agumon12]

So beautiful and refreshing.... yet I can't decide if that's for the movie or the girl.

[TheQueenl92]

Im doing a presentation on the crime genre..this was it's start and the start of my presentation

[skcushcodrum]

I agree with all who say they should work on restoring old scores for these classics. It almost seems as though , while the films that survived are being placed reverently in specialy lined containers in climate controlled storage, the scores are being stored in a shoebox behind a radiator in the bathroom.

[skcushcodrum]

I once had the pleasure of conversing with a wonderful elderly lady who, as a teenager working her way through conservatory, was the piano player for the local theater. Great stories!

[DoctorTimmyTiddles]

I'm sure the actor at 13:10 is Dwight Frye ("Renfield" in 1931's Dracula).

[cyrilmaude]

This is perhaps the granddaddy of the gangster film. Its interesting to see how the elements of the mob films have evolved from this period through the famous Warner films of the thirties, right up to Scorcessee's Goodfellas, etc.

[rubiesncreme]

Amazing, isn't it? This was made 99 years ago, yet it's every bit as effective today.

[nicodagger]

@dpattiris My pleasure! It was an excellent question, because i think everyone thinks that when they watch a silent film, I did....in a way, those silent film actors had to be great improvisors, because there wasn't a script..someone wrote 'title cards" which put up on screen just a tiny fraction of what was being said.

[nicodagger]

@dpattiris They did what the actors in Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" do: they were given an outline of what is happening, and they improvised their lines, they knew basically what was going on, the emotions, and went from there. Plus the director was talking to/at them all the time, telling them what to do.

[mandydancerful]

I can't get enough of watching Lillian Gish,she was incredible!

[MrFlashBazbo]

I have to say I really liked it! I have always had a great love of silent movies!

[MontagTheMagician]

Wow, the way the cops just jump out of nowhere like that. Incredible shot. I live the way the camera just stays in one place looking down the alley for long periods of time.

[HangTheDJ16]

I love Lillian Gish... A very beautiful, capable and accomplished actress.

[ColumineMiette]

@HangTheDJ16 lillian gish, what a dish!

[9TheMajor]

Strong character development. Effective suspense. As with most of this collection, well preserved film clarity.

[lorenaburRito]

Wow!! :D

[dAvrilthebear]

This wonderful short probably has more pure cinema, than 3 hours of Intolerance.

[mario123000]

omg that was awsomeeeeee

[redredreds100]

Let's not all get all "D. W" without mentioning Billy Bitzer, probably the better genius of the two.

[elindio2009ef]

I'm sure Jack Zelig, Humpty Jackson, Louie The Lump, Gyp The Blood, Dago Frank, Kid Twist and Biff Ellison would have all loved this film ilove1994

[fortleefilm]

This film's exteriors shot in Fort Lee, NJ on Main Street near present day site of Fort Lee Post Office.

[mukito78]

Excelent close-up at 13:11. This is one of the best shorts of Griffith. It's incredible how can you see the evolution of his cinema since 1908

[NGS712]

They should have a special project to have someone rescore all these Griffith films.

[dAvrilthebear]

Yes, absolutely, the music is very very important. A bad modern score of the copy that I got hold of almost killed Intolerance for me -- so I had to watch it in silence. But this music in fact elevates the beauty of the film.

[NGS712]

dAvril: Yes, there's an extremely irritating score for Oprhans of the Storm too. It's sad that the music isn't taken as seriously as it should be.

[praguephotog]

Walter Miller was a marvelous actor and great leading man. I wish he'd stayed with Griffith; he might have really made a name for himself, rather than being relegated for eternity to one of the stock players of Griffith's early days.

[bunnies4ever]

I could never get tired of this movie; whenever I see it, I weep at the loss the film industry suffered when Elmer Booth died in 1915 in a car accident (Todd Browning survived and went on to make all those movies that have made Lon Chaney a legend). His Cagney-esque mannerisms and cockiness have always made me wonder if little Jimmy saw this movie when it came out? He would have been an impressionable 12 or 13! He was also a stage actor, and the reviews were always positive. What a loss!

[NGS712]

bunnies: I assume Booth is the main 'Musketeer', right?

He is very good, especially for an early short. He doesn't seem to be melodramatic or exaggerate. Just acts naturally.

[redredreds100]

how can anyone weep over a death in 1915? unles he was your father, son or brother in the war? not being flippant, but how old are you?

[nirvanayeahman]

thanks a lot man i have been loooking everywhere 4 dis movie,i am doin a research assignment on ganster genre this has helped me out a lot

once again thanks

[viennasguitar]

yes, the first

[ssun8]

is this a gangster genre movie?

[ilove1994]

lol yes it is and do you think Big Jack Zelig saw this movie before his death in october 1912 at the age of 24 and also if you dont know who zelig is alsk me okay bye .

[tifo316]

i looked it up and no he couldnt of seen it. it came out about three weeks after zelig died

[ilove1994]

okay but a few people have told me that Zelig always wanted to see this film .