Orphans of the Storm (1921)

The guillotine awaits our heroine

Directed by D.W. Griffith

Starring Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut
Produced by D.W. Griffith Productions

In 18th century France, a family is torn apart when the husband is killed and their baby abducted.  The men leave the child on the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral, where she is found by Jean Girard.  Girard is bringing his own baby daughter to abandon.  However, upon seeing the baby lying in the snow, he returns home with both his own child Henriette and the found one Louise.  The Girards rais the girls as sisters, until the plague arrives, killing the parents and leaving Louise blind.

Henriette finds a doctor in Paris who can cure Louise, but the blind woman wants her sister's assurance that she will not leave Louise for a husband in the city.  Henriette makes the promise and the two set off for the city.  Their path crosses an aristocrat who falls for Henriette and he kidnaps her, leaving the blind Louise to fall into the clutches of the Frochards, a family of beggars who see the stricken woman as a meal ticket. 

Henriette escapes from the nobleman with the help of Chevalier de Vaudrey and the two fall in love.  Of course, the beginning of the French Revolution may destroy everyone and everything.  Can Henriette find her sister in Paris?  And will she keep her promise not marry until Louise has regained her sight?  Or will the sisters be casualties of the revolution.

Orphans of the Storm is a good period piece by D.W. Griffith featuring real life sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish.  I loved the last two-thirds of the movie.  From the moment the sisters are separated, the film sails on the acting skill of Dorothy and especially Lillian Gish.  As Lillian begs to be saved from her abducter, you feel her desperation.  You sense her internal conflict in every moment with de Vaudrey.

This is also a return to form (for the most part for Griffith).  The end sequence with Danton, a French revolutionary, racing to save Henriette from the guillotine is thrilling (though a mash-up of the climax of The Birth of a Nation and the modern story from Intolerance).  The aristocratic party and the battle scenes from the revolution are classic Griffith.  They are crisply paced, well-edited and  have a scale that you can only get from a movie.

The scale of the movie is also one of its great weaknesses.  The scope means you spend the first half hour meeting various characters and getting a lot of exposition.  Because some of the players have no interaction with the sisters until much later, it feels a bit plodding at times.  Once he sets the table however, the movie moves at a better pace.

There is one absolutlely brilliant shot that I want to highlight.  An aristocrat's carriage moves through a crowd of children who scatter.  One of the children doesn't move fast enough and is trampled by the horses and carriage.  The first time I watched it happen on screen took my breath away.  Amazing practical effects work for the time!

There are some odd choices throughout that hurt the tale.  Some of the edits are overly choppy, as though the director was watching to much MTV.  There's also a secondary character Picard who randomly turns into comic relief throughout the last third of the film, and always at the worst possible moment for comedy.  I know why Griffith is attempting to inject the laughs, but it just doesn't work.

Still, the direction and the acting are top notch and Griffith continues to pull out both surprising and effective camera moves and angles.  It's 2-1/2 hours long, so it's not going to be for everyone.  Orphans of the Storm is not as good as Intolerance, but it's closer to the Griffith I love than his last couple.

**** out of *****

Photo from The Dancing Image