Suspense (1913) User Reviews

Very impressive editing

[F Gwynplaine MacIntyre · 8/10 · 27 October 2004]

I viewed a print of 'Suspense' in the National Film Archives, in London. Phillips Smalley is credited as director, but the film was probably co-directed by Lois Weber. Women film directors have always been a rarity, although Alice Guy Blache was also directing films in early silent days. Lois Weber's career is especially interesting because (unlike Mme Guy Blache, who directed from behind the camera), Weber played the lead roles in her own films, directing herself.

'Suspense' reminds me of a couple of early DW Griffith films in which a young woman (or a pair of young women), alone in an isolated location, is in jeopardy. We have a similar situation here. Lois Weber plays a young wife in an isolated house. She and her infant are unexpectedly left alone by her husband when the maid has abruptly given notice, leaving her latchkey under the doormat. A passing tramp discovers the situation and tries to break in. When the woman rings her husband (are there no police?), the distress call is terminated when the tramp cuts the 'phone line. The husband, rushing home to rescue his wife and child (are there no police?), steals a motorcar. NOW there are police, as a cop nabs the husband for grand theft auto. Rather than explaining that his wife is in danger, he gives the cop the slip.

SPOILERS NOW. The tramp, meantime, has found the maid's latchkey and he lets himself into the house. Just when things look grimmest for Wifey and her child, the cops arrive ... not to nick the tramp, but because they've been pursuing the husband all the way here. Only when the tramp is safely nabbed does the husband finally explain himself.

I was eager to view 'Suspense' partly because I'm very interested in Lois Weber's career -- she proves herself a decent actress (by silent standards) and a fine director (ditto) -- but my primary interest in this film is because I was told that the tramp in this film was played by an actor who *might* be Lon Chaney. After viewing 'Suspense', I determined that the villainous tramp in this brief film is definitely NOT the Man of a Thousand Faces. However, there is a brief appearance by another tramp during the chase sequence: this actor wears realistic beard growth and an application of grime, and does indeed appear to be Chaney.

'Suspense' is well-acted, quite well-directed and brilliantly edited, with some impressive cross-cutting and even a triptych split-screen effect. It's a shame that the plot line is so contrived, but despite some plausibility issues 'Suspense' is most definitely suspenseful. I'll rate this movie 8 in 10, and I wish that Lois Weber were better known.

Looking through keyhole for the first time in cinema history?

[Zbigniew_Krycsiwiki · 7/10 · 11 September 2013]

Looking through keyhole for the first time in cinema history? Servant, apparently bored in the "lonesome place", picks up and leaves, leaving the wife and infant child home alone. Hobo, lurking outside, sees the servant leaving and breaks into home.

Prism in centre of the frame, with man in it, talking to wife on telephone, in upper left corner, hobo sneaking in house in upper right corner. Later, man in centre of prism, wifey in upper left, hobo sneaking into house in top right as he cuts the phone line. He chops down and punches down the door, while wifey frantically calls hubby to come to the rescue.

Noticeably filmed out of doors, as wind picks up and blows paperwork off desk, several early uses of mirror reflections, all to good effect. Good trick shot of a guy being hit by a car during pursuit.

Heart Pounding!

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 7 November 2017]

The title tells it all. A woman and her child are alone at the house because the hired help decides to take off. Her husband is at work. She realizes there is a man outside, a hobo. He gets into the house after she has called her husband. Then we have the classic "Will he get there" plot. He steals a car and leaves he driver, who immediately gets the police involved. This was directed by a woman and for a short film is edited very well and tells a convincing story.

Surprisingly Advanced

[Cineanalyst · 30 January 2010]

Lois Weber was one of the most interesting filmmakers of the 1910s and early 1920s, and despite being one of the most successful directors during that period, she is now largely neglected in the history books and by many silent film enthusiasts. This film of hers "Suspense" is only one of seven I've seen available on home video (as of yet). In 1996, Anthony Slide ("Lois Weber: The Director Who Lost Her Way in History") said that only a dozen or so of her films survive, which according to IMDb is out of the 132 pictures she directed. Regardless, it's a shame that such features of hers as "Discontent", "The Dumb Girl of Portici", "Shoes" (all 1916), "To Please One Woman" (1920) and "What's Worth While?" (1921) which exist aren't more accessible. It's no consolation that the films of many of Weber's contemporaries suffer worse fates.

Weber specialized in producing social-problem dramas, or message films. "Suspense", however, is the only film of hers that I've seen which did not sermonize. It's a straightforward entry in the genre of last-minute rescue, action-suspense pictures made especially popular in the Nickelodeon age by D.W. Griffith, with such one-reelers as "The Lonely Villa" (1909), "The Lonedale Operator" (1911), "An Unseen Enemy" and "The Girl and Her Trust" (both 1912). Kevin Brownlow said that "Suspense" more specifically took from and one-upped the plot of Griffith's "A Woman Scorned" (1911). Indeed, the editing of "Suspense" is as fluid as in any of Griffith's short films, and Weber uses some novel camera perspectives that Griffith and his cinematographer Billy Bitzer never had.

"Suspense" isn't quite as fast paced as Griffith's last-minute rescue films, or probably as hectic as the Keystone parodies of them, such as "The Bangville Police" and "Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life" (both 1913). I roughly counted 46 shots in "Suspense", which would be approximately just fewer than five shots per minute or 15.5 feet of film per shot. On the other hand, Griffith's "An Unseen Enemy", with about 119 shots, has approximately seven shots per minute or an average shot length of 8.4 feet. Even Griffith's earlier picture "The Lonely Villa" I counted to have about six shots per minute. Some of my numbers might be a bit off, but they give you a general idea: Weber's film is slower than Griffith's films. This isn't a weakness, though; the somewhat not as fast pace allows for a different tension over whether the husband speeding in a stolen car and chased by police will rescue his wife before the slowly approaching tramp reaches her, and it allows more time to capture the advanced viewpoints of Weber's camera. Moreover, the crosscutting, matching and rapid succession of shots is excellent.

"Suspense" is a surprisingly advanced film for 1913, especially in regards to the camera angles. The oft-mentioned triptych shots had already been used in the Danish "The White Slave Trade" films (Den hvide slavehandel) (1910)--also for telephone conversations. The shot of the tramp where he approaches and passes nearby the camera for a close-up while climbing the staircase was borrowed from Griffith's "The Musketeers of Pig Alley" (1912). More original perspectives in "Suspense" include the overhead angles and mirror reflections. Overhead angles are employed when the tramp enters the home, such as one point-of-view shot from the perspective of the housewife (played by the director) looking down from a window, which menacingly catches the tramp looking back at her and thus the camera. A mirror shot in the bedroom shows the wife's reflection in frame before she enters it. Rearview mirror reflections show the police approaching the stolen car of the husband as he races home. Clearly, Weber thoughtfully considered and executed the perspectives of her camera views, as relating to the characters or the audience, and the connectivity and rhythm of the shots placed together. Quite exceptional for a generic one-reel plot.

more than 100 years later it's still intense and crafty filmmaking

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 25 April 2016]

Sometimes the simple approach works best, and in 1913 filmmakers were still working out the basics of what this thing called film-MAKING was and is all about. Suspense is the kind of movie that was at or around the same time of Griffith, who pioneered the use of inter-cutting between different stories. With this film, co-directed by Lois Webber (called in the film places I just looked up the first American woman director), it's a story in a quick ten minutes: after the maid decides to walk out on a mother and her infant (the husband is off at work), a "Pursuer" (aka a vagrant, a bum, a good old criminal) sees the maid leave and prowls around the house until he sees it's time to break in.

The title comes from what Hitchcock often described what suspense in cinema is all about: following what happens when we can see one story unfolding and another is taking place concurrently, but the bomb doesn't go off right away - it needs to take time, and the suspense all comes from when it will go off. In this case the bomb is the Pursuer, acting more like a wild animal than a rational human being (Douglas Gerrard as the Pursuer fills the role to the point of being terrifying most of all in the few close-ups that happen, which is just enough), and it's only a matter of time before it goes off.

There's so much creative direction here from Weber and Phillips Smalley, and it's impressive still today as a mini-masterpiece of filmmaking, where the structure is air-tight and yet there's enough time for set-up (showing this mother, her child, and the husband off in his office, and then the prowler as he goes up the property and through the windows), and then what happens when things escalate. All the shots matter, and yet there's a lot of experimenting with form: there's a moment where you see three subjects - the wife, the husband, the pursuer - all in the frame, and separated by triangles showing what's going on (this shows us why the phone line gets cut at a crucial moment). And even something as simple as a shot through a "keyhole" seems revolutionary for the time.

For younger people who have been raised on online video it may not seem like much. It even may be just slightly contrived around the fact that the husband's car is stolen literally under his nose. But that adds to the 'what will happen next', and the filmmakers keep the pace so quick and tight that there's barely a moment to think about the particulars. When you see an overhead shot of the Pursuer coming up to the door, it's quite terrifying just by the framing and how the actor fills it all like some hobo-demon. The fact that it comes from a woman director doesn't matter in a way - clearly Weber could direct with the best of any of her counterparts, including Griffith (and this is supposedly a remake of one of his own films, with some added visual tricks). It feels like such a simple story and yet so universal that it should probably be shown to any film student first day of class to say 'THIS is how it's done.'

Suspense was an effective thriller for its time that still entertains

[tavm · 8/10 · 3 August 2009]

This silent drama short was directed by Phillips Smalley and his wife Lois Weber who also appears. She plays a woman with a baby left alone in the house after her maid leaves a notice of her quitting. A wandering tramp finds the key under the outside mat left over by the maid. When the mother realizes her situation she calls her husband at work who rushes in a stolen car with police and car's owner in pursuit...While melodramatic, this was quite an exciting thriller for the early days of cinema that still provides some moments today. And how fascinating to see one of the earliest uses of the split-screen in seeing various actions happening simultaneously which in this instance is in three ways in what was called the triptych. So on that note, I highly recommend Suspense.

A very effective example of an early thriller

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 28 March 2012]

As the title may give away this film is a very early example of the suspense thriller. In it a woman is terrorised by a malevolent tramp. He stalks her while she is trapped helplessly in her house with her child. Her husband rushes to the rescue with the police in hot pursuit of him for stealing a car to race home.

It's a tight and well constructed film. It has very well paced editing that alternates from the scene in the house and the high speed car chase. It's shot with some skill too, with some inventive shots. There is a dynamic action shot taken from a moving car, including some stylish shots of the pursuers in the rear view mirror. Given the primitive equipment in those days this is pretty impressive. It also makes great use of the triptych split-screen effect which allows us to see three separate scenes simultaneously, conveying a lot of information simultaneously. This is one of the first examples of this technique. The feel of the film is a good combination of fast action and a brooding menace.

The main creative force behind all of this is Lois Weber, who also starred as the woman in distress. There are hardly any women film directors nowadays - which seems pretty outrageously sexist – Lois Weber was one of the very first though, so can be considered an important pioneer. Although, her gender aside, this remains a good film for its time.

A Very Innovative Ten Minutes of Film!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 24 June 2015]

In 1909 Edwin S. Porter left Edison studios to found Rex but it's most famous film "Suspense" was probably directed by it's two leading players - Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley. Smalley was a Griffith devotee who while trying to make a film along the lines of "The Unseen Enemy" included all his master's innovations - close ups, travelling shots, high camera angles, then hit on an innovation of his own - the triptych!!

A servant leaves - refusing to stay in such an isolated place, through the keyhole the mother is seen playing blissfully with the baby. Later, finding the maid's note she looks out of the window and down at the face of a tramp (Douglas Gerrard) who stares menacingly into the face of the camera. She rings her husband who appears as part of a triptych - the other image shows the tramp entering the house.

The husband is having troubles of his own - while desperately trying to get to his wife and baby, his car is stolen and while the stolen car is the main focus of the scene, the police and husband in pursuit can be seen on the dim horizon. In another unusual camera shot, the husband can be seen gaining ground through the stolen car's rear view mirror.

According to Thomas Gunning "no film made before World War 1 shows stronger command of film style and even out does Griffith for emotionally involved film making"!!!

Deserves attention beyond the feminism approach

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 28 October 2017]

"Suspense" is an American 10-minute short film from 1913, so this one is also easily over a century old and most people talking about it today do so because a female writer, director and lead actress weren't too common back then. Lois Weber is all that, but the real credit she deserves is not for her gender, but for this being a movie that was very good at times. It's a bit of a pity she is forgotten today pretty much despite how prolific she was. There are some really well-done camera shots in here, the keyhole early on and then the camera looking down repeatedly at the bad guy. The tramp in here is not at all the Chaplin equivalent whose only danger stems from his clumsiness, but a gruff knife-swinging badass. Weber included some character stereotypes that are very common today even: the violent criminal, the helpless victim, the savior (standing out from the police force) and the unsuspecting minor character that leaves the film early on right here. All in all, this was a good watch that had the exact runtime for being focused, yet never too long for its own good. I don't need to think twice whether or not give this one a thumbs-up. The answer is yes. Go check it out.

Very tense and well constructed for its time...as it warns of the dreaded Hobo menace!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 9 July 2011]

This film was included in the three DVD set "Saved From the Flames"--a collection of mostly ephemeral movies that have managed to avoid turning to powder, catching fire or melting--something that usually happened with the nitrate film stock used up through the 1950s.

This is a feature film included in the collection--though feature film in 1913 often meant 10-15 minutes. It wasn't until a couple years later that true full-length films were created. So, this meant that a complete story had to be told quickly and efficiently.

"Suspense" begins with a servant sneaking away from her employer's house. Apparently the place is too isolated and dull and she can't stand the place any more. However, being called 'Suspense', you just know something will happen to the lonely wife who is still at home with her baby--especially when her husband calls to say he'll be coming home late. What happens next you'll just need to see for yourself---let's just hope they can save them! I really admired the style of this film--such as the nice use of the multiple split-screen. It also really helped that the Flicker Alley folks included a very nice musical accompaniment that seemed both fitting and appropriately tense. Well constructed and effective...and it seems to illustrate the 1910s perception that hobos are a menace!

Suspense

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 23 January 2019]

Whereas many surviving short films from the early days of silent movies tend to be comedies.

Suspense is far from it and the Tramp is far from lovable.

It was co-directed by Lois Weber who also wrote it and stars in it. Unfortunately such a pioneering female filmmaker goes for the helpless woman in peril role.

Weber is a wife and mother to a baby in a isolated house. Her maid quits without telling her and just leaves a note behind.

A wandering Tramp sneaks into the house. The woman rings her husband before the line is cut by the Tramp. Can the husband quickly get to her before the Tramp.

There are some good shots of the Tramp, such as a overhead view as he looks up. There is a car chase scene.

Although films containing suspense will develop, this was a film that contained it effectively.

Wiw

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 28 October 2021]

Great short film it's only ten minutes so if you don't really like it you don't waste too much of your time before something else comes on. May or may not feature Lon Chaney as a hobo.

First Triangular Split Screen

[springfieldrental · 7/10 · 2 May 2021]

Carl Laemmle of IMP and several smaller film studios banded together in 1912 to create a movie distribution firm called The Universal Moving Picture Company. One of Universal's first movies the new corporation distributed was Rex Motion Picture Company's July 1913 "Suspense." Written, acted and directed by Lois Weber, one of the most creative forces in early cinema, "Suspense" has its narrative threads similar to D. W. Griffith's "The Lonely Villa (1909)" and "An Unseen Enemy (1912)." What makes "Suspense" unique is Weber's cinematography and editing that forged new camera techniques.

Despite claims she invented the three-split-screen--that goes to Denmark's 1910 "The White Slave Trade"-- she did come up with the first "triangular" there-split screen, showing three events occurring at once: the hobo breaking into an isolated house, the mother, played by Weber, who is talking with the husband from that house, and the husband at work. Another novel camera placement was an overhead shot of the hobo approaching the house and looking up at the mother, who is on the second floor.

Once the husband realizes his wife is in danger, he steals a car in front of his shop and races on home, only to followed by a squad of police. Weber uses the camera, situated in the husband's vehicle, to frame him driving as well as to capture the approach of the police in the sideview mirror. Absolute genius.

Weber wasn't the first female director in cinema. That distinction goes to Alice Guy-Blanche. But she did amass quite a reputation as a filmmaker. She explains: "I grew up in a business when everybody was so busy learning their particular branch of the new industry, that no one had time to notice whether or not a woman was gaining a foothold."

"Suspense" would put Weber in the same aesthetic level with Griffith, according to some. Witnessing the innovativeness she exhibits in this 1913 film, it's hard to dispute the claim.

A Real Masterpiece

[Michael_Elliott · 1 May 2011]

Suspense (1913)

**** (out of 4)

This semi-remake of D.W. Griffith's 1911 film A WOMAN SCORNED takes many of the masters best known techniques and adds new one to them making the end result certainly live up to the title. A woman's maid quits without notice leaving her and her baby all alone when a tramp comes upon the house, finds a key under the door mat and decides to come in. The woman frantically calls her husband at work and he must try and get home before the tramp reaches his wife. This is one of the most legendary films from this era and it's easy to see why because not only does it take stuff from Griffith but there's also enough new stuff here that you'd have to wonder if someone like Fritz Lang or Alfred Hitchcock saw this and learned some of their trade. There are so many wonderful moments here including one where the camera is placed above the tramp looking down on him. Another great scene happens when a car accidentally runs over a man and the way it's shot is just breath taking to watch. The most important thing seen here are a couple split screens where the screen breaks down into three sections and we get to see what all the major characters are doing. This is used to great effect when the wife is on the phone with the husband and the tramp cuts the phone line. As was the case in many Griffith films, the ending pretty much has the good guy having to reach the bad guy before it's too late and directors Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber (who plays the wife) do a terrific job at slowly building up suspense and then pushing it into high gear once everything begins to mount up.

Astonishing and truly pioneering film

[morrisonhimself · 10/10 · 9 December 2019]

Warning: Don't get turned off by the primitiveness of the titles and intertitles.

In fact, the story, the content, the photography, the acting, the directing, and especially the directing, are first rate!

Although I was already a general fan of director Lois Weber, "Suspense" has made me one of her devotees.

In this short film, she demonstrates some astonishing creativity and inventiveness, even if most shots are with an immobile camera, many are not, and those moving camera shots are mind-boggling; and there are examples of divided screen that she might not be the first to use, but that she uses awfully well.

Lois Weber deserves to be much better known. That she was female alone should make her practically a household name, but that she did such great work should make her an idol to most motion picture fanatics.

There is a good print at YouTube and I highly recommend "Suspense."

Pioneering and brilliant

[gbill-74877 · 9/10 · 22 June 2019]

This short 10 minute film is notable for its innovative production in a number of ways - its three-way split screens, downward camera angles, use of reflections, a shot filmed from one of two cars during a chase, and a couple of cutouts (a keyhole and a mask to show illumination from just a triangle of light). It's also notable for being written, co-directed, and starred in by woman film pioneer Lois Weber, who doesn't seem as well-known as she should be. In this film she and her first husband Phillips Smalley (who also directs) certainly understood what true suspense was, with the audience knowing there is a key under the door mat which the tramp is bound to find, and a mother home alone with her baby. Sam Kaufman is sinister and menacing as the tramp, and the tight shot on his face that goes out of focus as he steps by the camera up the stairs is a good one. The scene where starts breaking down the bedroom door is also a forerunner of The Phantom Carriage (1921) and The Shining (1980). And, whether or not that's actually an early Lon Chaney standing in the road and getting hit by a car, it's a dramatic moment. It's a shame this wasn't longer, but I'm rounding my review score up a bit anyway because of how well made it was for 1913, and because dammit Lois Weber was rounded down her whole life, and by history.

Really Good Film

[Rainey-Dawn · 9/10 · 12 July 2019]

I would have given this film a perfect 10 if the ending was a bit different or simply a bit longer - it was cut to short for me - otherwise a great film.

If you want to see a good thriller prototype then you've found the right film!

9/10

Here It Comes!

[Screen_O_Genic · 8/10 · 23 November 2019]

A well made thriller and admirable directorial work from Lois Weber, considered America's first female director. In ten well paced minutes one can feel the dread, the ominous air of tragedy awaiting innocence and vulnerability as the chase for survival races to a final conclusion. As with films this old it's truly the glimpse into the distant past that adds to the appeal and allure of these marvellous relics that have survived the ravages of time. These moving images of a bygone time are truly a time machine that give one a view into how people looked, dressed and lived so long ago. Living up to its title, "Suspense" is one of the successful shorts and a wonderful example of the magic of film.

Exquisite tension and craft

[I_Ailurophile · 10/10 · 11 August 2021]

Framed shots provide style. Split-screen shots depict concurrent scenes. It's especially brilliant, and seems like an advanced film-making technique for 1913, to stage the camera on a moving vehicle and center a sideview mirror in the shot as to show what follows a character.

From a technical standpoint, 'Suspense' is impressive for its time. At the same time, fine performances from its cast, and strict attention to rising action, work wonders to build a mesmerizing sense of suspense. Plenty of modern films, with all availability technology and years of cinema to reflect on, fail to be half as riveting as this is. The attached score excels in that aim as well - lively, dramatic piano chords that do much to lend atmosphere.

At only ten minutes, 'Suspense' is easy to find online, and well worth it. It's remarkable for its craft, and even in its unembellished simplicity, captivating for the story told. To revisit silent films of many years past, it's hard not to feel that contemporary film-makers could learn a great deal by similarly looking back, and 'Suspense' is a fantastic example of that.

Masterful classic presentation

[martinpersson97 · 9/10 · 26 August 2023]

The classic era of film, what's not to love for any fan of film? There are so many experimental and ever revolutionary masterpieces to explore from all countries, all talented filmmakers.

Suspense is definitely one of the more iconic and ever great features - conveying a clever and incredibly well-written script with great acting, great cinematography and lots of supsense (as one would of course suspect).

It is simply a ground-breaking piece that paves the way for other incredible films in the drama, thriller and film noir genres later on.

Truly a lovely feature that I would of course highly recommend for any lover of film.

A true classic suspense thriller inspired by contemporary formulas from the days when Hitchcock was still going to high school in short pants.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 8/10 · 25 October 2021]

Suspense (1913) : Brief Review -

A true classic suspense thriller inspired by contemporary formulas from the days when Hitchcock was still going to high school in short pants. Suspense is the similar story i have seen in some films made between 1911-1913 but to be frank, i never really cared about the story. It's the execution and directorial skills which has made it a true classic thriller. All those terms like breathtaking, nerve-wracking, spine-chilling and mysterious were mostly used for 30s and 40s movies first and these are the favorite words often used by Hitchcock fans mostly. Although, his filmography wasn't highly consistence and some of his haven't really been suspenseful, his fans have made them look like good thrillers. Anyways, i shall give a lecture about Hitchcock filmography some other time so let me move to Suspense. A mother and her Infant are left alone in an isolated house by a servant. A theif sees servant going out and makes his way towards the house. Frightened, the lady calls her husband who is at the office and then begins a thrilling ride. It makes you believe the amount of pressure that particular situation can create. I could just imagine while watching it that what and how would i have felt if i had seen this short flick in theatre in 1913... It took me 10 minutes to watch it but it is gonna take 20 minutes to write this brief analysis, funny, isn't it? But still it's like i am past 15 minutes since the end appeared yet can't get over that jittering experience. Now you know what i really mean. It stays with you for some time and may be that's the best thing about it. Don't you think the same? I mean a film made 1913 still gives you chills in 2021, quite impressive.. No? Certainly yes. Those three frames combined, what a terrific experience it was! So, make sure you watch it. It is not gonna take much time and it definitely worths it. Overall, amongst the early notable thrillers in cinema world.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Makes a fair offering

[deickemeyer · 17 September 2017]

A picture by Lois Weber, suggested by a former offering of the Rex and not unlike many other pictures in which burglars or tramps are breaking into a house or lonely station kept by a woman who has managed to let her friends know of her predicament. The intruder gets nearer and nearer; but the rescuer is hurrying, too, and reaches the point of danger just in time. It is pretty well done and makes a fair offering. - The Moving Picture World, June 28, 1913