Orphans of the Storm (1921)

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

Adolphe d'Ennery (novel) &
Eugène Cormon (novel) ...
(more)

Release Date:

1922 (Poland)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever...

Plot Keywords:

French Revolution | Blindness | Aristocracy | Guillotine | 18th Century

Cast

Lillian Gish	...	Henriette Girard
Dorothy Gish	...	Louise Girard
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Chevalier de Vaudrey
Frank Losee	...	Count de Linieres
Katherine Emmet	...	Countess de Linieres
Morgan Wallace	...	Marquis de Praille
Lucille La Verne	...	Mother Frochard
Sheldon Lewis	...	Jacques Frochard
Frank Puglia	...	Pierre Frochard
Creighton Hale	...	Picard
Monte Blue	...	Danton
Sidney Herbert	...	Robespierre
Lee Kohlmar	...	King Louis XVI
Marcia Harris	...	Henriette's Landlady
Adolph Lestina	...	Doctor
Kate Bruce	...	Sister Genevieve
Flora Finch	...	Starving Peasant
Louis Wolheim	...	Executioner
Kenny Delmar	...	The Chevalier - as a Boy
James Smith	...	Dancer
Herbert Sutch	...	Meat Carver at Festival
Rose Smith	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nellie Battipaglia	...	(uncredited)
Ruth Cleaver	...	(uncredited)
Tove Danor	...	(uncredited)
Dorothy McConnell	...	(uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Frances Robinson	...	Henriette as a Child (uncredited)
William Welsh	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
D.W. Griffith

Writing credits
Adolphe d'Ennery		(novel "Les deux orphelines") &
Eugène Cormon		(novel "Les deux orphelines")
D.W. Griffith		(as Gaston de Tolignac)

Produced by
D.W. Griffith	....	producer

Original Music by
Brian Benison		(1996)
Louis F. Gottschalk
John Lanchbery
William Frederick Peters		(as William F. Peters)

Cinematography by
Paul H. Allen
G.W. Bitzer
Hendrik Sartov

Film Editing by
James Smith
Rose Smith

Art Direction by
Charles M. Kirk

Costume Design by
Herman Patrick Tappe		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Herbert Sutch	....	assistant director

Art Department
Charles E. Boss	....	stand-by painter
Edward Scholl	....	set designer
Frank Wortman	....	set builder
Joe Dibuono	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Edward Scholl	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul H. Allen	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Margaret Booth	....	cutter

Other crew
Anatole Danashaw	....	laboratory supervisor

Production Companies

• D.W. Griffith Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1921) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universum Film (UFA) (1923) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Sfinks (1922) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2011) (Spain) (DVD)
• FilmAnnex (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1997) (USA) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Punto Zero (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1991) (USA) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Western Costume Company  costumes (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

150 min | Germany:152 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Company:

D.W. Griffith Productions

Trivia:

Included among the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', edited by Steven Jay Schneider.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Football of the Good Old Days (1973)

A masterpiece from one of the great innovators of early cinema

First of all, I find it desperately necessary to remind the viewer of silent movies of the danger of analyzing these pieces under the lens of the modern cinemagoer. The aesthetic values of silent cinema are incommensurable with the values of modern cinema. Aside from the obvious difference that one relies purely on image while the other has the benefit of sound, we must also not forget that the cinema of the silent era is cinema in its infancy, in a constant state of the most early self-discovery (which is not to say that cinema has necessarily "grown up" or "progressed" into our modern era; our cinema today is only different than the cinema of the silent era, neither better nor worse.) Basically, we should check ourselves before we ridicule these films on the basis of irising, masking, et cetera and ESPECIALLY the exaggerated emotion and overblown gesturing of the actors. The conventions of the art of acting have, of course, their basis in that of the theatre, which preceded film, and where emphatic gesturing and stressed emotion was conventional in conveying story even to those seated in the back row.

All editorializing aside, Griffith's _Orphans of the Storm_ is a shining example of the director's masterful grasp of narrative cinema. The story is almost Dickensian in its feel, from its very beginning alternating between no less than five separate subplots, all of which become inextricably intertwined before the backdrop of the larger plot of the impending revolution in France. The acting performances are not, in fact, excessively overplayed, but are actually quite subtle and touching, especially those of the two orphans, the Gish sisters.

The visuals are stunning: the costumes and decor are lush and the recreation of late 18th century Paris is excellent. Most impressive to me is Griffith's expert command of montage, primarily through intercutting, in creating a engrossing story that, while complex in structure, is easily grasped. The film starts out on wobbly legs, but soon breaks into a steady gallop, raging through the glorious revolution to an admittedly predictable, yet satisfying conclusion. A grand achievement for one of the titans of early cinema: I give it a 9/10.