A slow-paced and terrifying film from D.W. Griffith, this film, like A CORNER IN WHEAT and ONE IS BUSINESS, THE OTHER CRIME, concerns itself with the depredations of the rich upon the poor. Griffith offers no solution but tells his story with scenes and titles that, in the hands of a lesser director, could be over the top. Indeed, they seem absurdly melodramatic at the beginning of the movie, until you see the policies of the greedy money-lender carried out.
Although Griffith directed more than five hundred pictures, almost all of which survive, he has a vast corpus of works that are rarely seen, because so many people concentrate on his best features and perhaps a dozen of his best-known shorts. Kino is to be applauded for including a sizable number of his lesser-known, but equally powerful shorts in their most recent compilation, and for hiring John Mirsalis to do scores.
Although Griffith directed more than five hundred pictures, almost all of which survive, he has a vast corpus of works that are rarely seen, because so many people concentrate on his best features and perhaps a dozen of his best-known shorts. Kino is to be applauded for including a sizable number of his lesser-known, but equally powerful shorts in their most recent compilation, and for hiring John Mirsalis to do scores.