This is based on a one-act play rather than a story by Coppée that came out in 1876. Films of the play were made (possibly quite independently - Coppée had died in 1908) in both the US and France. This film by Giriffith was earlier (shot in April and coming out in June); the film by Albert Capellani for Pathé/Le Film d'Art came out in November or December and was not shown in the US until March 1911. Both films are the same length (12-13 minutes). So they provide a unique opportuity to compare the style of two of the most important film-makers in their respective traditions.
Neither is by any manner of means the best work of either film-makers and neither print is in very good condition.The srength of the Griffith film lies typically in its technique. It is shot closer so we see the characters' faces more clearly (although this would have been less important when the prints were sharp) but he also gives a sense of movement between the scenes (the impression that characters are leaving one room to enter another) while in the Capellani film the scenes are more statically presented. Griffith also makes better use of his small repertory so that the announcement of the prize, even if it looks hopelessly out of period, is rather more of an occasion.
The strength of the French film is that provides more context. We learn how the hunchback comes to be employed and a scene where he rescues a dog that is being mistreated establishes his geenrosity long before the competition and his adoration of Gainina is also established more effectively. A good deal of time is given to the actual playing of the violin and this represents a difference in theatre-practice where, in France, it had already become common, in the new large cinemas that Pathé was having built all over France, for their to be orchestral facilities that were perhaps lacking in US cinemas. Quite clearly these scenes of violin-playing were not intended to be silent. The period feel is more consistent and there is a more "noir" quality to the Capellani film. It is at Giannina's suggestion, for instance, that Sandro steals his rival's violin. Unfortunately this means that Capellani runs out of tiime rather at the end and the whole final section is rather rushed and Capellani does not provide a very necessary scene of Filippo's melancholy at the end as Griffith does.
I would not exactly say that honours are equal. Griffith's is the better film. But both have qualities that are typical of the two respective traditions (US and European) that were already beginning increasingly to diverge.
Neither is by any manner of means the best work of either film-makers and neither print is in very good condition.The srength of the Griffith film lies typically in its technique. It is shot closer so we see the characters' faces more clearly (although this would have been less important when the prints were sharp) but he also gives a sense of movement between the scenes (the impression that characters are leaving one room to enter another) while in the Capellani film the scenes are more statically presented. Griffith also makes better use of his small repertory so that the announcement of the prize, even if it looks hopelessly out of period, is rather more of an occasion.
The strength of the French film is that provides more context. We learn how the hunchback comes to be employed and a scene where he rescues a dog that is being mistreated establishes his geenrosity long before the competition and his adoration of Gainina is also established more effectively. A good deal of time is given to the actual playing of the violin and this represents a difference in theatre-practice where, in France, it had already become common, in the new large cinemas that Pathé was having built all over France, for their to be orchestral facilities that were perhaps lacking in US cinemas. Quite clearly these scenes of violin-playing were not intended to be silent. The period feel is more consistent and there is a more "noir" quality to the Capellani film. It is at Giannina's suggestion, for instance, that Sandro steals his rival's violin. Unfortunately this means that Capellani runs out of tiime rather at the end and the whole final section is rather rushed and Capellani does not provide a very necessary scene of Filippo's melancholy at the end as Griffith does.
I would not exactly say that honours are equal. Griffith's is the better film. But both have qualities that are typical of the two respective traditions (US and European) that were already beginning increasingly to diverge.