The Sealed Room (1909)

A king exacts vengeance upon his faithless mistress and her lover.

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Stars:

Arthur V. Johnson, Marion Leonard, Henry B. Walthall

Cast

Cast overview:
Arthur V. Johnson	...	The Count
Marion Leonard	...	The Countess
Henry B. Walthall	...	The Minstrel

Storyline

In this movie suggested by Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado", The king constructs a cozy, windowless love-nest for himself and his concubine. However, she is not faithful to her sovereign, but consorts with the court troubadour. In fact, they use the king's new play chamber for their own lovecraft. When the king discovers this, he sends for his masons. With the faithless duo still inside, the masons use stone and mortar to quietly seal the only door to the vault...

---

Plot Keywords:

mason | film d'art | count | countess | castle | 

---

Genres:

Short | Drama | History | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Released as a split reel along with the comedy The Little Darling (1909).

---

Goofs

Early in the film, the lovers cannot hear the king raving with jealousy, even though a single curtain separates the king from the lovers. Yet later, he can hear them perfectly through the newly constructed brick wall.

---

Connections

Version of The Great Breach (1909)

User Reviews

A historic look into early film making.

When viewing this short film remember that this is 1909, the infancy of movie making, where they filmed most films in two days with one set camera. The movie making industry is about to boom and by 1915 this film will look ancient compared to the way the movie will be made in just a few years.

In this short and simple film, a king sets out to make a private room for him and his queen to have private time from everyone. It was a room that was constructed in the corner of a hall with no windows and only one entrance. But it seems that the queen has eyes for the court minstrel and when the king accidentally finds them in the private room being sweet on each other he sets up on sealing the only entrance to the room.

While watching there will be things you have to take for 'film-sake'- like when the wall is being sealed yet the queen and her lover seem not to hear the commotion that is only a few feet away or when they fall to the floor and they go out of sight due to the fix camera shot. These are all part of 1909 regular film making. Watch the film for the historic value and also see the progress movies made in just a few short years. A well preserved film, by D W Griffith, that will not disappoint.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None English

Release Date:

2 September 1909 (USA)

Also Known As:

Det forseglede Værelse

Company Credits

Production Co:

Biograph Company, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

11 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1