A Country Cupid

Country Cupid, A (1911)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Familiar tale from D.W. Griffith about a country school teacher (Blanche Sweet) who has a fight with her fiancé and the two break it off. She writes a letter to get him back but throws it in the trash where one of her students digs it out and delivers to the fiancé who comes for her and just in time because the local half-wit has taken her hostage. This somewhat far-fetched tale from Griffith actually contains quite a few elements that fans of his will recognize. For starters, the first five minutes of the short deals with the director explaining how great everything is in the country. We see friendly people with smiling faces and of course they all love one another. We learn that Sweet is a great teacher who is loved by all her students. These "good Southern folks" story lines is something we've seen countless times from the director and something we'd see in his future. Another element that Griffith fans will be familiar with is the ending when the good girl is trapped with the bad guy and we have a chase to her rescue. The chase sequence here is actually just a few seconds long so Griffith doesn't build up any drama and the pay-off isn't all that memorable either. The film still remains worth viewing for fans of the director and there's no question that Sweet is good in her part.