The Girl Who Stayed at Home

Girl Who Stayed at Home, The (1919)

** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith film about a couple American's, living in France, who join the army so that they can destroy Germany. Both men leave women behind who they love and who are the main reasons for them wanting to get back home. This was one of four pictures Griffith made for Artcraft, a foreign company wanting films centered around WW1. It's also the first film to star Griffith's then 17-year-old mistress Carol Dempster, who would prove to be one of his biggest downfalls. The film runs just over sixty-minutes and it's quite confussing all the way through. The biggest problem is that the second leads (Robert Harron/Clairine Seymour) is a lot more interesting than the actual leads and that includes Dempster who just can't reach the emotions needed for the role. The cinematography by Bitzer is great, the direction is good and tight but the film still doesn't work. Another strange note is that Harron committed suicide the night before the premiere of Griffith's Way Down East (apparently over Griffith not giving him a part) and Harron would die on an operating table after signing a $2 million contract. Part of the battle scenes used here are leftovers from Hearts of the World, which had actually WW1 footage shot by Griffith.