This is an interpretation of Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," but with a phony ending.
Henry B. Walthall plays a guy in love with Blanche Sweet, but his uncle thinks she is too "common." Instead of growing a pair, Walthall thinks the solution is to off his uncle. He hides the body in his fireplace wall (apparently he is an expert at masonry), and then we all sit around waiting for him to crack. Naturally, Walthall sees apparitions of his uncle, but also sees satyrs, Christ, and I presume Moses holding up two tablets saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill." A good cube will produce the same effects.
There is one effective scene near the end, where Walthall is being questioned by a detective. Walthall fidgets as he hears a clock ticking, and the detective tapping a pencil and his foot. However, it seems more hilarious than tense. Then Walthall tries to fend off a posse with his rifle.
Sweet looks like she's had a few too many sweets, and whoever did her hair should be shot for making it look like cotton candy. She spends most of the film moping around. Robert Harron and Mae Marsh appear briefly and have a few humorous scenes together, but then disappear from the film. Wallace Reid is onscreen for about five seconds.
Once the plot is resolved (and the audience is dissolved), Pan shows up to play his flute. I'm not kidding, it ain't Zamfir, it's really Pan. Then a bunch of kids looking like coneheads emerge from a tree trunk, a rabbit comes out of a hole, a lion comes out of the woods, and some dame comes out of another tree trunk.
Griffith must have been high as a kite when he made this.
Henry B. Walthall plays a guy in love with Blanche Sweet, but his uncle thinks she is too "common." Instead of growing a pair, Walthall thinks the solution is to off his uncle. He hides the body in his fireplace wall (apparently he is an expert at masonry), and then we all sit around waiting for him to crack. Naturally, Walthall sees apparitions of his uncle, but also sees satyrs, Christ, and I presume Moses holding up two tablets saying "Thou Shalt Not Kill." A good cube will produce the same effects.
There is one effective scene near the end, where Walthall is being questioned by a detective. Walthall fidgets as he hears a clock ticking, and the detective tapping a pencil and his foot. However, it seems more hilarious than tense. Then Walthall tries to fend off a posse with his rifle.
Sweet looks like she's had a few too many sweets, and whoever did her hair should be shot for making it look like cotton candy. She spends most of the film moping around. Robert Harron and Mae Marsh appear briefly and have a few humorous scenes together, but then disappear from the film. Wallace Reid is onscreen for about five seconds.
Once the plot is resolved (and the audience is dissolved), Pan shows up to play his flute. I'm not kidding, it ain't Zamfir, it's really Pan. Then a bunch of kids looking like coneheads emerge from a tree trunk, a rabbit comes out of a hole, a lion comes out of the woods, and some dame comes out of another tree trunk.
Griffith must have been high as a kite when he made this.