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Usurer, The (1910)


Mary Pickford 1

Mary Pickford Season: FD Cinematheque

The Usurer (1910)

Director: D W Griffith

Cast: Mary Pickford, George Nichols, Grace Henderson, Mack Sennett, Edward Dillon, Anthony O’Sullivan, Alfred Paget, Kate Bruce, Henry B Walthall, Claire McDowell, Linda Arvidson, Florence Barker, Dorothy West

17 min

DW Griffith 2

D W Griffith

The Usurer is a silent short film made in 1910 directed by David W. Griffith for Biograph Company .

Griffith employs many of his favorite actors of that period: Linda Arvidson (wife of Griffith), George Nichols (in the title role), Jeanie Macpherson , who three years later will start a successful career as a screenwriter and the young Mary Pickford in a young girl invalid role.

Usurer, The 1

Plot 

A wealthy, callous moneylender finds a terrifying way to learn about money’s limitations.

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Production 

The short film was produced by the Biograph Company . It was shot – from 10 to 15 July 1910 – in New York, at the Biograph studios on Fourteenth Street [1] .

Distribution 

Distributed by the Biograph Company , this film was released in US cinemas on August 15, 1910. A copy of the film is kept in the archives of the Library of Congress and Museum of Modern Art . The rights of the film are in the public domain [1] .

In 2002, Kino on Video published an anthology on DVD entitled Griffith Masterworks: Biograph Shorts (1908-1914) lasting 362 minutes which also contained this film in a version of 18 minutes [2] .

Notes 

See also 

 

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Sealed Room, The (1909)


Mary Pickford 1

Mary Pickford Season: FD Cinematheque

Sealed Room, The (1909)

Director: D W Griffith

Cast: Mary Pickford, Arthur V Johnson, Marion Leonard, Henry B Whitehall, Linda Arvidson, Owen Moore, George Nichols, Mack Sennett

11 min

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D W Griffith

 

The Sealed Room is an eleven-minute film released in 1909. Directed by D.W. Griffith, the film’s cast included Arthur V. Johnson, Marion Leonard, Henry B. Walthall, Mary Pickford, and Mack Sennett. The film was also known as The Sealed Door.[1]

Released in split-reel with The Little Darling.

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Plot

The film’s theme of immurement draws inspiration from Balzac‘s “La Grande Bretêche“,[2] and Edgar Allan Poe‘s “The 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 trysts. 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. The two lovers suffocate and the film ends.

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Cast

others

Notes

  1. Jump up^ Langman, 1998, p. 34
  2. Jump up^ Gunning, 1994, pp. 177-178

References

Sealed Room The 1

1776 AKA The Hessian Renegades (1909)


Mary Pickford 1

Mary Pickford Season: FD Cinematheque

1776 AKA The Hessian Renegades (1909)

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D W Griffith 

Hessian Renegades The 4

 

The Hessian Renegades is a 1909 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith.[1]

Plot

A young soldier during the American Revolution has the mission to carry a crucial message to General Washington but he is spotted by a group of enemy soldiers called Hessians. He finds refuge with a family, but the enemies soon discover him. After that the family and neighbors plan to find out a way to send the important message.

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Cast

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See also

References

Unchanging Sea, The (1910)


Mary Pickford 1

Mary Pickford Season: FD Cinematheque

The Unchanging Sea (1910)

Director: D W Griffith

Cast: Arthur V Johnson, Linda Arvidson, Gladys Egan, Mary Pickford, Charles West, Dell Henderson, Dorothy West

DW Griffith 2

D W Griffith

 

The Unchanging Sea is a 1910 American drama film that was directed by D. W. Griffith. A print of the film survives in the Library of Congress film archive.[1]

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Cast

See also

References[edit]

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