Way Down East

Name: Way Down East
Director: D W Griffith
Released: 1920
Duration: 2 h 24 min
Cast: Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Mrs David Landau, Lowell Sherman, Burr McIntosh

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1920
D W Griffith
144 mins
A

Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Robyn Karney

Lillian Gish, at her most transcendentally lovely and moving, is the innocent and trusting young country girl tricked into a fake marriage by wealthy, womanising wastrel Lowell Sherman, who leaves her pregnant. The baby dies and the destitute girl finds employment with fanatically religious farmer Burr McIntosh, whose son Richard Barthelmess falls in love with her. Only a full-length essay could do justice to DW Griffith's film - his most profitable venture after Birth of a Nation. A 1920s melodrama with elements of tragedy, the film offers a happy ending that is nothing less than a coup given what has gone before. Although uncomfortably extended in length by some extraneous and jarring "yokel" comedy, Way Down East is a miracle of visual composition, brilliantly acted, with Gish giving one of the most eloquent performances of the silent screen. Justly celebrated for the climactic sequence where Gish, drifting unconscious on a raft of ice in a storm, is rescued by Barthelmess, the film offers many less obvious moments that are just as memorable.

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Credits

Cast

rolenameAnna MooreLillian GishDavid BartlettRichard BarthelmessAnna's motherMrs David LandauLennox SandersonLowell ShermanSquire BartlettBurr McIntoshMrs TremontJosephine BernardDiana TremontMrs Morgan BelmontBarn dancerNorma Shearer

Crew

rolenameDirectorD W GriffithDirectorElmer Clifton

Details

Languages

Available on

video and DVD

Formats

Black and white