Scott Lord on Silent Film

Scott Lord on Silent Film
Gendered spectatorship notwithstanding, in a way, the girl coming down the stairs is symbolic of the lost film itself, the unattainable She, idealized beauty antiquated (albeit it being the beginning of Modernism), with the film detective catching a glimpse of the extratextural discourse of periodicals and publicity stills concerning Lost Films, Found Magazines

Saturday, August 8, 2026

Scott Lord Silent Film: Blanche Sweet in The Painted Lady (D.W. Griffith, Biograph, 1912)



Directed by D.W. Griffith for the Biograph Film Company during 1912, "The Painted Lady" starred actresses Blanche Sweet, Madge Kirby and Kate Bruce. The cinematographer to the film was G.W. Bitzer.

Silent Film D.W. Griffith Biograph Film Company

Scott Lord Silent Film: Lillian Gish in True Heart Susie (D. W. Griffith, 1919)





Directed D W Griffith during 1919 for ArtcraftPictures Corporation, "True Heart Susie" (six reels) was photographed by G.W. Bitzer and paired Lillian Gish in the titular role with Robert Harron with actresses Kate Bruce and Carol Dempster. In their volume The Films of D.W. Griffith, authors Edward Wagenkneckt and Anthony Slide, divide Griffith's films into two genres, much like author Vachel Lindsay would - the epic and the lyric, the latter being "less ambitious, more intimate" the "stylistic directness" of "True Heart Susie" falling into the latter.

Author Anthony Slide perpiscaciously introduces D. W. Griffith actress Seymour by noting that both Seymour and actor Robert Harron, who had appeared together in both "The Girl Who Stayed Home" and "True Heart Susie" during 1919, had died early during 1920.

After directing “True Heart Susie” in 1919, to end the year, D.W. Griffith directed Lillian Gish in the film “The Greatest Question” (six reels), photographed by G.W. Bitzer.

The films "A Romance of Happy Valley", starring Lillian Gish, and "Scarlet Days", both directed by D.W. Griffith, were thought to be lost and donated to the Modern Museum of Art by Russia when rediscovered. Silent Film D.W. Griffith

Scott Lord Silent Film: The Girl and Her Trust (D.W. Griffith, Biograph, 1912)

During 1912 actress Dorothy Bernard starred in for director D.W. Griffith at Biograph in the one reel "The Girl and Her Trust". The cinematographer to the film was G. W. Bitzer.

In regard to the grammar of film, shot structure prefiguring, that is to say before, considerations of narrative or mise-en-scene, Kemp R. Niver, in his volume D.W. Griffith, the Biograph films in perspective, writes, "In the space of five years, Griffith progressed from directing 'Adventures of Dollie' with 13 scenes and 12 camera positions to 'The Girl and Her Trust' with 130 scenes photographed from 35 camera positions and the suprising thing is the projection time of both films is about the same." This sentiment is reiterated by Robert M. Henderson in his volume D.W. Griffith, the years at Biograph. "This film is a remake of 'The Lonedale Operator' and a comparison quickly shows how far Griffith's editorial and camera techniques have progressed...Additional shots were made from an automobile riding parallel to the handcar and pursuing the train. These last came to be known as 'tracking' shots."

Dorothy Bernard went on to film for the Fox Film Corporation, beginning with the 1915 film "The Song of Hate" (seven reels) directed by J. Gordon Edwards.The film is presumed to be a Lost Silent Filmwith no surviving copies.

Silent Film