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Source text for THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE (1918)
THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE (1918)

Director: D. W. Griffith

Cast: Lillian Gish (Jeanette Peret), Robert Harron (Edward Livingston), Adolphe Lestina (Leo Peret), David Butler (Monsieur Le Bebe), Elmo Lincoln (American soldier), Edward Peil (German officer), Kate Bruce (Jeanette's aunt), Peaches Jackson (Mlle. Peaches), Ernest Butterworth

Distributor: Famous Players – Lasky; Artcraft Pictures Corporation, 8 December 1918

Writer: Captain Victor Marier (a pseudonym for D. W. Griffith and Stanner E. V. Taylor)

Camera: G. W. Bitzer, with Henrik Sartov

Editor: James Smith 			Copyright: D.W. Griffith, 15 November 1918

Length: 5-7 reels, 6,062 feet 		Working Title: The Cradle of Souls

THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE was filmed from August to October 1918, both in Griffith Studios, located at 4500 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, and on location overseas. Griffith’s fame as a director of war pictures led to his invitation from the British government to film on actual World War I battlefields. Griffith had originally intended to make only a single picture with the material, but came back with over 86,000 feet and decided to turn it into three. The chief production was HEARTS OF THE WORLD, with THE GREAT LOVE and THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE. Some of the footage was filmed on the Marne River in Château-Theirry, France. There is some speculation, however, as to whether some of the shots originated in Salisbury Plain, in the United Kingdom, or was footage purchased by D. W. Griffith from Franz Kleinschmidt.

The film was premiered in Chicago and Philadelphia on the 1st of December, 1918, on the 16th in Los Angeles, and on the 22nd in New York. The Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago premieres were preceded by a special prologue, entitled Voices, directed by George Fawcett but produced by Griffith himself. This live prologue included dancing and singing, specifically of an obscure black lullaby, “Don’t You Cry My Honey,” which recurs later in the chief climactic scene of THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE. The film also featured Jerome Kern’s “My Castle in the Air” as the main love theme, excerpts from Victor Herbert’s score for THE FALL OF A NATION (1916), and music by George M. Cohan as well as Richard Wagner. THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE received mostly positive reviews after its opening, though not exclusively. Many of the critics’ remarks revolved around Lillian Gish’s performance. The New York Times called her “charming and accomplished.” Julian Johnson of Photoplay proclaimed this “new, astounding Lillian Gish – the greatest thing in the picture,” referring to her more playful and sexual screen presence. Frederick Smith, in Motion Picture Classic, disagreed, saying that Gish “isn’t suited” to play the tomboyish Jeanette. Robert Harron’s performance also attracted praise. One center of attention was the climactic kiss between Harron and a black soldier, actually Elmo Lincoln in blackface. This particular scene was called “possibly one of the finest things ever presented on the silver sheet,” and Peter Milne wrote “Harron has never done such an excellent piece of acting,”  Even Frederick Smith, of the film as a whole, lauded Harron.

The actors’ performance was not the only thing to attract attention. One artistic feature that garnered significant praise in the film’s reviews was its cinematography, especially the portrait-style photography of Lillian Gish’s personal photographer, Henrik Sartov, which drew “unanimous raves”. Even the less favorable reviews lauded Sartov’s “sort of idealized close-up – with hazy, dreamy outlines, singularly suited to Lillian Gish.” The same review, however, admitted “disappointment” in the film as a whole, saying that “at heart it is the old Griffith chase,” while Hazel Naylor wrote that “in producing another war picture Griffith does nothing big or unusual enough to justify our confidence in his being the greatest director.”  Though the film itself did not receive unanimously favorable reviews, Sartov’s camerawork and the interracial kiss were widely praised.

There are no currently known prints, complete or partial, that remain of THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE. Plot summaries can be found in most of the listed primary and secondary sources, though the secondary sources draw their research both from these primary texts and from one another. There are eight production stills available in Wagenknecht and Slide’s book, and a likely ninth misattributed to HEARTS OF THE WORLD in Hart’s Griffith autobiography. Of these nine, all feature Lillian Gish, and six include Harron. None feature the groundbreaking portrait photography of Henrik Sartov.

THE GREATEST THING IN LIFE, though not considered a masterpiece, was certainly a work worth watching. Lillian Gish called it “one of Mr. Griffith’s best films and one of his most neglected.” The film included celebrated acting from both Gish and Harron, and was one the second part of the pair’s Artcraft trilogy. It also deserves some consideration merely for being a Griffith film made “when his creative powers were at their peak,” and well into his career. It also featured the first appearance of Sartov’s application of portrait photography style to moving pictures, as well as a “new and daring” interracial kiss. Lillian Gish recalls it as “a dramatic and touching scene, during which audiences sat tense and quiet,” and insists that if modern audiences could see this film it would help to correct what she insists is a false impression of Griffith as a racist. A recovery of this film would allow historians a more complete understanding of Griffith as a director and as a person, and would provide the long-missing first step of Sartov’s career in Hollywood.

The film would also provide further information as to the American perception of war during World War I. The Harron-Lincoln kiss would also help modern audiences to better understand race relations of the time, and what was viewed as acceptable. The film also stands as an example of a feature film that has been completely lost, pointing to the general tragedy that is the loss of films to history.

Detailed List of Sources

Primary Sources: Exhibitor’s Trade Review. 4 January 1919	pg. 38 Motion Picture News. 4 January 1919	pg. 149 The Moving Picture World. 28 December 1918	pg. 1558 The Moving Picture World. 4 January 1919	pg. 115 Motion Picture Classic. March 1919		vol. 8, no. 1, pg. 76 Motion Picture Magazine. March 1919 The New York Times. 22 December 1918	advertisement, attached The New York Times. 23 December 1918	pg. 9, col. 1 Picture Play. April 1919 Photoplay. February 1919		pg. 67 Variety. 3 January 1919	pg. 38 Wid’s Daily. 2 January 1919	pg. 4

Secondary Sources include: Allen, Michael. Family Secrets: The Feature Films of D. W. Griffith. London: British Film Institute Publishing, 1999. Pg. 186. Gish, Lillian, with Ann Pinchot. Lillian Gish: The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1969. Pgs. 202-3. Hanson, Patricia King, ed. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. Vol. F1: Feature Films, 1911-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. Pgs. 354-5. Hart, James. The Man Who Invented Hollywood: The Autobiography of D. W. Griffith. Louisville, Kentucky: Touchstone Publishing Company, 1972. Pg. 129. Langman, Larry, and Ed Borg. Encyclopedia of American War Films. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989. Schickel, Richard. D. W. Griffith: An American Life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984. Slide, Anthony. Selected Film Criticism, 1912-1920. Metuchen, New Jersey and London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1982. Pg. 108. Usai, Paolo Cherchi, and Cynthia Rowell, eds. The Griffith Project. Vol. 9: Films Produced in 1916-8. London: British Film Institute, 2005. Pgs. 196-9. Wagenknecht, Edward, and Anthony Slide. The Films of D. W. Griffith. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1975. Wakerman, John, ed. World Film Directors. Vol I: 1890-1945. New York: The H. W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Internet Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0009133/ http://www.netropolisusa.biz/mptv/cgi-bin/imageFolio.cgi?img=0&cat=all&search=19914&&bool=and&SearchForm.x=51&SearchForm.y=14&SearchForm=Submit http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/AbbrView.aspx?s=1&Movie=1948