Link : http://publicdomainmovie.net/movie/broken-blossoms-1919-0 Description: david w. griffith " broken blossoms" (1919) Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl is a 1919 American silent film drama film directed by D.W. Griffith. It was distributed by United Artists and premiered on May 13, 1919. It stars Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess and Donald Crisp, and tells the story of young girl, Lucy Burrows, who is abused by her alcoholic prizefighting father, Battling Burrows, and meets Cheng Huan, a kind-hearted Chinese man who falls in love with her. It was the first film released by United Artists. It is based on Thomas Burke (author)'s short story The Chink and the Child from the 1916 collection Limehouse Nights . Plot Image:Broken Blossoms.webm Cheng Huan (Richard Barthelmess) leaves his native China because he dreams to spread the gentle message of Gautama Buddha to the Anglo-Saxon lands. His idealism fades as he is faced with the brutal reality of London's gritty inner-city. However, his mission is finally realized in his devotion to the broken blossom Lucy Burrows (Lillian Gish), the beautiful but unwanted and abused daughter of boxer Battling Burrows (Donald Crisp). After being beaten and discarded one evening by her raging father, Lucy finds sanctuary in Cheng's home, the beautiful and exotic room above his shop. As Cheng nurses Lucy back to health, the two form a bond as two unwanted outcasts of society. All goes astray for them when Lucy's father gets wind of his daughter's whereabouts and in a drunken rage drags her back to their home to punish her. Fearing for her life, Lucy locks herself inside a closet to escape her contemptuous father. By the time Cheng arrives to rescue Lucy, whom he so innocently adores, it is too late. Lucy's lifeless body lies on her modest bed as Battling has a drink in the other room. As Cheng gazes at Lucy's youthful face which, in spite of the circumstances, beams with innocence and even the slightest hint of a smile, Battling enters the room to make his escape. The two stand for a long while, exchanging spiteful glances, until Battling lunges for Cheng with a hatchet, and Cheng retaliates by shooting Burrows repeatedly with his handgun. After returning to his home with Lucy's body, Cheng builds a shrine to Buddha and takes his own life with a knife to the chest. Cast Lillian Gish as Lucy Burrows Richard Barthelmess as Cheng Huan Donald Crisp as Battling Burrows Arthur Howard as Burrows' manager Edward Peil Sr. as Evil Eye George Beranger as The Spying One Norman Selby as A prizefighter Production and style Unlike Griffith's more extravagant earlier works like The Birth of a Nation or Intolerance (film) , Broken Blossoms is a small-scale film that uses controlled studio environments to create a more intimate effect. Griffith was known for his willingness to collaborate with his actors and on many occasions join them in research outings. She said Griffith himself was sickened while directing her in the closet scene. In 1996, Broken Blossoms was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Themes File:Broken blossoms newspaper ad.png Cruelty and injustice against the innocent are a recurring theme in Griffith's films and are graphically portrayed here. The introductory card says, We may believe there are no Battling Burrows, striking the helpless with brutal whip — but do we not ourselves use the whip of unkind words and deeds? So, perhaps, Battling may even carry a message of warning. Broken Blossoms was released during a period of strong anti-Chinese feeling in the USA, a fear known as the Yellow Peril. The phrase yellow peril was common in the U.S. newspapers owned by William Randolph Hearst./ It was also the title of a popular book by an influential U.S. religious figure, G. G. Rupert, who published The Yellow Peril; or, Orient vs. Occident in 1911. Griffith changed Burke's original story to promote a message of tolerance. In Burke's story, the Chinese protagonist is a sordid young Shanghai drifter pressed into naval service, who frequents opium dens and whorehouses; in the film, he becomes a Buddhist missionary whose initial goal is to spread the word of Buddha and peace (although he is also shown frequenting opium dens when he is depressed). Even at his lowest point, he still prevents his gambling companions from fighting. The 'closet scene' The most-discussed scene in Broken Blossoms is Lillian Gish's closet scene. Here Gish performs Lucy's horror by writhing in the claustrophobic space like a tortured animal who knows there is no escape. Category:1919 films Category:American silent feature films Category:Black-and-white films Category:Films about race and ethnicity Category:American romantic drama films Category:United States National Film Registry films Category:Films directed by D. W. Griffith Category:Films based on short fiction Category:1910s romantic drama films Category:United Artists films Category:Interracial romance films

Link : http://publicdomainmovie.net/movie/the-fall-of-the-house-of-usher-1928 Description: This adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale was directed by James Sibley Watson & Melville Webber. It is a silent movie, with a run time of just thirteen minutes, and offers an interesting interpretation of the story. You can find out more about The Fall of the House of Usher at A Passion For Horror. For the 1928 Jean Epstein version of Fall of the House of Usher, see The Fall of the House of Usher (1928 French film) The Fall of the House of Usher (1928 in film) is a short film silent film horror film adaptation of the short story, The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe. It tells the story of a brother and sister who live under a family curse. The actors are Herbert Stern, Hildegarde Watson, and Melville Webber. The movie was directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber. A music score was written in 1959 for the film by Watson and Webber's friend, composer Alec Wilder. Production An avant-garde experimental film, the visual element predominates, including shots through prisms to create optical distortion. There is no dialogue, though one part features letters moving across the screen. Influence In 2000, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant film and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Unseen Cinema: Early American Avant Garde Film 1894-1941 Treasures from American Film Archives erences / Category:1928 films Category:1920s horror films Category:American films Category:Black-and-white films Category:American silent short films Category:United States National Film Registry films Category:Films based on The Fall of the House of Usher Category:Films directed by James Sibley Watson