Forging a middle path between the intimate tragedy of Broken Blossoms
and the epic scale of his earlier features, Griffith here crafts an
affecting story of wronged innocence. Its plot - a typically
sententious and moralising melodrama - is anchored in a wonderfully
precise vision of smalltown America, seen as both haven and prison.
Griffith illustrates his concerns with eloquent pastoral lighting
effects, and is well served by characteristically excellent
performances from Gish and Barthelmess. Finally, his themes explode
into the outright symbolism of the gripping suspense climax on the ice
floes: a sequence borrowed by Pudovkin in his classic Soviet silent,
Mother.
