dir. D.W. Griffith
writ. D.W. Griffith, Adolphe d'Ennery & Eugene Cormon (novel)
feat. Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut
This piece of classic early Hollywood cinema has all the epic makings of a Griffith film and the melodrama of Dickens. The Gish sisters play unrelated orphans, one of whom goes blind in childhood. As they head to Paris to seek an operation that might cure Louise (Dorothy) of her blindness, they stumble into all kinds of trouble. A dastardly aristocrat spirits Henriette (Lillian) away from her sister to be his plaything at one of his orgies while Louise falls prey to an old mustached hag beggar who uses the blind lovely to bring her easy coin. To the credit of Griffith, the orgy actually looks rather wild, a large estate scene where the gates lock at midnight and everyone goes wild, racing around and losing their knickers.
While an impressive use of crowds keeps the big scenes engaging, the long winded story takes its sweet time to bring on the revolution, reconnect the lovers and
(finally) the sisters, saving precious lives at the last moment thanks to Danton and his spirited lawyering. Though it's better than a mere curiosity along the road of film history, Orphans flounders when it comes to quality drama, acting and pacing.
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