Way Down East

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Greatest Scenes In Movie History
Review: The Ice Flow...Anyone Who Has Seen This Classic Film Will Know Exactly What I'm Referring To. This Is One Of The Greatest Scenes In Movie History, Without Question & I Believe, The Greatest Action Sequence Ever Filmed. Remember, These Were The Days BEFORE Stunt Doubles. That Was Really Lillian Gish Being Rescued On The Ice Flow Heading Over The Falls - That Was Really Her Hero, Nearly Falling Off The Ice During The Rescue & Dropping Her - That Was Her Hand Dangling In The Freezing Water As She Lay On The Frozen, Floating Ice. Her Desire For Perfection In The Scene Included Dangling Her Hand In The Freezing Water & Resulted In Her Having Pain In That Hand For The Rest Of Her Life. Now THAT, Is Artistry & Dedication To Your Craft. I Doubt Very Much That Julia Roberts Or Any Current Stars Would Do The Same. Lillian Gish Was A Legend - She Invented The Close-Up, Along With D.W. Griffith & In My Opinion, This Is Her Finest Work. If You Ever Cared To Learn About Silent Film, Watch THIS Movie & You Will Not BELIEVE Your Eyes !!!

Rating:
Summary: One Of The Greatest Scenes In Movie History
Review: The Ice Flow...Anyone Who Has Seen This Classic Film Will Know Exactly What I'm Referring To. This Is One Of The Greatest Scenes In Movie History, Without Question & I Believe, The Greatest Action Sequence Ever Filmed. Remember, These Were The Days BEFORE Stunt Doubles. That Was Really Lillian Gish Being Rescued On The Ice Flow Heading Over The Falls - That Was Really Her Hero, Nearly Falling Off The Ice During The Rescue & Dropping Her - That Was Her Hand Dangling In The Freezing Water As She Lay On The Frozen, Floating Ice. Her Desire For Perfection In The Scene Included Dangling Her Hand In The Freezing Water & Resulted In Her Having Pain In That Hand For The Rest Of Her Life. Now THAT, Is Artistry & Dedication To Your Craft. I Doubt Very Much That Julia Roberts Or Any Current Stars Would Do The Same. Lillian Gish Was A Legend - She Invented The Close-Up, Along With D.W. Griffith & In My Opinion, This Is Her Finest Work. If You Ever Cared To Learn About Silent Film, Watch THIS Movie & You Will Not BELIEVE Your Eyes !!!

Rating:
Summary: Required Gish Viewing
Review: This and Broken Blossoms are the defining moments in Lillian Gish's career. Watch and you'll be hooked. I pretty much bestow all the same accolades as everybody else about this film. Griffith was not quite a master of slapstick, but the moments here are not much different from other comedies at the time. The key of course is Gish's mesmerizing performance and a simple plot (this is 1920 of course). What a treat it is to own this movie and other silents on DVD. The picture quality is virtually perfect. The music score is a recording of an original score. It's scratchy but authentic. My only gripe with this edition is the title cards. The letters look like they came from the Sunday comics. One small quibble in an otherwise remarkable DVD.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS THE BEST D.W. GRIFFITH FILM EVER!! HANDS DOWN!!
Review: This is the best film of D.W. Griffith, HANDS DOWN!! Out of all his films (the controversial Birth of a Nation, the powerful Intolerance, the HIGHLY OFFENSIVE Broken Blossoms, and the beautifully sad Orphans of the Storm), this is HIS BEST! The story of a poor innocent religious farm girl Anna (played with perfection by Lillian Gish) who goes to the city to get money to for her mother and is wooed by a sleezy playboy who tricks her into a mock marriage and gets her pregnant and leaves her is emotionally gripping. No one should find ANY faults in this film. It is brilliant. David Bartlett, Anna's true love played by Richard Barthlemess, known for his offensive role in Broken Blossoms makes up for his previous film with this one. It is truly brilliant, the scenes with him and Lillian are so loving and beautiful, its more powerful than any romantic movie in our era now. And of course the scene were Anna is driven out into a blizzard and almost falls over a waterfall is the most powerful stunt ever seen. And Lillian did it herself AND in a blizzard AND Richard did indeed save her. It is truly magnificent! D.W. Griffith makes up for his previous film with this one! It is truly heart-wrenching and beautiful!! I cannot say enough of this movie! In fact I am going to watch it again!! Brilliance Sheer brillance and Genius!!

Rating:
Summary: Another Great Gish Performance
Review: Way Down East, although technically imperfect by the over-exacting standards of modern-day audiences (who are used to expensive computer-generated special effects which rarely serve to truly augment a film and often serve as a cover for woefully deficient plots), is nothing short of a masterpiece. As usual, Lillian Gish's acting is superb, and the ice floe sequence near the end is truly riveting even with a couple of continuity problems. Richard Barthelmess shines through as David Bartlett, turning in another fine performance. Way Down East is another of Griffith's masterpieces, and this release features the full-length version mastered at the correct film speed, complete with original tints, and the original score, recorded on Vitaphone discs for the film's 1930 reissue, making for an outstanding evening's entertainment. Excellent!