True Heart Susie (1919)

True Heart Susie is an absolutely adorable film! This 1919 film is a cute love story that follows the lives of Susie and William. Lillian Gish does a great job playing the sweet and innocent character of Susie who is secretly in love with Robert Harron's character William Jenkins. This film starts when the two are still in school and in their adolescent years and follows their story into adulthood. Susie proves to be anything other than just the "plain" girl when she goes above and beyond to make William, her true love, reach his happiness. This movie is very entertaining, combining romance and drama so that the audience is left in suspense and eager to find out if and when Susie and William will somehow end up together in the end. From the eyes of someone who has grown up with the latest technology and special effect films, True Heart Susie is a film that was able to capture my attention and hold onto it until the very end of this 87 minute long film. Despite it being a silent film, the cast of True Heart Susie was able to convey true emotions through their actions and facial expressions so that the audience can easily understand and interpret what the characters are thinking and filming. True Heart Susie is not a color film, however, because of tinting is not black and white. Tinted print is used to show the time, place, and mood in this film. Orange tint is used whenever the setting is indoors or to show that it is daytime. Blue tint is used to express that it is nighttime. The art direction and editing are great. The famous D.W. Griffith shows just how talented he is with the camera and his art direction in True Heart Susie.

D.W Griffith is considered the first director to implement narrative techniques to his filmmaking and "True Heart Susie" is a great example of this. While I wasn't immediately impressed, I found that as the movie progressed I connected with the characters more and more. Susie is a plain girl with completely honorable intentions who falls in love with William. Lillian Gish does remarkable job acting "for film." Her facial expressions are not too over- produced but it is easy to read her thoughts from a simple arch of her eyebrow. Griffith is definitely making a social statement on old-fashioned values. Susie is a pure character and the film really remains honest throughout. For a silent film, it really kept my attention. The thing I really loved was the character Clarine Seymour played because I think her acting; along with Lilian Gish's was a real testament to the time. Seymour's character is not meant to be hated and she does a lovely job pulling off the "vampy" personality without losing the viewer completely. Also, since I was watching this for a film history class, it was a nice departure to see more subtle acting. This is not similar to "Birth of a Nation" at all so if you are looking for a more epic film by Griffith, this is not it. "True Heart Susie" is an intimate, honest journey of a young girl whose values are tested in serious ways. No matter what statement D.W Griffith was trying to make with this film, he made it enjoyable to watch.

I really enjoyed this film; for me, it was the first time I had watched a silent film that included real character development and depth to the story. Despite the oversimplification of some aspects of the film, it serves as a monument for the history of modern film, with characters that aren't quite as simple as "good" and "bad". In my opinion, the most interesting aspect of the film was the deathbed scene, where it appears that the unfaithful woman, Bettina, is actually sorry for what she has done to her husband, and the life she lived which, ultimately, ended up killing her. Lillian Gish is truly lovely in this film as well; it is beautiful to watch one of the first films in the history of such a monumental actors career.

It's rare that the ending of a film can undo so much of the rest of the movie, but "True Heart Susie" by D.W. Griffith is one of those films. It's really a shame, as the movie had been quite good up until that point and had a lot to recommend it.The film begins with Lillian Gish wanting to help her sweetheart (Robert Harron) get the money for college. When a rich guy meets Harron and promises to one day help him (but doesn't), Gish decides she'll be his benefactor--secretly giving him money he assumes is from this rich man. Using the money Gish obtained by selling her farm animals, Harron is able to work on campus and earn enough to get his education. When he returns, he's now an ordained minister and appears ready to settle down in his home town. However, he still doesn't know that Gish helped him. She assumes they'll one day marry, but he never has popped the question.When a flirty lady bent on marriage arrives in town, Gish's subtle and lady-like ways are no match. Even though it's obvious to the viewers that this new lady is a tramp (as you see her doing lots of evil things behind Harron's back), the guy never realizes his new girlfriend is just plain bad. Now you'd think that Gish would lay it on the line and just tell him that she paid for his education as well as her love for him, but she doesn't. Perhaps she only wants him if he wants her--perhaps this is just a plot device! Either way, Gish is simply beautiful and sweet in the film and it's hard to imagine Harron marrying the tramp...but he does.The marriage soon turns out to be a huge mistake, as the new wife really could care less about being married or any aspect of domesticity. Harron, though, is easily manipulated and time after time, his cheating, no-good, scumtastic wife breaks her marriage vows--partying with old friends, kissing other men and just being a skank.Now up until this part, I'd liked the film. It had nice production values and very nice acting. I thought Griffith had done himself proud. Then, however, bad writing really sunk the film. First, when Gish sees that the new wife is a cheat, she does NOT tell Harron. This is odd, but perhaps understandable. However, when the cheating wife is caught out in the rain (as she'd sneaked out to go partying), Gish actually agrees to help the wife hide her actions. Why?! This made no sense. Second, and this was dumb, Gish didn't tell Harron a thing. Third, and this was just awful, the cheating wife gets sick and dies as a result of her being out in the rain!! This is the sort of death that can only happen in movies and just seemed to come from no where. Fourth, after the awful wife dies, Gish STILL doesn't say anything to Harron!!! However, you know that somehow it will all work out--and the entire last 10 minutes of the film is a mess--and it's a shame, as the rest of it was lovely.