Squaw's Love, The (1911)
*** (out of 4)
Pretty entertaining Western from Griffith has Gray Fox (Alfred Paget) getting kicked out of his tribe so Wild Flower (Mabel Normand) follows him through the woods, which upsets Silver Fawn (Claire McDowell). The two women end up fighting and Wild Flower falls into the river when Gray Fox must race to her rescue. Silent fans will certainly be entertained by this film even though I'm sure modern viewers will be looking at their watches even though it runs under 17-minutes. I think fans of Griffith will know that he was often hesitant when it came to using title cards so it's rather unclear why Gray Fox gets kicked out of his tribe but I'm guessing it was for a good reason as the other Indians really beat the pulp out of him before sending him on his way. Overall this is a fairly pleasant short even with the lack of information as Normand delivers a fine performance and clearly steals the film. She's certainly the best thing it has going but Paget is also pretty good as is McDowell. This film might also be of interest to some history buffs as it features some real Algonquins tribe members including Dark Cloud. He made a few films for Griffith around this period and seeing an actual Indian playing a part was quite rare in these days. In terms of story there's nothing too ground-breaking here and it's easy to say this isn't one of Griffith's greatest films but it remains entertaining enough as long as you don't take it too serious.
*** (out of 4)
Pretty entertaining Western from Griffith has Gray Fox (Alfred Paget) getting kicked out of his tribe so Wild Flower (Mabel Normand) follows him through the woods, which upsets Silver Fawn (Claire McDowell). The two women end up fighting and Wild Flower falls into the river when Gray Fox must race to her rescue. Silent fans will certainly be entertained by this film even though I'm sure modern viewers will be looking at their watches even though it runs under 17-minutes. I think fans of Griffith will know that he was often hesitant when it came to using title cards so it's rather unclear why Gray Fox gets kicked out of his tribe but I'm guessing it was for a good reason as the other Indians really beat the pulp out of him before sending him on his way. Overall this is a fairly pleasant short even with the lack of information as Normand delivers a fine performance and clearly steals the film. She's certainly the best thing it has going but Paget is also pretty good as is McDowell. This film might also be of interest to some history buffs as it features some real Algonquins tribe members including Dark Cloud. He made a few films for Griffith around this period and seeing an actual Indian playing a part was quite rare in these days. In terms of story there's nothing too ground-breaking here and it's easy to say this isn't one of Griffith's greatest films but it remains entertaining enough as long as you don't take it too serious.