This offering from Griffith at the peak of his Biograph period is pretty much a tossed-off potboiler. It's forbidden love among the Indians as Dark Cloud -- a genuine Algonquin chief with a real movie resume; he also modeled for Frederick Remington -- and Mary Pickford run away to be together. Everyone but Mary overacts -- I suppose that's all right, since that was the popular view of Indians. The costumes are also strictly out of the melodrama costumer's, with everyone wearing feathers on their heads, including a full Comanche head dress for the chief.
Griffith took his crew a bit far afield to film this piece in some pretty riverine territory near Cuddlesback, New York. Even today, it's a pleasantly rustic area.
Griffith took his crew a bit far afield to film this piece in some pretty riverine territory near Cuddlesback, New York. Even today, it's a pleasantly rustic area.