The Greatest Question (1919) often feels like a conga line of Griffith's worst traits as a storyteller: we have two stories only vaguely related to one another going on at once, heavy moralizing, overwrought and over-plentiful inter-titles, and the obligatory attempted sexual assault of a spotless maiden (played by Lillian Gish) and race to the rescue at the climax. The main story about Gish's innocent teenage girl used and abused by a borderline psychopathic married couple feels like a variation on Dickens. At little over one hour, the movie plods along and stops at a rather banal conclusion.
So why did I rate it a 6/10 rather than a 4 or 5/10, as was my original inclination? Well, because the film for all its issues, has an odd charm, believe it or not. The footage of the countryside is beautiful, hearkening back to the lovely scenery in Griffith's Biograph shorts. Gish, while stuck with the most Victorian of Victorian heroines, is still engaging and moving within the confines of a dull role. She and Bobby Harron manage a sweet chemistry filled with childlike affection and budding sensuality. Even the villains , often accused by critics of being too broad, are still frightening. The attempted assault, though I knew it was coming from the moment one of the title cards informs us that the man of the house is "lascivious" twenty minutes into the movie, was still creepy and alarming.
Creaky the movie may be, but I don't think it's DWG at his worst (try watching Dream Street and then this, and tell me which was more bearable and charming, I dare you).
So why did I rate it a 6/10 rather than a 4 or 5/10, as was my original inclination? Well, because the film for all its issues, has an odd charm, believe it or not. The footage of the countryside is beautiful, hearkening back to the lovely scenery in Griffith's Biograph shorts. Gish, while stuck with the most Victorian of Victorian heroines, is still engaging and moving within the confines of a dull role. She and Bobby Harron manage a sweet chemistry filled with childlike affection and budding sensuality. Even the villains , often accused by critics of being too broad, are still frightening. The attempted assault, though I knew it was coming from the moment one of the title cards informs us that the man of the house is "lascivious" twenty minutes into the movie, was still creepy and alarming.
Creaky the movie may be, but I don't think it's DWG at his worst (try watching Dream Street and then this, and tell me which was more bearable and charming, I dare you).