The New York Times has been known for years for its concise, informative movie reviews. The Times' first ever film review appeared on Oct. 10, 1909, with a piece on D. W. Griffith's "Pippa Passes," which was a cinematic interpretation of Robert Browning's 1841 poem.
Moviemakers back then assumed all their viewers were familiar with the literary works they brought onto the screen. The Film D'Art movement in France in 1908 introduced a movement of literary, drama and artistic works into cinema, using professional actors to convey these works. Biograph Studios, under Griffith's directorship, adopted aspects of the film d'art to the United States, eschewing the simple, mundane movies which were a staple of small nickelodeon theaters and producing these more sophisticate works.
In the New York Times review, its writer made note of the intelligence of "Pippa Passes." Speculation is that's the reason why such a high-brow newspaper as the Times would have one of its writers review a movie for the first time. "Pippa Passes," the movie, shows three segments, all illustrating the force of God influencing the turnaround of some bad people and their actions. The trouble with Griffith's film is that this appears before "dialogue title cards" which would clear up a lot confusion for the viewers. The middle segment especially could add some additional clarification to the viewer who is unfamiliar with Browning's poem. Pretty standard Griffith work with no new innovations that he would bring to cinema every so often.
Moviemakers back then assumed all their viewers were familiar with the literary works they brought onto the screen. The Film D'Art movement in France in 1908 introduced a movement of literary, drama and artistic works into cinema, using professional actors to convey these works. Biograph Studios, under Griffith's directorship, adopted aspects of the film d'art to the United States, eschewing the simple, mundane movies which were a staple of small nickelodeon theaters and producing these more sophisticate works.
In the New York Times review, its writer made note of the intelligence of "Pippa Passes." Speculation is that's the reason why such a high-brow newspaper as the Times would have one of its writers review a movie for the first time. "Pippa Passes," the movie, shows three segments, all illustrating the force of God influencing the turnaround of some bad people and their actions. The trouble with Griffith's film is that this appears before "dialogue title cards" which would clear up a lot confusion for the viewers. The middle segment especially could add some additional clarification to the viewer who is unfamiliar with Browning's poem. Pretty standard Griffith work with no new innovations that he would bring to cinema every so often.
