Richard Bock
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 239
From: El Cerrito,CA,USA
Registered: Jan 2010
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posted January 06, 2013 09:09 PM
An Unseen Enemy (1912) directed by DW Griffith
This a Standard 8mm Blackhawk print is excellent with good contrast, although it has some sort of orange spots occasionally caused by fungus(?). The reason I can see these Griffith films over and over again is that there is something always new to see. In this case we have the Gish sisters who are magnetic. When I see them on screen, I’m riveted to them. Intelligence and beauty are winning combinations. This film builds suspense and does it effectively, even though it is a bit of a melodrama. This is a 'primitive' damsels in distress film but there is something special in this celluloid. The girls captured scenes are stirring, one can see Hitchcock must’ve taken a look at films like these. Some of the camera setups and compositions are like looking at paintings that move. Beautifully realized. The performances are first rate especially by the girls who portray with great realism, the terror of their entrapment. Scenes of young love and courtship in a windy cornfield are revealing and tender. Griffith used the weather to advantage and because he used improvisation with his actors, the film comes to life.
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