This D.W. GRIFFITH: YEARS OF DISCOVERY DVD set comprises the 3 VHS tapes released by Kino International a few years back. It consists of 22 shorts made by Griffith for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (now known as simply Biograph) between 1909 and 1913 when he left to make feature films. Although only a tiny fraction of his total output for Biograph (there were around 450 shorts), some of his very best work is included here.
These shorts represent Griffith at his most inspired. It is on these that his reputation as the “Father of Film” was made. What he was able to pack into these one reelers is truly astonishing. This is Griffith the master story teller along with cameraman Billy Bitzer and the Biograph stock company who were making it up as they went along. And what a stock company! Mary Pickford, Mack Sennett, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Lionel Barrymore, Henry B. Walthall, and Blanche Sweet just to name a few who would go on to have major careers in the film industry that they helped to create.
Among the highlights are THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY, THE CORNER IN WHEAT, THE REDMAN’S VIEW, and THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES dealing with respectively tenement crime, greed, mistreatment of Native Americans, and survival skills. There are even shorts dealing with drug abuse, suicide, and the problem of taking care of the elderly. These are topics that still resonate with us today making these shorts not only timely but timeless. The transfers are of extremely high quality and the musical accompaniment is first rate. Yet another item that I have wanted to see on DVD and now here it is.
Unfortunately D. W. Griffith is very politically incorrect these days thanks to the racism in some of his features especially BIRTH OF A NATION. There is no such problem with this collection. Here over 100 years later we can discover the birth of moviemaking with the same excitement that Griffith & Co. had in making it. This is truly the best of D. W. Griffith.
The Capsule Critic 