True Heart Susie (1919)

It's been a long time since I've seen a feature film from Griffith, and after watching this picture I'd say its been too long. True Heart Susie is a remarkably unpretentious film of Griffith's that harkens back to his simpler days making films at Biograph. In fact the time setting of the film is roughly ten years before it was released. Lillian Gish again appears as the cheerful and good natured small town girl who does everything to help the man she loves suceed. Some of the twists and turns are a little predictable, and sometimes you have to wonder how much life must have sucked back then, but its a simple moral and it is very effective. Griffith makes us care for these characters particularly Susie and William and we genuinely feel for their situation, even if in 1919 death was the only acceptable solution to a bad marriage.

Rocky Road (1911) was also included on the Grapevine DVD.