D.W. Griffith was essentially the father of epic cinema. While there were some epic films before his landmark achievement "The Birth of a Nation" (most notably "Cabiria" and "The Last Days of Pompeii"), epic cinema wasn't really all too popular notable before Griffith came along.As influential and innovative as it may be D.W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" certainly isn't for everyone, because of the harsh racism and glorification of the dreaded Ku Klux Klan. However, even if you are highly against THAT film, I still think that some of his other epics are worth a look!His best is probably "Intolerance", but another great one that comes to mind is this film, "Orphans of the Storm"!Set during French Revolution, this grand historical epic, to put it simply, mainly centers on the loving bond of two sisters (played by two actual sisters, Lilian and Dorothy Gish) and their tragic separation and attempt to find each other again. Along the way, there's action, adventure, and some true melodrama as well as some truly innovative filmmaking.The editing and filmmaking techniques used here are truly influential and are still used to this day. Griffith's lens really manages to capture the intensity of certain moments thanks to his genius editing and cinematic eye.However, I must warn you, the film is LONG! In fact, the only problem I have with it is its length. It really dragged at times and I'm sure that if you cut out a couple of scenes the film would still work just fine.That being said, "Orphans of the Storm" is a true epic masterpiece. There's many shots here that deserve to be framed and hung in a museum somewhere!

If pushed to the wall I think that most film historians will agree that the first great director/player team in American film is that of D.W. Griffith and Lillian Gish. The last collaboration of that team is Orphans Of The Storm in which sister Dorothy had a prominent role as another orphan.The source for this film is a story of French origin, the kind of material it would be impossible to do today, it would date so. Lillian and Dorothy are a pair of adopted sisters, Dorothy is in fact of noble birth, but as an infant she was abandoned because her mother had married a commoner and such was not done in Bourbon France. The story of Orphans Of The Storm is how Lillian and Dorothy raised together, get separated through time and circumstance and in between when they reunite, France undergoes a revolution. Although Griffith's source of the story was French, he relied heavily on Thomas Carlyle and Charles Dickens. Carlyle's history and A Tale Of Two Cities by Dickens became the picture that the average person in the English speaking world had of those times in France it would have been what the movie-going public expected. As history Orphans Of The Storm falls way short.As entertainment to this day the Gish sisters will tear your heart out with their troubles and turmoil. Playing the part of an aristocrat with a conscience like Charles Darnay in A Tale Of Two Cities is a young Joseph Schildkraut. It was clear he would have a long career ahead of him and his speaking voice enhanced his employment opportunities when sound came in.Lillian Gish when she wrote her memoirs in the 1970s and who knew she still had a substantial career ahead of her, entitled the book, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me. Reading that book and hearing interviews with her while she was alive, I don't think I ever heard any player convey more love for her art and her mentor than Ms. Gish did. From The Birth Of A Nation until The Whales Of August no one ever had a longer or more fruitful career in film than Lillian Gish.I don't want to shortchange Dorothy either. Her part called for her to lose her sight and you will rarely see innocence portrayed quite as touchingly as she does in Orphans Of The Storm. An unseen hand of Providence protects those like Dorothy Gish. Doesn't hurt to have a caring sister.If you're a silent movie fan, this film is an absolute must as well as a fan of the Gish sisters.

Certainly, with this film, Griffith had lost none of the flair and innovation that were to desert him later on in the 20s. The cross cutting worked amazingly at the climax of the film as Danton's troops race to rescue Henriette from the guillotine - I was on the edge of my seat.Lillian Gish is one of the greatest of actresses but it is interesting that when she was teamed with her sister, Dorothy was always given the more interesting part. In this film she plays the blind Louise and she is able to add some whimsical comedy bits to her role (polishing her shoes, stretching when she steps out of the carriage).By combining real historical figures and fictional characters in an exciting story of the French Revolution you feel you are watching "living history". The film takes some time to get into the main story but once it does - there is no stopping it!!!Baby Louise is left at a foundling home by people that have slain her father. Baby Henriette is being left by her father at the same home because poverty has left them destitute. When he sees Baby Louise on the snowy steps he is over come with remorse and takes them both home. They find a note in a locket with Louise's name and the words "Save her" - also a purse of gold coins.As the years pass Henriette's parents die of a fever that has also left Louise blind. On their way to Paris Henriette catches the eye of an evil nobleman who is determined to take her to a gala fete he is givingeven if it means kidnapping her - which he does!!! At the fete Henriette is frantic, calling for help which she gets from a kind nobleman Chevalier de Vaudrey (Joseph Schildkraut) who after a duel whisks her away to lodgings. Louise has been taken by an ugly old crone (the magnificent Lucille La Verne) who forces her to sing in the street ("you'll shiver better without that shawl") and when Louise refuses throws her into a rat infested cellar. Pierre (Frank Puglia) the youngest son who is taunted and bullied by his mother and older brother becomes Louise's protector. After a realistic fight in which he stands up to his family - he then helps Louise find her sister.Henriette and Vaudrey fall in love. She also helps Danton (Monte Blue) escape a rogue mob thus gaining an enemy in Robespierre (Sidney Herbert) whom she accidentally snubs. Vaudrey's mother, Countess De Linieres visits Henriette to ask her to give him up and when there finds that Louise is the daughter she was forced to give up. Henriette hears Louise singing in the street and calls to her but before they can be reunited she is arrested because she gave shelter to an aristocrat (Vaudrey).It all ends happily with a picnic in a rose garden (I, too, was glad that Pierre was saved and allowed to end his days happily under the care of Countess De Linieres).Fortunately the humour of Creighton Hale is kept to a minimum. The gala fete sequence is beautiful set with tableaux depicting famous paintings of the day (Fragonard's "The Swing").Highly recommended.

Before and during the French Revolution, "Orphans of the Storm" Lillian and Dorothy Gish (as Henriette and Louise Girard) "suffer through tyranny and selfishness." During the Plague, the sisters lose their parents, and Dorothy goes blind; but, Lillian vows to care for her sister forever, declaring, "I'll see for you." And, she does, for awhile... When the sisters learn the city may hold a cure for Dorothy's blindness; they journey to Paris. There, Lillian is accosted by lusty aristocrat Morgan Wallace (as Marquis de Praille), but she rejects his advances. Mr. Wallace decides he must have Lillian, and arranges to have her abducted for an upcoming orgy; this leaves the blind Dorothy helpless, on the streets of Paris. She is rescued by street beggar Frank Puglia (as Pierre Frochard); unfortunately, his mother Lucille La Verne is a cruel hag, who abuses Dorothy. Joseph Schildkraut (as Chevalier de Vaudrey) falls for, and rescues Lillian, but finding her blind sister during the French Revolution proves to be quite le problème.D.W. Griffith and company are triumphant in this (yet another) breathtakingly beautiful film; the direction, photography, sets, and editing, and performances are superb. Lillian and Dorothy Gish are flawless as the "Orphans of the Storm" (this was the last Griffith/Gish cinematic team-up). The children who play the Gish sisters look and act amazingly like their adult counterparts. Mr. Schildkraut is quaint, yet charming, as Lillian's leading man; he is a romantic ideal, kissing her tears and stroking her face; after the revolution, he becomes quite strong. Dorothy's relationship with poor Puglia is an unexpected pleasure; Puglia is given, and gives, a surprisingly vivid characterization; as his mother, Ms. La Verne is deliciously wretched - you can almost see her tonsils as she cackles! The "Frochard" family (La Verne, Puglia and Sheldon Lewis) help give the film a Charles Dickens touch. Monte Blue is thunderous as revolutionary Danton, and Creighton Hale quirky as Picard. One of the characters gets it in the end. ********** Orphans of the Storm (12/28/21) D.W. Griffith ~ Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut, Frank Puglia