[[ tt0010193 ]] The Greatest Question (D.W. Griffith, December 1919) camera G.W. Bitzer with Lilian Gish and Bobby Harron for First National Pictures / First National Exhibitors Circuit www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JT3tQo0hKY

‘A story about the strangely winding river of life.’ ‘ However happy and frivolous we are, we all revolt at the thought that our lofty dreams, hopes and love will end only in the bitter dust of death. If only one person, whom we have known and who has gone before us, could return to give us a word of hope! Because behind the strongest faith there always remains a Big Question.’

‘From the church it is two miles to the small valley of Silver Waters.’ The film opens with a long pan showing the valley (00:01:42 – 00:02:14). A family of peddlers’ travels through the valley of Silver Waters with their covered wagon. The mother sits listlessly by the cart, while her little blonde daughter ‘Nellie Jarvis, the peddler’s child’, plays. Mother tells Nellie to go into the covered wagon. ‘Yes, Mom, I’ll go inside’, but she doesn’t and she runs away and comes skipping to the river. While playing, she comes to a tree behind which she hides, while on the other side ‘in the shadows of the dark forest’ a female immigrant, friendless and too trusting’ is molested and killed by an older couple (00:04:00): ‘Under threatening clouds of passion – the terrible deed’ (under the influence of dark, stormy emotions they perform a terrible act). As will become apparent later, the man is guilty of sexual advances towards their staff, while the woman is murderous out of jealousy. The woman picks up the victim’s body and immediately drops it again. The girl witnesses the murder and the burial of the body (eyeball POV 00:03:54, 00:04:00, 00:04:06, 00:04:20, 00:04:57). ‘The child returns’ and she warns in vain and crying her sleeping mother mother, who is not interested And she tells what she has seen to her father, but ‘the parents only soothe the child’s fears.’

‘Ten years later’ we are ‘in the house of the Hilton’s in the same area.’ There we meet Robert Hilton, ‘the stumbler: the paralyzed father who is rebellious due to adversity’, secondly ‘Jimmie Hilton’ (Bobby Harron) the younger brother of John Hilton Jr, furthermore ‘Zeke, an old servant of the family who suffers from rheumatism’ (a black servant) and finally ‘the mother – a silent but strong sweet soldier in the battle between Good and Evil.’ Mother takes freshly baked bread from the oven, while John Jr. sits next to her.

‘After the death of her father, Nellie Jarvis, now an adult, and her mother travel alone on the old paths.’ She now guides the horses for the peddler’s cart, while mother lies sick in bed in the covered wagon. While crossing a river ‘the sick woman complains about the jerking of the cart.’ Nellie steers the cart to the edge of the river and sits with her mother, whom she takes in her arms. The mother tells her daughter to be polite and never forget to say Yes, Ma’am. ‘Yes, ma’am’ says Nellie, after which her mother dies, just in front of the Hilton family’s house: ‘A life flows away into the mysterious unknown seas.’ Griffith shows here the flowing river (00:09:32) and water flowing over the ground, which symbolizes life flowing away. Nellie is desperate: ‘Mother. Speak to me! Mother!’

The Hilton family, ‘although they are very poor,’ brings donations to the sick: Jimmie Hilton is on his way with a freshly baked loaf of bread and passes Nellie’s covered wagon. Nellie calls him and says: ‘I can’t wake my mother! Go get a doctor quickly! Bobby calls home, where mother responds to his calls (acoustic coupling 00:11:25). Mom goes to see what’s going on and John Jr. is sent to warn the doctor. But the doctor can only conclude that Nellie’s mother has died (close-up of Nellie hearing this at 00:12:27 and 00:12:27): ‘She will never wake up, dear.’ Nellie, crying, takes her mother into her arms and holds her close. ‘A sad, hesitant farewell to the family who helped her through this tragedy.’ Nellie kisses Mrs. Hilton and shakes Jimmie’s hand. But then ‘the Hilton’s decide they can make room for ‘Little Miss Yes, Ma’am’, the nickname they lovingly gave her. Mrs. Hilton calls Nellie back and tells her she can stay: ‘O, O! Yes ma’am, I would love to stay.’ Nellie embraces Mrs. Hilton and Jimmie are happy.

They are ‘for her idyllic days’ when she participates in family life. It is striking that Zeke, the cheerful black servant, eats separately at a small table and at the end of the film no longer sits at the table at all, but stands next to it. Mr. Hilton pours some gravy on Zeke’s plate: ‘as long as there’s gravy in the pan with bacon, Uncle Zeke won’t worry about tomorrow.’ Nellie shows Jimmie a penny coin (extreme close-up 00:16:37): ‘If I have a million of these, I’m getting married.’ ‘John is his mother’s favorite son, her comfort and trust.’ She caresses John’s arm and looks at him lovingly. John also puts his arm around his mother and pets her. ‘Summer paths.’ Nellie and Jimmie hop across the land in idyllic atmospheres and he even dares to give her a kiss. Nellie reacts slightly shocked and says: ‘I will rat on you!’ ‘If you do that, I’ll do it again!’ Jimmie now grabs Nellie tightly while kissing her on the cheek and she actually likes that. ‘And when she left, he always remembered her that way.’ Nellie stands with bare legs in the water and challenges Jimmie to do the same: ‘Innocent romping, but not for a hidden lustful eye.’ ‘Neighbor Martin Cain who has no idea what this same child saw years ago’ sees those bare legs of Nellie as aphrodisiac. He is the man who killed his housemaid at the beginning of the film. In eyeball POV he watches the romp in the water (00:19:36, 00:19:55).

‘Father Hilton complains bitterly about their poverty and difficult fate.’ There is a threat of eviction to the poorhouse. Mrs. Hilton says about Nellie and Jimmie who are just coming home: ‘Let them know. When we’re in the poorhouse they’ll all know.’ Nellie Jarvis addresses her stepmother. This happens in reciprocal eyeball POV shots shot back and forth, in which both Nellie and her stepmother play directly into the camera (00:21:00, 00:21:10, 00:21:17). So this is not a breaking of the fourth wall. Nellie wants to work outside the home to earn money and not be a burden: ‘Madam, I will look for a workhouse. I don’t want to be a burden to you anymore.’ ‘No, no – you just stay here’ and Mrs. Hilton puts her arms around Nellie and kisses her. ‘Their last lifeline is taken away. John, the family’s main source of income, is called up for military service.’ He bids a touching farewell to his mother, who says: ‘I have a feeling I’ll never see you again.’ ‘Don’t do that, mother, don’t do that! There’s something between us that no bullet can kill!’

‘Despite their objections, Nellie goes looking for work.’ Nellie walks across the bridge to the neighbors: ‘The House of Shadows.’ The Cain’s are a rough bunch, with a nasty atmosphere in the house. ‘No, you won’t! I know too much about you!’: ‘they have a stranglehold on each other’ because they have a shared secret: the death of the maid, which is shown again in flashback (00:24:30). Both show hands like claws when arguing (00:24:39). They also fight with each other, during which she wounds her husband until he bleeds in the face, just as Nellie arrives at their place. ‘Ma’am, I heard you were looking for a maid.’ At 00:25:51 we see Nellie in close-up: ‘Yes, ma’am.’ And Mrs. Cain says of her husband: ‘He cut his face with his razor, poor thing!’ ‘Well, we’ll see’ and they Nellie samples accurately and acts very friendly. Nellie is allowed to join the service and says an awkward goodbye: ‘I will come as soon as possible, ma’am.’ Note: Is it (the atmosphere in) the House of Shadows or a vague memory that makes her uneasy? When they leave, the Cain’s pump their fists at each other again.

Mw. Hilton asks Zeke to borrow a bucket of flour from the neighbor. ‘Sent to the neighbor’s house to borrow flour – he is joined’ by Jimmie and Nellie. But the kitchen maid doesn’t want to borrow anything: ‘You haven’t paid for what you borrowed before.’ But she goes inside with the bucket anyway and Zeke says: ‘We’ll get it!’ The lady of the house prevents the kitchen maid from taking flour and the kitchen maid says: ‘Oh, give him a little!’ ‘No! No way! Zeke hears the discussion taking place inside (acoustic coupling 00:28:23, 00:29:06) and you can read its progression from his facial expression: disappointment 00:28:23, 00:29:06. But then the lady of the house says: Go ahead. Meanwhile, it has already gotten dark and Zeke tells Jimmie and Nellie, while they wait on the stairs of the house, ‘a ghost story’. Zeke gets his bucket of flour and the three head home. Meanwhile, ‘a hobo goes to sleep in the cemetery, a safe place due to superstitious fear.’ As they walk past the cemetery, Zeke says: ‘Stay close, kids! We pass the cemetery!’ As they walk past, an eagle owl calls, which makes the atmosphere even more spooky and then the wanderer, who is dressed in white cloth, looks up like a ghost. The trio flees home in panic.

‘John takes part in the great blockade’ (of German ships by American submarines). John is standing on the deck of a submarine sailing on the high seas. ‘Truly I say to you, if a man trusts in my word, he will never see death. John 8-51’ (=spiritual death, loss of spiritual eternal life). Mother thinks about John and becomes restless. ‘There is an emergency. An enemy destroyer, emerging from the fog’, crosses the path of the submarine and ‘ suddenly forces the crew to dive.’ ‘Too late.’ John sees no chance to enter the submarine so quickly. He drowns and while lightning strikes around the house (00:35:09), the curtains flap and the wind extinguishes the oil lamp, his mother has a kind of telepathic contact with him (00:35:35), stands up and is then almost blown over by the wind blowing in through the window and the door and hangs back, while John, in double exposure, enters her mind’s eye and embraces her (mental POV shot 00:35:37 – 00:35:59). ‘John was here, father.’ Mother looks happy and Mr. Hilton doesn’t understand it. ‘After a period of tense waiting’ Jamie rushes in with a telegram that they dare not open: ‘It’s my boy! When did he die?’ The telegram of 10/14/17 states: ‘Your son John Hilton, US Navy sailor, was washed overboard. We extend our condolences for the loss of your son. Robert Hilton says: ‘How did you know, mother?’ Mother is completely distraught and all are grieving. Nellie tries to comfort the distraught mother. ‘Relax, he’s closer to us than ever before!’

Despite her premonitions, Nellie feels obliged to accept the position of maid.’ She says a sobbing goodbye to her stepparents and goes with Jimmie to the Cain family. As she walks along the water, she ‘again feels the faint whisper of her memory.’ Jimmie gives her a photo of them together that we see in extreme close-up (00:40:38): ‘You certainly don’t care about this, do you?’ But the photo is dear to Nellie and she remembers in mental POV 00:40:49 how the photo was taken by a street photographer. Nellie says goodbye to Jimmie while pressing herself against him. ‘Flow on, cold stream, to the sea, ‘Your waves make an honorable contribution (to the sea), ‘But I will not follow your path; ‘Forever and ever.’ Jimmie and Nellie can hardly separate themselves, their love is so strong, but after a last kiss, Nellie leaves and Jimmie symbolically closes the gate again.

‘In the Citadel (fortress) of the Evil Legions.’ The drawing under the title, a house with a dangerously smoking chimney, already looks menacing. Nellie is treated by Mrs. Cain welcomed. Father, mother and Jimmie Hilton are standing in the cemetery at ‘a grave monument for the boy, in the garden of those who have found peace.’ Mother carefully places a flower there and prays. Mrs. Cain puts Nellie, in shabby clothes, to work. Mr. Cain, who is standing in the kitchen with a butter churner, apparently hears them talking. Nellie has ‘started down a dangerous path between the cruelty of woman and the base drives of man.’ Mr. Cain calls Nellie to the kitchen and she responds immediately (acoustic coupling 00:44:02). She runs to him and he orders her to churn the butter. In this context that is a sexually charged activity. He takes her hand. But the madam calls her back: ‘If I ask you to do something, do it!’ Nellie tries to say that the gentleman also asked something, but the madam just says: ‘Shut up!’ ‘Yes, ma’am.’ And the madam eagerly picks up a long whip with which she stands threateningly in front of Nellie: ‘Maybe I should have this whip use.’ ‘Not on me, ma’am. I’ll be a very good girl!’ Mrs. Cain whacks the chair Nellie is cleaning with morbid eagerness.

‘Saturday afternoon’ Nellie is standing in the garden near the gate: ‘Jimmie might come.’ Mr. Cain joins her while Mrs. Cain keeps an eye on things from a booth with a peephole. Mr. Cain’s hand slowly creeps towards Nellie’s hand and as a whole he creeps closer and closer. But Jimmie doesn’t come: ‘he is working hard’ in the garden. That evening, Nellie walks up the dark stairwell to her room: ‘A lonely girl and a doll named Jimmie.’ We see a close-up of Nellie playing with the doll (00:47:44). Nellie has placed Jimmie’s photo over the doll’s face (00:47:51). Martin Cain is now also emerging. Jimmie plays the harmonica in his room, looks at the photo of him with Nellie (extreme close-up 00:48:10) and presses the photo to his heart. At the same time, Nellie plays with the doll. These genuine feelings of love are contrasted in a relational cross-cut with the animalistic feelings of lust of Mr. Cain who enters the bedroom and sees that his wife is sleeping. He closes the bedroom door again, whereupon she opens her eyes. ‘Of all the wicked passions that sear the human heart, jealousy is the cruelest and most unreasonable.’ Mrs. Cain looks through the crack of the bedroom door in front of which Mr. Cain stands. Nellie kisses her doll and starts to undress to go to bed. She closes her bedroom door as Mr. Cain walks across the landing. Mrs. Cain takes a revolver from the dresser and points it through the crack in the doorway. Nellie is sitting on the edge of her bed in her pajamas. Driven by that dark fear, the girl tries to find out where those secret footsteps on the landing come from.’ She opens her room door, but sees no one on the landing. Through the crack in the doorway, Mrs. Cain sees Nellie standing on the landing (eyeball POV 00:51:00) and keeps her gun pointed at the landing. Nellie is now knocking on her bedroom door, but gets no response. Mr. Cain now comes out of the side room and walks into the bedroom, where Mrs. Cain quickly went back to bed.

On ‘Sunday’ the family goes for a ride in a carriage.’ ‘A con man, interested in the new oil craze’ is cutting the ground in the garden of the Hilton’s and ‘works while the family is out.’ He finds indications of oil in the ground and quickly closes the hole. ‘Afterwards’ Nellie breaks a plate in the Cain family’s kitchen. Mrs. Cain hears that (acoustic coupling 00:52:56) and starts up, but sits down again. Nellie picks up the shards and tries to conceal the damage. ‘Meanwhile, Mrs. Hilton has a premonition that Nellie is in trouble’ and asks Jimmie to take a look. Nellie hides the shards in her apron. The clinking of the shards is heard by Mrs. Cain (acoustic coupling 00:53:41), she gets up and rushes to the kitchen. ‘Did you break a plate?’ Nellie produces ‘a pitiful, trembling lie.’ But then Mrs. Cain sees that Nellie hid the shards in her apron. And they also fall out. Mrs. Cain is in a state of dismay and takes out her whip in great anger. Nellie begs not to hit her. Meanwhile, Jimmie is on his way to Nellie, but he is stopped by Robert Hilton: ‘Premonition nothing! You get the cow in. Zeke can’t do that because of his rheumatism. Mrs. Cain starts swatting, at first in the air, but then she drags Nellie, throws her to the ground and beats her incessantly with her whip. Nellie lies on the floor like a pile of misery. Mr. Cain enters the kitchen and finds Nellie lying there. He picks her up, but there the lady is again. Nellie flees the house and walks home. She passes the place where the crime took place. ‘Her vague memories come closer and become clearer.’ In her mind’s eye she sees again the murder committed by the man and the woman (mental POV 00:57:41). Jimmie arrives with a letter in which $10 is enclosed: ‘Nellie has sent them ten dollars for which she has worked herself out.’ Nellie is just arriving at the house and sees through the window how much joy the small amount she has sent them brings (embedded eyeball POV shot 00:58:18, 00:58:28, 00:58:32, 00:58:52, which means what is seen is surrounded by shots of the person seeing it). ‘Now that the little loving heart sees how much joy the small amount she has sent them brings, she resumes her task’and returns to her workhouse. ‘The return.’ Nellie hesitantly approaches the Cain couple: ‘Ma’am, I won’t lie anymore.’ Mrs. Cain reacts spitefully: ‘Go to work immediately!’

‘The last straw – the father has no choice but to sell the house. The father mocks Providence for not providing for his daily needs – not knowing that the ground beneath his feet is bursting with wealth. And look, there’s ‘the scammer again’ who wants to buy the house and the land. Father says: ‘ Bring your papers tomorrow and the house is yours.’ Zeke wonders: ‘What will happen to me then. There is no poorhouse for a nigger!’ (as there is for white Americans). But Hilton says: ‘the Lord will provide for you – as he did for us.’ ‘Overwhelmed by worries and doubts, the mother searches for the light.’ She goes outside to the gravestone for John Jr. as Mr. Hilton observes her with concern (01:03:02). Meanwhile, Mrs. Cain enters the room where Nellie is sleeping. She still has the revolver in her hand. ‘The girl’s innocence and beauty arouse the woman’s hostility and she decides to destroy her.’ She points the revolver at Nellie (01:02:53). The editing of these two scenes’s is in fact relational parallel editing / cross-cut’s: noble, caring and religious* *vs villainous, murderous and devoid of God. Mrs. Cain says at John Jr.’s grave: ‘Lord, I believe! Help me in my unbelief! My Boy --- My Boy! Hear! In our concerns — Come – prove to us!’ Mr. Hilton does not agree with his wife’s behavior: ‘He is not there at all – he is here – here – in the dust!’ But his wife continues to call on the son. ‘Into the infinite night I cry to Thee! Answer me! Answer! Why, why hast Thou forsaken me?’ Mrs. Hilton is becoming more and more excited. And then the figure of John appears in double exposure above the grave (mental POV 01:04:20 – 01:05:39). Mr. Hilton sees this too, is astonished and kneels. Meanwhile, in parallel editing we see the villainous Mrs. Cain standing by Nellie’s bed, who is innocently sleeping (01:05:10). She cannot kill Nellie and the suggestion is that Mrs. Hilton’s prayer has had a beneficial influence. Mrs. Hilton tells John Jr.: ‘Goodbye, see you tomorrow’ (in heaven). Mr. Hilton says: ‘Nothing matters now, Mother. My eyes have seen it.’

‘In the morning’ the rebellion in their hearts has calmed down.’ Mrs. Hilton wonders what that dug up piece of land is all about. Jimmie puts his pick in there and finds ‘under their feet, where it has always been, an earthy, sloppy stuff’ welling up. Jimmie knows that, it has gotten in his way before while digging: ‘That sticky stuff that is everywhere, it makes me miserable!’ But father sees it more clearly: ‘Hey, that’s oil!’ Experts who are called in confirm that: ‘I know worse places where people are looking for oil worth a million!’ ‘The demon’s rustling wings.’ Mrs. Cain is out and Martin Cain is alone with Nellie. He can’t stand it any longer and splits a block of wood with his ax to relieve the tension. He finds Nellie inside, locks the door, takes her hand and kisses it. But Nellie doesn’t like that at all. And he goes further, grabs her and, when she resists, throws her across the room. He then follows her to the top floor. Jimmie says: ‘I’m going to tell Nellie’ that there is oil in the ground and immediately leaves. Meanwhile, Nellie fights to keep a door closed that is blocking Martin Cain. And then she flees to the attic via a ladder and pulls the ladder up through the hole. Cain can’t reach her now. We see a mouse in a mousetrap, symbolizing Nellie’s position (01:10:23). She is also trapped in the attic. Meanwhile, Cain stacks boxes on top of each other to climb to the attic. Nellie sits on the hatch under which Cain pushes himself up. In good Griffith style, Jimmie is busy with the race to the rescue. Mrs. Cain has returned to find the front door locked. She crawls in through the open window and has her revolver in her hand. Mr. Cain has now captured Nellie in the attic. The lady climbs to the attic via the boxes and points her revolver at both her husband and Nellie: ‘Both of you I will…!’ Jimmie has now arrived at the gate of the Cain’s and is out of breath from running. Mrs. Cain loses her balance and drops the revolver. Nellie manages to catch that quickly. The two Cain’s flee to the other end of the attic.

Now that she sees them standing next to each other, arguing, Nellie’s old memory comes back: the image of the Cain’s who murdered the woman becomes increasingly sharp. Cain strangles the woman and his wife hits her on the back of the head with a stick (mental POV 01:12:10, 01:12:25). ‘Now I recognize you!’ Nellie shouts passionately. The two murderers are scared to death. Nellie quickly climbs down and finds the door closed. She flees out the window, but is dragged back by Mr. Cain, who has also arrived downstairs. The Cain’s now stand before her with hands turned into claws (01:13:11). She says: ‘We can’t let her go, she will tell!’ The two approach her more and more menacingly (01:13:27), which culminates in an extreme close-up of Mr. Cain (01:13:30) and his wife (01:13:32). The two grab a screaming Nellie just as Jimmie arrives at the house and slips in through the window. Mr. Cain is choking Nellie and the lady is using a knife and is about to stab her. But Jimmie knocks Cain down and forces Mrs. to her knees, pleading. Nellie and Jimmie leave through the back door and run home: ‘There’s oil everywhere!’ When they get home, Jimmie shows Nellie the oil in the well. Nellie congratulates the Hilton’s and sees that Zeke, who knows nothing, is about to leave. When Jimmie tells him about the oil, his face lights up. Jimmie declares his love for Nellie again, but she hesitates: ‘We don’t know enough to get married yet.’ He says: ‘We can wait.’ But then love cannot be stopped, Nellie snuggles against Jimmie and they kiss.

The family is clearly doing better economically. A supplier now delivers a whole ton of flour (no longer a small borrowed bucket). And the family drives well dressed in a car and goes to ‘a large hotel.’ There they are received by waiters in a beautifully decorated room and they appear in tuxedos and beautiful dresses. Meanwhile, the Cain’s are guarded by a policeman. Mother prays: ‘Help, O help, those who grope in darkness! This refers to the Cain’s: in parallel editing they are placed opposite to the Hilton’s (relational cross-cut 01:20:55 lofty*, wealthy and with a bright future** *vs depraved, poor and candidates for the death penalty). ‘Conscience.’ The sheriff comes in and has handcuffs with him. The Cain’s tremble in fear and pray, just like Mother does at the dinner table (relational cross-cut 01:19:02 both pray). ‘Forgive, O forgive!’ ‘Make no mistake; God is not to be trifled with. For whatever a man sows, so shall he reap.’ The Cain’s are put in chains and leave. And at the hotel at the dinner table, Zeke, also beautifully dressed, enters. He stands next to the table and finds everything beautiful. Nellie and Jimmie sit close together behind a flower bouquet that symbolizes their love (01:20:30). End.

What is the greatest question? Clearly whether humans will choose empathy over selfishness. The message is: compassion is the highest human value.

Long pan: The film starts with a long pan showing the valley (00:01:42 – 00:02:14).

Eyeball POV: The girl witnesses the murder and the burial of the body (eyeball POV 00:03:54, 00:04:00, 00:04:06, 00:04:20, 00:04:57). In eyeball POV, Martin Cain watches Nellie’s romp in the water (00:19:36, 00:19:55). Reciprocal eyeball POV shots: Nellie Jarvis addresses her stepmother. This happens in reciprocal eyeball POV shots shot back and forth, in which both Nellie and her stepmother play directly into the camera (00:21:00, 00:21:10, 00:21:17). So this is not a breaking of the fourth wall. Nellie wants to work outside the home to earn money and not be a burden: ‘Madam, I will look for a workhouse. Through the crack in the doorway, Mrs. Cain sees Nellie standing on the landing (eyeball POV 00:51:00). Nellie just arrives at the house and sees through the window how much joy the small amount she has sent them brings (embedded eyeball POV shot 00:58:18, 00:58:28, 00:58:32, 00:58:52, meaning what is seen is surrounded by shots of the person seeing it).

Mental POV: Mother has a kind of telepathic contact with John (00:35:35), stands up and is then almost blown over by the wind blowing in through the window and door and hangs back, while John enters in her mind’s eye, in double exposure, and embraces her (mental POV shot 00:35:37 – 00:35:59). ‘John was here, father.’ Jimmie gives her a photo of them together. Nellie thinks in mental POV at 00:40:49 how the photo was taken by a street photographer. ‘Her vague memories grow closer and clearer’. In her mind’s eye she sees again the murder committed by the man and the woman (mental POV 00:57:41). And then the figure of John appears in double exposure above the grave (mental POV 01:04:20 – 01:05:39). Mr. Hilton sees this too, is astonished and kneels. Now that she sees them standing next to each other, arguing, Nellie’s old memory comes back: the image of the Cain’s who murdered the woman becomes increasingly sharp. Cain strangles the woman and his wife hits her on the back of the head with a stick (mental POV 01:12:10, 01:12:25). ‘Now I recognize you!’

Relational cross-cut / parallel editing: The scene in which Mrs. Hilton visits John Jr’s grave monument (01:03:02) and the scene in which Mrs. Cain visits the sleeping Nellie in her bedroom (01:05:10) is in fact relational parallel editing: noble, caring and religious* vs villainous, murderous and detached from God. At the end of the film, the Hilton family is doing better economically. At the hotel, during dinner, Mother Hilton prays: ‘Help, oh help, those who grope in the dark! This refers to the Cain’s: in parallel editing they are placed opposite to the Hilton’s (relational cross-cut 01:20:55 lofty, wealthy and with a bright future *vs depraved, poor and candidates for the death penalty). When the sheriff comes in, the Cain’s tremble in fear and pray, just like Mother does at the dinner table (relational cross-cut 01:19:02 both pray).

*Acoustic *coupling: Bobby calls home, where mother responds to his calls (acoustic coupling 00:11:25). Zeke hears outside the discussion taking place inside (acoustic coupling 00:28:23, 00:29:06) and you can read the progression of it from his facial expression: disappointment 00:28:23, 00:29:06. Mr. Cain calls Nellie to the kitchen and she responds immediately (acoustic coupling 00:44:02). Nellie breaks a plate in the kitchen. Mrs. Cain hears that (acoustic coupling 00:52:56) and starts up, but sits down again. Nellie picks up the shards and tries to conceal the damage. Nellie hides the shards in her apron. The clinking of the shards is heard by Mrs. Cain (acoustic coupling 00:53:41), she gets up and rushes to the kitchen. ‘Did you break a plate?’

Close-up: The doctor can only determine that Nellie’s mother has died (close-up of Nellie hearing this at 00:12:27 and 00:12:27). Nellie shows Jimmie a penny coin (extreme close-up 00:16:37): ‘If I have a million of these, I’m getting married.’ At 00:25:51 we see Nellie in close-up: ‘Yes, ma’am.’ Jimmie gives Nellie a photo of them together that we see in extreme close-up (00:40:38). We see a close-up of Nellie playing with the doll (00:47:44). Nellie has placed Jimmie’s photo over the doll’s face (00:47:51). Jimmie plays harmonica in his room, looks at the photo of him with Nellie (extreme close-up 00:48:10). The two approach her more and more menacingly (01:13:27), culminating in an extreme close-up of Mr. Cain (01:13:30) and his wife (01:13:32).

Hands like claws: the Cain’s are a rough bunch, with a nasty atmosphere in the house. ‘No, you won’t! I know too much about you!’: ‘they have a stranglehold on each other’ because they have a shared secret: the death of the maid, which is shown again in flashback (00:24:30). Both show hands like claws when arguing (00:24:39). The Cain’s now stand before Nellie with hands turned into claws (01:13:11).

Wind, waves and thunderbolts: John is drowning and while lightning flashes around the house (00:35:09), the curtains flap and the wind extinguishes the oil lamp, his mother has a kind of telepathic contact with him (00:35:35). She stands up and is then almost blown over by the wind blowing in through the window and the door and hangs back, while John, in double exposure, in her mind’s eye enters and embraces her (mental POV shot 00:35:37 – 00:35:59). ‘John was here, father.’ Here wind and lightning support the intense emotion associated with her son’s death.

Symbols: Griffith here shows the flowing river (00:09:32) and water flowing over the ground, which symbolizes the draining of life. We see a mouse in a mousetrap, symbolizing Nellie’s position (01:10:23).

Flowers: Nellie and Jimmie sit close together behind a flower bouquet that symbolizes their love (01:20:30).

Josephine Crowell appeared in films from 1911 onwards: We see her in The Mothering Heart, Home Sweet Home, The Avenging Conscience,The Birth of a Nation’, Intolerance, Stella Maris and Hearts of the World.

This is with the exception of the 1921 release by Metro Coincidence Bobby Harron’s last film before his death (suicide?) in 1920.