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The Idol Dancer (D.W. Griffith, March 1920) screenplay Stanner E.V. Taylor based on the novel by Gordon Ray Young, camera Billy Bitzer with Richard Barthelmess, Clarine Seymour, Kate Bruce and Florence Short (Pansy) for D.W. Griffith Productions / First National ¹.

‘A story of the Southern Seas.’ ‘The moral of this film is that a good example is the best preachment.’ ‘Our story takes place on Rainbow Beach, a romantic island. A story of love and adventure, of people outstripped and buffeted by eddying fortunes – of lotus eaters in ragged clothes.’ The locals arrive with painted canoes’s. This is ‘the edge of the village. On one side the sea and across a narrow strip of land the inland bays.’ ‘In this village a dress of unbleached cotton distinguishes the girls converted to the Christian faith from their pagan sisters, who wear a pair of beads and a skirt of some grass.’ We see the little boy ‘Pago, a native’ and ‘Donald Blythe, the only white boy on the island’. Inside sits ‘Reverend Franklin Blythe, missionary, stern as the granite hills of his New Hampshire home.’ Beside him are his wife and ‘Peter, his first convert and faithful assistant, a native preacher who loves his faith – especially in a long coat.’ ‘He wears spectacles without lenses for the sake of beauty. Next to him is ‘Pansy, an uninhibited savage flower who wears a cotton (Christian) dress, but manages to get out of all the rules’ and who flirts with Peter. Mrs. Blythe reprimands her.

‘Old Thomas, a beach trader/beachcomber, is quite perplexed by the strange, sweet, exotic, girlishness of his adopted daughter. She has ‘a mixture of lively French, inscrutable Javanese and sultry Samoan blood. The natives have given her the beautiful name ‘White Almond Flower’, but old Thomas calls her Mary.’ She wears a hula hula skirt with flowers, a flower necklace around her neck and a flower in her hair. She really is a wild girl, who keeps away from the natives, wanders around alone and avoids friendship - a curious little creature who is bold, but at the same time shy.’ Mary wants to put a wreath of flowers on her father, but he responds with: ‘Wouldn’t you put on some more clothes?’ And he throws her a shirt, but she says: ‘No, Daddy, please, that smells like the missionary.’ She sticks her nose in the shirt and throws it away. (It’s striking how much more endearing Clarice Seymour is compared to Carol Dempster). She hugs her father lovingly and he says: ‘Wear whatever you want!’ She gives the shirt a few more punches and a kick and goes outside.

On the beach we meet ‘Dan McGuire, a beachcomber, a lonely man thrown onto the beach by the shifting winds and waves of many adventures. Without courage to walk the right path (morally weak), without illusions, without flutes (no higher spiritual life), without dreams, except that he might have had a better life in the far country from which he came. Alcohol is his only consolation.’ Gin has washed up and he takes a long drink from a bottle before collapsing on the beach under the influence of the gin. Mary is picking flowers and then runs into the sea, happily skipping. She is ‘playmate of the sunshine and the sea.’ She swims a few laps and ‘that same morning’ finds the numbed Dan on the beach. She throws pebbles at him, but he doesn’t wake up. She kneels down next to him and says: ‘Get up, the tide will soon get you.’ But Dan wants to stay asleep, so she drags him up and takes the dazed boy to the house of her father, Old Thomas. Dan plops down, with his bottle still in hand, and Mary’s father doesn’t like it at all. ‘You always bring something home.’ Mary says: ‘What’s your name?’ and Dan answers: ‘Johnson Gin.’ Mary thinks it’s all funny and asks her father: ‘Daddy, should we keep him or drown him?’ ‘Drown it!’ father says, ‘but they decide to keep him.’ Immediately after this, the drunken Dan falls from the stool to the floor.

‘A thousand miles away in a New England village, lives Walter Kincaid, the missionary’s cousin.’ The landscape is snow-covered and a line of little boys are sledding down the street behind a sleigh. In a long right-sided pan we go along snow-covered branches to the small church with churchgoers (00:17:37 - 00:17:57). We meet Walter Kincaid with his mother at the church. ‘Walter is ill (and coughing; it later turns out that he undoubtedly has advanced tuberculosis) and his greatest moral offense has been that he kissed his niece in a dark hallway, something for which he is very remorseful.’ Together they visit church.

Dan McGuire ‘has seen much, but he also likes to tell cool stories about adventures that never happened, about cities he never visited. Lies? Well maybe he’s just casting an opalescent glow over his past.’ And Dan apparently enjoys telling cool stories. ‘Old Thomas is also a good liar and through his beautiful stories the beachcomber’s wins his undying friendship.’ Dan continues talking and Mary hangs on his every word and is clearly in love. The extensive medium-close shots of Barthelmess are clearly intended to showcase his boyish charm, although we now also see his gloomy side.

‘Franklin Blythe receives a letter telling him that his cousin from New England is coming to visit him.’ Walter Kincaid, perhaps as much to escape his dull, oppressed life as to seek relief from his threatening illness in a more pleasant climate, sets forth for the South Seas. ’ He leaves snowy New England and sails across the sea. Blythe and his assistant head to Old Thomas’ home. The disinhibited Pansy behaves excitedly towards Blythe’s wife and is corrected by her: ‘I’m good girl, miss’ (it is interesting that Florence Short plays a very reserved role in ‘The Love Flower’). Blythe and Peter enter Old Thomas’ home and find Dan and Mary there. The missionary orates that Dan should come to church, but that is a hopeless mission: ‘If you want to wait until I come to your church, there’ll be already ice on the South Seas.’ Dan McGuire leaves. Blythe says to Mary: ‘We want you to set an example to the other girls by wearing this beautiful dress.’ And he takes the tasteless coarse cotton dress that Peter brought along. But of course Mary doesn’t feel like that with her hula hula skirt and floral bra. And when the pastor tries to force it on her, she throws the dress in his face. The pastor’s assistant tries to persuade Mary again: ‘Oh, Lady, Lady! I insist!’ but is forced out of the door by Dan, who has now returned. Mary throws some pebbles after the pastor. Dan has fun with this wild girl and finds her attractive.

Walter Kincaid arrives and a trader’s boat brings him from his steamer to shore where he is warmly welcomed by his aunt and uncle. Together they walk through the negro village. Pansy is jumping like crazy and is very interested in the young man. Walter Kincaid doesn’t know what to think and Mrs. Blythe says: ‘Pansy, behave yourself!’ ‘A notorious criminal slaver comes to Rainbow Beach in search of prey.’ He has his camp on the other side of the island, among tawny natives, black headhunters and ferocious cannibals from the Solomon Islands. Wando is the ‘Chief’ of the black inhabitants of the Solomon Islands.’ He is a rugged native with a bone through his nose. ‘By fear and gin, he in fact turns his men into slaves.’ In this way he conspires with the slave trader.

Little Donald Blythe gets into a fight with a native boy: ‘Say, why don’t you wear pants?’ The native boy replies ‘My devil-devil god says I don’t have to wear pants .’ Little Blythe says: ‘Oh, your gods are no good - my God is here, there and everywhere!’ ‘There’s mine!’ and the boy points to an idol. Young Blythe behaves arrogantly and is pushed under water by the native boy. But his father rushes and rescues him from the water. The native says: ‘Don’t worry. His God is so strong, he won’t let him drown.’ And young Blythe says: ‘I’ll make you wear pants yet!’

‘The conflict of wills between the atheist and the believer’, between the stiff Walter Kincaid and the loose Dan McGuire: ‘Women. Take them, love them and leave them! Kill male competitors; conquer the sea; travel through depraved, shadowed streets of strange cities; then come back to the beach and you’ll know that you have lived!’ ‘And then — what?’ The bourgeois Walter Kincaid sees the seductive Mary, but is actually too shy to look. ‘Kincaid has a vague, tempting dream that one day he too will live a foolishly adventurous life, the right of youth in Springtime.’ Dan gestures to him: Is she your type? and Walter nods affirmatively.

‘In the cocoanut grove’, Mary sits high in a tree and throws a cocoanut down. It lands on the shoulder of Walter Kincaid, who is walking under the tree while smelling a flower (00:35:19). Apparently Walter longs for love. Mary comes down from the tree and apologizes, while he is still playing with the flower (00:36:06). ‘The mystical visions of her people move through the exotic coloring of her dance. Note: Her people have a long history, so long that they know the follies of civilization. They were already selling ivory peacocks to the Phoenicians in the time when Solomon built his temple.’ In Old Thomas’s hut, Mary gives Walter and Dan a lively and well-executed dance, dancing straight towards the camera at 00:37:17 and ending in close-up, facing the audience and breaking the fourth wall. Dan accompanies her on the percussion board. ‘Kincaid, in Thomas’ cabin, realizes that it is time to start a new phase in his life.’ Both Walter Kincaid and Dan McGuire look at Mary in love and she alternates between looking at the men and wondering who is the one. ‘A true daughter of Eve, who plays one against the other — but Which?’ ‘Kincaid’s Puritan blood pounds guiltily at his cheeks.’ At 00:38:51 we follow Mary in a backwards tracking shot, which ends in a dance for Walter. And he literally chokes on the situation. Through jealousy the beachcomber twice deliberately drums out of time (00:38:46, 00:39:18). Mary reacts angrily, takes Dan’s percussion board, gives it to Walter, takes his hands and teaches him how to beat rhythmically.

Mary continues dancing outside in the beautiful South Sea nature. ‘Dan McGuire sighs a amorous love song amid the swooning scent of the magnolia blossoms.’ Mary and Dan sit outside and listen to an islander making music on a stringed instrument. But the atmosphere between the two has cooled and Dan no longer looks at Mary. Dan says: ‘Love, music - Love, dreams - Love, moonbeams’. And he caresses Mary”s arm and wants her to come closer, but she just walks away. He is sad and has stomach ache. He follows her and ‘is swept away by his passionate urge for this seductive female flower.’ He suddenly grabs her (00:42:49) and carries her away in his arms, straight through the forest and out to the water. ‘The fires of youth flame to a foolish dream of lawless love on a remote island.’ But Mary fiercely resists ‘illicit love’. Then he comes to his senses, ‘his conscience speaks’ and he sees in his mind’s eye how he was received as a guest by Mary and her father (mental point of view shot at 00:43:18), and he lets her go. Mary is outraged, takes her knife and threatens. ‘If you ever dare to touch me again — I will –’ Mary leaves and Dan stands there looking defeated.

‘The ‘Chief’ arrives at the slave trader and excitedly talks about the rumor that a new shipment of pearls is stored in the missionary’s village.’ The missionary gives Walter a gun to defend himself. Walter doesn’t like that, but he takes the gun anyway. Mary ‘meanwhile sneaks away in the moonlight to perform ancient pagan dances.’ We see her dancing under the palms. In the bushes the slave trader and the Chief lie watching her: ‘They find a pearl, more radiant than any pearl that lies in the translucent bosom of the sea.’ ‘Her playhouse is formed by the ruins of a native house where idolatry took place.’ Mary dances joyfully around an idol. ‘Close on one side’ sits Walter Kincaid, watching her with ‘admiring eyes.’ ‘On the other side sits Dan McGuire, with adoring and jealous eyes.’ And then there’s the slaver and the Chief, ‘Profane eyes’. The slaver says to the Chief: ‘She would look good in your Kava house, you pig with a black face’ (a Kava house was an indigenous community house for men, where drinking and rituals took place). The Chief finds that an attractive idea. The slaver says: ‘She’s coming back with us.’ The Chief sneaks through the bushes and appears behind Walter, who is terrified. The Chief has two skulls hanging on his chest: ‘I stabbed one to death and the other I beat to death, maybe you will be next.’ He lunges at Walter a few times with his spear, but then Walter pulls out the pistol that the missionary gave him. The Chief walks away in defeat and the slaver bumps into Dan, who pulls out his knife. He is told: ‘Go back to where you came from.’ The slaver ‘returns to his camp’ and is upset.

Mary wants to fool around with Walter and runs through the bushes, while Walter runs after her. But the sick Walter cannot keep up with her, becomes short of breath and has a coughing fit. ‘The game is beyond the sick man’s capabilities.’ She puts her arm around him protectively. ‘What’s going on? Can I help you?’ And besides being worried, she might also be a little in love with Walter: ‘Maybe it’s primitive maternal feelings, which all girl children have, that go out to the sick boy - and maybe also…’ In any case, Dan McGuire looks at the scene with a jealous look (embedded eyeball point of view shot between 00:52:23 and 00:52:48, between 00:52:57 and 00:53:05 and between 00:53:10 and 00:53:28). Walter talks about New York (mental point of view shot of Flatiron building and the subway (00:53:15). The conversation makes Dan angry: he walks away ‘so, then…’ he is turning to alcohol again. Intoxicated, he walks on the beach with a bottle of gin and falls down.‘A flower behind the ear of a man and a girl becomes a binding pledge of love.’ Mary, who herself has a flower behind her ear and in her hand, finds Dan dead drunk beside the water, kneels down next to him, kisses the flower (00:54:38) and, to express her love for him, puts the flower behind his ear. She wants to give him a kiss, but then she smells the odor of alcohol and decides not to kiss him. She takes the flower away while shaking her head (this love has no chance) and throws the flower on the ground (00:54:14 - 00:55:17).

The Chief is on the road again and sings a song, which is heard by Pansy. ‘Does she answer with a tender call of love?’ Pansy is charmed by the Chief’s action. ‘The etiquette of marriage among the indigenous tribes (this is the actual custom).’ She thinks he is a suitable suitor, nods vigorously Yes! and to confirm the marriage he knocks a tooth out of her mouth, which she spits out. Then they embrace each other. Peter, the pastor’s assistant, sees this scene in embedded eyeball point of view at 00:56:38, 00:56:45, 00:56:56 and 00:57:16.

On Sundays, ‘churchgoers are summoned with a loud drum, which once called to battle. Note: The sound of these drums can be heard for twenty miles.’ Blythe stands next to the drum and Walter and Mrs. Blythe hold their hands over their ears. ‘After a secret training course’ little Donald Blythe says to the native boy: ‘Put on these pants and go to church.’ He stands with shorts in front of the native who throws the pants in his face. Once again they get into a fight where Donald almost strangles the native and then forcefully pulls his pants on. He Christianizes the native boy by forcing him after the fight to go to church, which is already filling up, in his shorts.

The Chief now involves Pansy in ‘the trader’s plot.’ At his request, Pansy steals a revolver and a rifle from the missionary’s house. According to her ‘those are all the missionary’s firearms.’ The Chief takes the weapons to the slaver’s camp. Meanwhile, Mary dances again near the idol. Walter meets her there and she says to him: ‘Call on the devil-devil and he will drive away the evil spirits that make you cough.’ Walter is very charmed by her expressive behavior. Mary tries to make the spell work while dancing and with quick movements of her hands: ‘Weaving the spell.’ The missionary finds Walter at the idol: ‘What an example to these heathens, that my cousin is standing at the idol with this loose girl.’ Mary is not very impressed and places a wreath of flowers around Walter’s shoulders. Dan McGuire, who has apparently come out of his alcoholic haze, sees this in eyeball POV (01:02:32, 01:02:44, 01:02:55, 01:03:03 and 01:03:21). Dan follows the events with feelings of jealousy. When Mary returns to the idol, Dan is standing there, bitterly reproaching her in his jealousy: ‘I’m not even allowed to touch you, but you’re always with him.’ But Mary remains confident and charming. Dan says: ‘What is he telling you all the time?’ Mary tries to avoid Dan flirtatiously, but in his anger he suddenly grabs her (01:05:25), pulls her roughly towards him, takes her in his arms and tries to kiss her. But Mary resists fiercely and manages to break free. By looking very intimidating, she manages to keep Dan further away. Her expression shows a mixture of sadness and also longing for Dan. Dan is ‘tormented and torn by love and jealousy.’ And both Mary and Dan spend ‘a sleepless night being tortured by love ---’ Relational cross-cut’s between the two indicate their bond of destiny (01:08:27, 01:08:37, 01:08:50 and 01:09:09): both suffer from heartbreak and are longing for each other.

Meanwhile, Walter Kincaid, with a wreath of flowers around his neck, returns to the missionary’s home. Blythe gestures what is that supposed to mean, that leads to damnation. ‘You can’t be seen with that girl while you’re staying in my house.’ But Walter refuses to be reprimanded and stands up to his uncle. The emotions become too much for his sick body and he has to lean against the wall while coughing. He sinks onto a chair and then onto the floor and his uncle quickly comes to his aid. Reverend Blythe and his wife make a sick bed for Walter and nurse him. ‘In his illness, the boy continuously calls’ for Mary, while hyperventilating sharply (01:09:27). ‘The missionary’s love for his cousin outweighs his prejudice’: Blythe decides to go to Old Thomas’ beach hut, where he finds Mary and Dan. Blythe tells Mary: ‘He keeps asking for you’ and Dan tells her to go. The missionary extends his hand to Dan, but he responds: ‘What? Me in your house!’ Yet he also goes along. Mary arrives at the pastor’s house and sits at Walter’s sick bed. And Dan also appears at Walter’s sickbed. Walter says: ‘Remember, there IS something afterwards! My – my own brother. Over and over again that sweet new word — Brother!’ ‘Franklin Blythe tells Mary: ‘We can only rely on God for his recovery.’ ‘After their visit, Mary and Dan have a refreshing, wholesome sleep.’ ‘The great repentance: the boy’s sweet example of brotherhood has more effect than all sermons so far.’ Dan repents of his sinful life. On the beach he throws the bottle of gin in an arc into the water and ‘prays (pathetically and) selflessly that Mary will find her happiness in a greater love than his.’ And Mary distances herself from the idol and throws it in an arc into the sea. She goes to missionary Blythe, neatly dressed, says she has renounced idolatry, sits down at Walter’s bed and fans him.

The slave trader abuses his black servants: ‘Take that basket to the boat!’ I can’t do that, master. I’m sick.’ The slaver swings his whip, scaring the native and beating him up. The native ‘seeks protection from the missionary.’ Meanwhile, Old Thomas goes fishing with the villagers. ‘He is surprised at the beachcomber Dan’s request for work’. The boat with Thomas, Dan and the villagers leaves for the fishing trip. Together with the Chief and the natives, the slave trader goes after the refugee. And he finds out ‘that the men all have left the village’ and are on a fishing trip. So they have free rein and the slave trader uses the slave’s running away as an excuse to plunder the village. Meanwhile, the runaway slave arrives at the missionary’s house where he is taken in by Blythe and his wife. He tells in mental POV (01:22:11) how he was whipped by the slave trader and ‘begs for protection.’

Meanwhile, ‘the villagers have arrived at the fishing camp’ further away. The slave trader uses ‘the slave’s runaway as an excuse to loot the village.’ His men enter Old Thomas’ hut and ‘the search for the runaway slave turns into an orgy of destruction’. The slaver, accompanied by the Chief, wants to search Reverend Blythe’s house: ‘I’m going to search this house!’, but the Reverend says he can’t get in. The slave trader points with outstretched arm and finger at Old Thomas’s burning hut (very classic embedded eyeball point of view shot between 01:24:25 and 01:24:30). ‘Look! We will do the same to you.’ But Blythe stands firm: ‘You shall not enter this house!’ The female villagers flee into the mission and the pastor’s wife also drags Mary inside. The runaway slave is in the back room, hiding under the bed. The women are hidden in the back room together with the pastor’s wife. The pastor now discovers that the weapons have been stolen, while the natives besiege his house and ‘claim Mary as a member of their tribe.’ The natives pound on the mission post very menacingly. ‘Finally – the great adventure.’ Walter feels called to action and is energized by the threatening situation. As shots are fired through the door, he grabs the club used to beat the big drum and runs into the back room, where he takes Mary into his arms and kisses her deeply. The boat with the villagers who have left on a fishing trip ‘sails further and further away.’ Walter Kincaid goes out the back door and beats the big drum. The slave trader and the Chief respond to the sound almost immediately (acoustic coupling at 01:28:07) but it takes a while before the men on the fishing boat also hear the sound (01:28:27). Dan and Thomas see it as a signal of trouble and decide to turn around and sail back home.

A native rushes at Walter with his spear, but he knocks him down with the club. Meanwhile, the attack on the mission continues and Blythe tries to stop the door from being forced open. Mary walks into the back room desperately and in blind panic waving a knife and Mrs. Blythe kneels in prayer. Dan sees from the boat (eyeball POV 01:29:40) Old Thomas’ cabin on fire. The natives now try to force the door with a tree trunk, shots are fired through the door and Franklin Blythe gets on his knees to pray, while the fishermen frantically row home. Walter, strengthened by Mary’s kiss, ‘life’s strongest wine on his lips’, now defends the back door of the house with his club and knocks down a few natives before he himself is felled: ‘killed in the fight.’ The front door has now been forced open and Blythe knocks down a native with a table, strangles another, but is then knocked down by the slaver himself. The Chief and the slave trader are now standing at the door of the back room full of desperate women. Mary scolds them through the door, with a knife in her hands (01:32:06) and gets an answer from her Chief on the other side (01:32:17). She is now completely panicking and cringing. In a beautiful close-up shot at 01:32:35 we see her (credible) desperation. And then the mob breaks into the room (01:32:53) and the slave trader takes control of her, despite Mary defending herself with her knife. Meanwhile, the fishermen row as fast as they can towards home. The natives take possession of the Christianized, fiercely resisting native girls and carry them away as their prize. And the slave trader carries the violently kicking Mary in his arms.

But then Dan, Thomas and the islanders come ashore. Dan shoots the slaver, while the fishermen attack the natives. Pansy is jumping with excitement. Old Thomas overpowers the Chief. Fortunately, the pastor finds his wife unharmed, while little boys emerge from under the bed. Mary and Dan find the knocked down Walter, who says to Mary with a smile: ‘My ending is wilder than your wildest dreams!’ ‘But his ending is in the arms of the beachcomber (Dan) and he calls him Brother!, brother, brother.’ So whispering he dies in Dan’s and Mary’s arms. Mrs Blythe shouts: ‘John! the boys! the babies!’ But then two cupboard doors open and John and his native boyfriend appear (in shorts). John Blythe says as the native’s shorts fall down: ‘You’re loosing your pants!’

Dan wants to leave the island and ‘build a new life somewhere else.’ But then Mary shows up on the beach next to Dan and his boat. In an isolated studio shot with a strong backlight (01:38:46) she tells him ‘good-bye.’ Dan responds at 01:38:57 also in an isolated studio shot: ‘Yes, I’m nothing to you’. At 01:39:08 Mary responds again in an isolated shot and says: ‘Foolish one, I’ve loved you all the time.’ Dan (01:39:24) reacts in an isolated shot very happily. At 01:39:33 we return to the setting of the South Sea beach and Mary and Dan lovingly embrace each other. The final scene shows how Reverend Blythe solemnizes the marriage, with flowers and fruits as ‘wedding gift’s’. ‘So they finally tread the warm white path of the velvet moonflowers to the Land of Dreams Fulfilled.’

‘The Idol Dancer’ and ‘The Love Flower’ were shot in December 1919 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and on New Providence Island, Bahamas.

This somewhat moralizing film becomes attractive because of the natural and endearing acting of the two protagonists. In the good Griffith tradition, the film ends with a very threatening situation, which is resolved by a last minute rescue. In the Griffith tradition, a series of triple cross-cut’s juxtaposes the race of the rescuing fishermen, the siege by the natives and the dire situation at the mission. What is striking is the role of Florence Short, who plays the exalted Pansy. The contrast with the reserved Mrs Bevan in ‘The Love Flower’ could not be greater. She also plays the eccentric aunt in ‘Way Down East’.

Flowers as a sign of love:

In the cocoanut grove, Mary throws a cocoanut on the shoulder of Walter Kincaid, who walks under the tree while smelling a flower (00:35:19). Apparently Walter longs for love. Mary comes down from the tree and apologizes while he continues to play with the flower (00:36:06).

‘A flower behind the ear of a man and a girl becomes a bonding promise of love.’ Mary, who has a flower behind her ear and in her hand, finds Dan dead drunk lying by the water, kneels down by him, kisses the flower (00:54:38) and puts the flower behind his ear to express her love for him. She wants to give him a kiss, but then she smells the odor of alcohol and decides not to kiss him, she takes the flower away while shaking her head (this love has no chance) and throws the flower on the ground (00:54:14 - 00:55:17).

Violence against women:

Dan follows Mary and ‘is swept away by his passionate urge for this seductive female flower.’ He suddenly grabs her (00:42:49) and carries her away in his arms, straight through the forest and out to the water. ‘The fires of youth flame to a foolish dream of lawless love on a remote island.’ But Mary fiercely resists ‘illicit love’. Then he comes to his senses, ‘his conscience speaks’ and he sees in his mind’s eye how he was received as a guest by Mary and her father (mental point of view shot at 00:43:18), and he lets her go. Mary is outraged, takes her knife and threatens. ‘If you ever dare to touch me again — I will –’

Mary tries to flirtatiously avoid Dan, but in his anger he suddenly grabs her (01:05:25), pulls her roughly towards him, takes her in his arms and tries to kiss her. But Mary resists fiercely and manages to break free. By looking very intimidating, she manages to keep Dan further away. Her expression shows a mixture of sadness and also longing for Dan.

In a beautiful close-up shot at 01:32:35 we see Mary’s (believable) desperation. And then the mob of natives breaks into the room (01:32:53) and the slaver takes control of her, despite Mary defending herself with her knife. Meanwhile, the fishermen row as fast as they can towards home. The natives take control of the Christianized, fiercely resisting native girls and carry them away as their prize, while the slave trader carries away the violently kicking Mary in his arms.

Relational cross-cut’s:

Both Mary and Dan have ‘ a sleepless night because of being tortured by love ---’ Relational cross-cut’s between the two indicate their bond of destiny (01:08:27, 01:08:37, 01:08:50 and 01:09:09): both suffer from heartbreak and are longing for each other.

Eyeball POV shots:

If the image that is seen appears as the first shot and then the person(s) looking at it appears, it is a inverted point of view shot. We see such a shot when Dan explains to Walter how to handle women and Mary appears (00:33:58). At 00:34:05 both Dan and Walter look up at her, after which she reappears at 00:34:10.

A embedded eyeball POV shot occurs when we first see the viewer in the frame, then the object of interest, and then the viewer again. Dan McGuire looks with envy at Walter speaking to Mary (embedded eyeball point of view shot between 00:52:23 and 00:52:48, between 00:52:57 and 00:53:05 and between 00:53:10 and 00:53:28).

Peter, the minister’s assistant sees Pansy’s wedding ritual in embedded eyeball point of view at 00:56:38, 00:56:45, 00:56:56 and 00:57:16.

When Dan observes Mary and Walter again from a distance a little later, we see this again in an embedded point of view shot between 01:03:03 and 01:03:11.

Mary is not very impressed and places a wreath of flowers around Walter’s shoulders. Dan McGuire, who has apparently come to his senses, sees this in eyeball POV (01:02:32, 01:02:44, 01:02:55, 01:03:03 and 01:03:21).

An excellent example to explain the structure of an eyeball point of view shot is the shot of the slave trader who points out to the minister the burning house of Old Thomas, with his arm outstretched and pointing finger, after which at 01:24:25 we see the natives standing near the burning house. The point of view shot therefore points to what the player depicted in the immediately preceding shot sees and points it out to us, as it were, with an outstretched hand. We are dealing with an enclosed point of view shot here, because the slave trader points with an outstretched hand at the fire that appears on screen at 01:24:25, after which the slave trader appears again at 01:24:30.

Dan sees from the boat (eyeball POV 01:29:40) Old Thomas’ cabin on fire.

Mental POV:

This film also features a number of mental point of view shots, such as at 00:43:18 when Dan stops trying to overpower Mary because he thinks about how he was taken care of by Mary and her father and when Walter tells Mary about the city of New York, where we see a mental point of view shot of the Flatiron building and the subway (00:53:15).

When the runaway slave arrives at the missionary’s house, he is taken in by Blythe and his wife. He tells in mental POV (01:22:11) how he was whipped by the slave trader.

Acoustic coupling:

Acoustic coupling connects two shots by a sound produced in one shot and perceived in the next shot. Sometimes this concerns adjacent rooms, but here Walter beats the drum - audible 20 km away. The slave trader and the Chief, who are standing around the corner, respond almost immediately to the sound (acoustic link at 01:28:07) but it takes a while before the men on the fishing boat also hear the sound (01:28:27). The sound takes 20 seconds to reach them, which means they are about 6 km away.

Vignetting:

Bitzer uses vignetting to a greater or lesser extent in almost all shots due to a constriction of mesh placed in front of the lens. When opening the aperture, the scene not only becomes brighter, but the influence of the constriction placed in front of the lens also decreases. We saw this effect earlier in ‘Stella Maris’ (M. Neilan, January 1918) for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation ². In this film, the shot at 00:10:48 presenting Dan McGuire can serve as an example. Bitzer opens the aperture over the course of three seconds, which not only makes the image increasingly clear, but also causes the vignetting contour to recede. We see the same thing happen when Mary runs into the sea (00:13:05).

The Fourth Wall:

Mary gives Walter and Dan a lively and well-executed dance in Old Thomas’ cabin, dancing straight towards the camera at 00:37:17 and ending in close-up, looking at the audience and breaking the fourth wall.

Pinch the skin:

Mary pinches the skin of her adoptive father (00:09:11), reminiscent of Louisa in ‘Stella Maris’ (M. Neilan, January 1918) for Famous Players-Lasky Corporation ³ squeezing the skin of Unity Blake’s arm (00:47:18) or as Olga Petchnikoff in ‘Foolish Wives’ (E. Von Stroheim, January 1922) for Universal ⁴ that at 00:04:09 does to her maid. In ‘The Son of the Sheik’ (G. Fitzmaurice, 1926) for United Artists ⁵ the crazy little man turns the skin on the sheik when he is captured by the robbers (00:17:20).

Long pan:

In a long right-sided pan we go along snow-covered branches to the small church with churchgoers (00:17:37 - 00:17:57).

Isolated studio recordings:

Just like in ‘The Love Flower’, inserts appear here again against a black background. These are shots that Griffith apparently missed in the editing. From 00:08:21 to 00:08:34, Griffith places Clarine Seymour in a medium-close isolated studio shot with a neutral background, in which Seymour flirts emphatically with the audience. This way she can profile herself as the star of this film. Griffith continues this shot at 00:08:53. In this second twelve-second shot, Seymour plays with a flower wreath, looks at us seductively and explicitly involves us in her problems with the flower wreath. And Richard Barthelmess is also presented in a seven and then 25 second studio shot, which is separate from the action or the natural setting (00:10:57 and 00:11:27). Furthermore, at 00:12:12, again isolated from the natural backdrop, Griffith adds a 20-second scene depicting Dan McGuire’s alcoholism. Griffith also apparently lacks material during the fight with the native boy and resorts to an insert against a black background (00:31:42). Towards the end of the film, Mary and Dan are standing on the South Seas beach. Dan wants to leave the island and start a new life somewhere else. We now leave the setting. In an isolated studio shot with a strong backlight (01:38:46), Mary Dan says goodbye. He also responds at 01:38:57 in an isolated studio shot: ‘I’m nothing to you’. At 01:39:08 Mary responds again in a studio shot and says: ‘Fool, I’ve loved you all the time.’ Dan (01:39:24) also responds in an isolated shot with great joy. At 01:39:33 we return to the setting of the South Sea beach. By isolating the players in this ‘pivotal’ scene for 36 seconds, Griffith demands full attention for the intense emotions. Perhaps a better explanation is that Griffith appeared to miss essential shots during the editing.

Clarine Seymour

Clarine Seymour (1898) started as an extra at Thanhouser Film Company and starred in a Pearl White serial at Pathé. She played with Hal Roach and did a screen test with Bobby Harron in 1918, where she was well liked by Griffith. She was called ‘Cutie Beautiful’ by Griffith. According to Billy Bitzer, she was photogenic and prettier on film than in reality. Clarine Seymour with her ‘cold hands, black eyes and restless nature’ ⁶ may not be a great actress, but she is expressive, endearing, very ‘lovable’ and can dance convincingly.’ Mary’s natural despair at 01:32:35 shows that Seymour’s playing is more natural and modern than the somewhat posturing despair shown by Lilian Gish at 02:57:21 in ‘Birth of a Nation’ (D.W. Griffith, 1915). On the other hand, Gish’s despair in ‘Broken Blossoms’ (D.W. Griffith, 1919) is very convincing. The contrast between Gish and Seymour is maximum in ‘True Heart Suzie’ (D.W. Griffith, June 1919) ⁷, in which Seymour is modern, earthy and spontaneous and Gish old-fashioned, bourgeois and poppy. Griffith gave Clarine Seymour a role in ‘The Girl Who Stayed at Home’ (1919), ‘True Heart Susie’ (1919) and ‘Scarlet Days’ (1919). In early 1920 he casted her in ‘Way Down East’, but during filming on April 21, 1920, Seymour developed an ileus (blockage of the intestine) for which she underwent surgery. Her condition did not improve and she also developed pneumonia, from which she died on April 25, 1920. The role of Kate Brewster had to be recast and was played by Mary Hay.

Footnotes

1. www.youtube.com/watch?v=i30LuMFQKkE ↩

2. www.youtube.com/watch?v=taJ0LOEm5kk ↩

3. www.youtube.com/watch?v=taJ0LOEm5kk ↩

4. Mubi december 2016 ↩

5. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHPqAOwpg50 ↩

6. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 206, 207 ↩

7. www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_nCRGV8Ubo ↩