{"id":18281,"date":"2011-06-27T10:29:10","date_gmt":"2011-06-27T17:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18281"},"modified":"2021-02-02T23:26:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T06:26:00","slug":"way-down-east-1920","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18281","title":{"rendered":"Way Down East (1920)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Don&#8217;t worry; everything&#8217;s all right. Don&#8217;t you trust me?&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Poster-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"192\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-18282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Poster-192x300.jpg 192w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Poster.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA naive country girl (Lillian Gish) is deceived by a womanizing player (Lowell Sherman) into believing she&#8217;s married him, and bears a child out of wedlock. After the baby dies and Sherman abandons her, she starts her life over by working as a maid for a squire (Burr McIntosh), whose son (Richard Barthelmess) falls in love with her. But can she escape her &#8220;shameful&#8221; past?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>D.W. Griffith Films<\/li>\n<li>Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues<\/li>\n<li>Lillian Gish Films<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<li>Silent Films<\/li>\n<li>Womanizers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary argues that D.W. Griffith&#8217;s adaptation of Lottie Blair Parker&#8217;s popular 19th century melodrama remains &#8220;the best of [his] pastoral films&#8221;, noting that rather than relishing &#8220;the chance to make a woman suffer, [he] doesn&#8217;t try to milk the audience&#8217;s tears&#8221;, and makes Gish&#8217;s Anna &#8220;resilient in her many hardships&#8221; so that we &#8220;want to admire Anna, not pity her&#8221;. Despite Gish&#8217;s fine central performance, however &#8212; and the justifiably famous finale in which &#8220;the freezing Gish walks perilously across ice floes during a blizzard&#8221; (using no stunt doubles) &#8212; <em>Way Down East<\/em> remains more of a curiosity than a true classic. There&#8217;s nothing particularly new about the heartbreaking storyline (one contributor on IMDb points out the uncanny narrative similarities with Thomas Hardy&#8217;s <em>Tess of the D&#8217;Urbervilles<\/em>), and Griffith&#8217;s portrayal of country yokels as foolish rubes quickly moves beyond &#8220;humor&#8221; into tiresome and offensive caricature. With that said, film fanatics will probably be curious to check this one out simply given its historical relevance; it was Griffith&#8217;s second most popular film after <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1187\"><em>The Birth of the Nation<\/em> (1915)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Another contributor on IMDb notes that she&#8217;s shown this film to her high school students for years as an archetypical example of Victorian melodrama &#8212; which makes complete sense. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lillian Gish as Anna<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Gish-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Gish-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Gish-1.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Gish-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Gish-1-128x85.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Gish-1-405x270.png 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An occasionally heart-breakingly melodramatic script<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Melodrama-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Melodrama-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-68192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Melodrama-1.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Melodrama-1-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Melodrama-1-128x85.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-West-Melodrama-1-405x270.png 405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>G.W. Bitzer&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Cinematography.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Cinematography-128x85.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Cinematography-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>The exciting icy climax<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Finale.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Finale.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Finale.png 720w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Finale-128x85.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Way-Down-East-Finale-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, but only for its historical relevance. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0011841\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/style\/longterm\/movies\/videos\/waydowneastnradamo_a09dff.htm\">Washington Post Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/wayd.html\">Greatest Films Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/way-down-east\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t worry; everything&#8217;s all right. Don&#8217;t you trust me?&#8221; Synopsis: A naive country girl (Lillian Gish) is deceived by a womanizing player (Lowell Sherman) into believing she&#8217;s married him, and bears a child out of wedlock. After the baby dies and Sherman abandons her, she starts her life over by working as a maid for a squire (Burr McIntosh), whose son (Richard Barthelmess) falls in love with her. But can she escape her &#8220;shameful&#8221; past? Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=18281\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18281"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68194,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18281\/revisions\/68194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}