Man's Genesis (1912)
**** (out of 4)
Early caveman film from D.W. Griffith is rather unique since the director hadn't done a film like this before. During the prologue, a grandfather is walking his granddaughter and grandson as the boy begins to hit the girl with a stick. The grandfather then sits them down and tells them a story of when cavemen didn't have nothing to fight with except their hands. The film then flashes forward to the cavemen segment where Bruteforce (Wilfred Lucas) and Weakhands (Robert Harron) are fighting over Lilywhite (Mae Marsh). After getting beat up, Weakhands discovers a way to use a stick and rock as a weapon. This is a really, really interesting little film because I like the fact that the cavemen are in a silent film. They couldn't talk in real life so seeing them in a silent movies just works wonders. I'm rather curious to why Griffith added the prologue but it doesn't matter because the cavemen footage is so great. The costumes and facial hair looks very realistic and all three give strong performances. Certainly worth seeking out, although this is pretty hard to get a hold of. Griffith made a sequel two years later in Brute Force.
**** (out of 4)
Early caveman film from D.W. Griffith is rather unique since the director hadn't done a film like this before. During the prologue, a grandfather is walking his granddaughter and grandson as the boy begins to hit the girl with a stick. The grandfather then sits them down and tells them a story of when cavemen didn't have nothing to fight with except their hands. The film then flashes forward to the cavemen segment where Bruteforce (Wilfred Lucas) and Weakhands (Robert Harron) are fighting over Lilywhite (Mae Marsh). After getting beat up, Weakhands discovers a way to use a stick and rock as a weapon. This is a really, really interesting little film because I like the fact that the cavemen are in a silent film. They couldn't talk in real life so seeing them in a silent movies just works wonders. I'm rather curious to why Griffith added the prologue but it doesn't matter because the cavemen footage is so great. The costumes and facial hair looks very realistic and all three give strong performances. Certainly worth seeking out, although this is pretty hard to get a hold of. Griffith made a sequel two years later in Brute Force.