From director D.W. Griffith (The Birth of a Nation, Orphans of the Storm), this is one of the first few silent films to be listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I am obviously keen to complete as much of it as possible, and it was easy to get the chance to see this title. Basically Lennox Sanderson (Lowell Sherman) is the rich, handsome man-about-town, but he is amongst those that are exceptionally selfish and think only of themselves and their own pleasure, and he has found himself a vulnerable victim to be part of his inconsiderate scheme. Anna Moore (Intolerance's Lillian Gish) is the innocent poor country girl who meets Lennox, who convinces her he has feelings, and she is tricked into believing a fake wedding, and he just he just uses her, has his way with her, and then he leaves her when he finds out she is pregnant with his baby. The child is born and named Trust Lennox, but she has no choice but to care for the baby herself, and after some time tragedy strikes when the baby dies, and in deep despair she wanders the streets trying to find work and ways to get by. Anna eventually finds a job working with Squire Bartlett (Burr McIntosh), and she meets his son David (Richard Barthelmess), he falls in love with her but she rejects any attempted advances towards her because her traumatic past, and worse comes when Lennox returns. He is seen lusting after local girl Kate Brewster - the Squire's Niece (Mary Hay), and when he sees his former wife he tries to convince her to leave, possibly with him, she refuses but does promise that she won't reveal anything to anyone about the past with him. Eventually though Squire Bartlett learns from Martha Perkins (Vivia Ogden), the town gossip, about Anna's past, and in anger he throws her out into a snow storm, but before leaving she does tell about Lennox, respected by all, about what he did to her and being the father to her dead baby. While she is getting lost in the storm which rages on, a search party is formed by leader David, she is unconscious and floating down the icy river towards the waterfall, but at the last moment she is rescued by David, and in the final scene Anna and him get married. Also starring Mrs. David Landau as Anna Moore's Mother, Josephine Bernard as Mrs. Emma Tremont, Mrs. Morgan Belmont as Diana Tremont and Norma Shearer as Barn Dancer. Gish gives an eloquent and engaging performance as the young woman who goes through trauma and heartache and you can feel a lot of sympathy for, the other cast members act very well also, the visual elements definitely make the film distinctive, I admit the story without any sound was a little hard to follow at times, and the film could have been shortened somewhat, nearly lasting three hours, but with memorably watchable moments it is a worthwhile silent melodrama. Very good!
Review of Way Down East
