A Burglar's Mistake (1909) User Reviews

The Distribution of Power

[Single-Black-Male · 13 February 2004]

This short film is really about the distribution of power that is accessible by the mainstream. The 34 year old D.W. Griffith encourages and reinforces homogeneity through his characters, excluding all forms of diversity.

The scenes all seem to have some point to them

[deickemeyer · 28 July 2014]

The Biograph have achieved another success in this representation of a story that seems to come from real life. A man who is consorting with crooks demands blackmail of an old acquaintance because he remembers a little indiscretion of early youth. He obtains the money and straightway gambles it away. He next undertakes to assist in burglarizing a house which proves to be the residence of the man upon whom he levied the blackmail. He is caught and held up at the muzzle of a revolver. When the master of the house discovers who the burglar is, notwithstanding his plea for life, he shoot him, as he has an undoubted right to do. The acting is quite up to the Biograph's capable standard and the scenes all seem to have some point to them. The question as to whether the master of the house should have shot the burglar is one that must be decided by others. Perhaps it is sufficient here to remark that he certainly had strong provocation. - The Moving Picture World, April 3, 1909