The Slave (1909) User Reviews

The Slave review

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 12 May 2020]

Much holding of heads and beseeching the skies in this overlong and overwrought melodrama from D. W. Griffith. It's clearly had more money spent on it for costumes and set design than most Biograph pictures, and is almost twice as long as many of their shorts from that period, but that added length makes it something of a chore to sit through. Missing intertitles doesn't help...

It ranks with the best dramatic films yet produced

[deickemeyer · 6 December 2014]

Another drama which will add materially to the reputation of the Biograph Company for conceiving and producing as good dramas as any in the motion picture field. Devotion, no matter in what way it is developed, is always an attractive subject and the devotion of a wife in this drama, who offers herself as a slave for the purpose of procuring money to help her needy husband, is a conception which will linger long in the memory, and though the idea itself may be abhorrent, the devotion which accompanies and justifies the act removes the objectionable influence and one can but admire the young woman who allows herself to be sold to the highest bidder in the slave market. Slavery, and particularly the kind of slavery here suggested, is so much at variance with the modern world that one almost feels sick with the emotions which are aroused, and yet there is a wonderful fascination about this piece which makes it impossible to allow even a little of it to escape and one follows irresistibly the scenes as they change, bringing other developments in the story. Then when the woman is finally purchased and discovers that she is the property of the man who formerly declared his love for her the audience is almost breathless to learn what he will do now that he has the coveted prize in his possession. And here lies the dramatic climax. He, instead of doing as most men would have done under similar circumstances, when he has learned of the sacrifice, sends her back to her husband with sufficient to enable them to live comfortably. The dramatic strength and attractiveness of this picture are unusually well developed and in the hands of the Biograph's capable actors the picture becomes more than good. It ranks with the best dramatic films yet produced. Careful attention to detail, good photographic quality and the numerous attractive features which go to make up a dramatic film are all present here and the manager who adds this to his program is certain to please his audience. - The Moving Picture World, August 7, 1909

A Moving Painting

[Single-Black-Male · 4 November 2004]

What you have to understand about these short films that the 34 year old D.W. Griffith was churning out twice-weekly is that his emphasis was on scenery rather than story. Let's face it, scripts before 1940 were basically stage plays, and before the talking period, scenarios were robbed of dialogue which meant that actors had to improvise under the guidance of the director. You cannot judge this short piece by the script or story, but by what the camera frames. Let's not forget that cinema at this stage was just a moving painting. Griffith was a cinematic Hogarth at this stage and used his short films as a painting. Therefore, you need to watch this offering as a painting that moves.