Hearts of the World (1918)

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

D.W. Griffith (English translation)
D.W. Griffith (scenario)

Release Date:

13 January 1921 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

D.W. Griffith's Supreme Triumph

Plot:

A group of youngsters grow up and love in a peaceful French village. But war intrudes and peace is shattered...

Plot Keywords:

WWI | Army | Artist | Attempted Rape | Blindness

Cast

D.W. Griffith	...	Himself (in prologue for British release)
David Lloyd George	...	Himself - the British Prime Minister (in prologue for British release)
Sir Edward Grey	...	Himself - British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Addressing House of Commons (archive footage)
René Viviani	...	Himself - the French Premier Addressing French Chamber of Deputies (archive footage)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Valerie Germonprez	...	Red Cross nurse

Also Known As:

Love's Struggle (USA) (pre-release title)

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK

Company:

D.W. Griffith Productions

Trivia:

The movie was commissioned by Great Britain, which hoped that a depiction of WWI would help spur the United States to join the allies. Although D.W. Griffith had the cooperation of the British, French and Belgian governments to film in their territories, his cameraman, G.W. Bitzer, was of German descent and was not allowed in France. Griffith used an army cameraman instead.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Moving Picture Boys in the Great War (1975)

The Brutality Of War - From D.W. Griffith

Representative of all the innocent HEARTS OF THE WORLD, two American families living in a picturesque French village experience the horror & devastation of the Great War.

This rarely seen film is the result of a somewhat surprising collaboration between the British government & genius American filmmaker D.W. Griffith. With the hideous World War still burning across Europe, the old men in Downing Street thought it would be well if filmed propaganda was produced which might help induce America into joining The Effort.

After his tremendous achievements with THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) & INTOLERANCE (1916), it was obvious that Griffith was the world's foremost cinematic director. A devout pacifist, he undertook the difficult challenge of turning battlefield horrors into a story suitable for the screen. That accomplished, Griffith actually took some of his cast & crew across the dangerous Atlantic to London (and a meeting with Prime Minister David Lloyd George) and then it was on to France for some quick filming at the front lines.

All of which proved unnecessary. Infuriated by Berlin's unrestricted use of submarine warfare, America declared war on Germany in April of 1917, months before HEARTS OF THE WORLD could be completed back in Hollywood.

While not as innovative or groundbreaking as its two celebrated predecessors, HEARTS OF THE WORLD can stand on its own merits. Filled with Griffith's special touches, its principle value exists in its revelation of his contemporaneous feelings about the War, even as the conflict still raged. He bestowed on it sequences as poignant and harrowing as any in his oeuvre. Who can forget Lillian Gish on her wedding day, driven mad by the bombardment, preparing to spend her bridal night alongside the corpse of her betrothed? Or the sight of three little boys secretly burying their dead mother in a cellar, so her body would not be disgraced by the enemy. Griffith assures scenes such as these are not easily banished from the viewer's memory.

Besides the numinous Miss Gish, appreciation should be extended to Bobby Harron as the film's stalwart hero; this fine young actor would die in 1920 of an accidental gunshot wound, not a suicide as is usually reported. Dorothy Gish plays a feisty, comedic role, giving the film a light touch at welcome intervals. Josephine Crowell & Kate Bruce are memorable as the two tragic mothers, both victims of the war.

Also appearing are a couple of stars in embryo: a young Sir Noël Coward is the extra pushing the wheelbarrow containing Miss Lillian's luggage in her first scene. Technical Supervisor Erich von Stroheim is easily recognizable as a bald German officer; he would eventually dominate Hollywood's silent films of the 1920's, using the full force of his own, rather bizarre, genius.

Special appreciation should be paid to the splendid cinematography of Billy Bitzer, who performed yeoman service for Griffith in several of his epics.