A Child of the Ghetto (1910) User Reviews

Griffith 1910

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Child of the Ghetto, A (1910)

*** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith film where he once again attacks the rich. After her mother's death, a young woman goes to the ghetto of New York City to find a job. She's given a job sewing but her boss then accuses her of stealing his wallet even though it was his own son who did it. The girl runs off into the country where she's taken in by a nice farmer and her son. Griffith really did love attacking the rich for their abuse of the poor and this film here shows that. Griffith made various films like this but the added benefit here is the performance of Dorothy West as the young girl. She's got the perfect sad face to really add a lot of depth to her character. Henry B. Walthall plays the farmer's son.

The 35 Year Old D.W. Griffith

[Single-Black-Male · 31 October 2003]

This urban film of 1910 is relatively unknown. It provides one solution to the social problems via narrative. This strikes me as a constructive piece of work because as John Galsworthy said: 'a writer should throw light upon a problem' in order to tackle it. Short films like this one should do the same.

The Ghetto pictures are as good as any ever put on the screen

[deickemeyer · 16 June 2015]

Does fortune favor the innocent, as graphically pointed out in this instance? This film will set one thinking, considering the question on its merits. Perhaps the most one can reasonably say is that it sometimes favors, as is graphically shown here. It would not be wise to say anything further. Interest in the surroundings represented in this picture will be quite as strong, perhaps, as in the story. That Ruth finally escapes from unjust accusation and the law is pleasing to practically all who see the picture, but that the scapegrace who so nearly entrapped her likewise escaped punishment for his misdeeds seems like a miscarriage of justice. But Ruth finds a good home and triumphs over the most adverse conditions, and whether one is ready to say that the story is true to life or not it is a pleasant ending, and in that, at least, is a happy change from some others. The Ghetto pictures are as good as any ever put on the screen and will afford those who never saw the Ghetto a good idea of what it is really like. - The Moving Picture World, June 18, 1910