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
Ben Alexander	...	The Boy's Littlest Brother (uncredited)
Robert Anderson	...	Monsieur Cuckoo (uncredited)
Kate Bruce	...	The Mother of the Boy (uncredited)
Jack Cosgrave	...	The Father of the Boy (uncredited)
Noel Coward	...	Man with Wheelbarrow / A Villager in the Street (uncredited)
Josephine Crowell	...	The Mother (uncredited)
Alphonse Dufort	...	A Poilu (uncredited)
Jean Dumercier	...	A Poilu (uncredited)
Yvette Duvoisin	...	A Refugee (uncredited)
Louise Emmons	...	(uncredited)
Marion Emmons	...	The Boy's Second Brother (uncredited)
George Fawcett	...	The Village Carpenter (uncredited)
Dorothy Gish	...	The Little Disturber (uncredited)
Lillian Gish	...	The Girl, Marie Stephenson (uncredited)
Mary Gish	...	A Refugee Mother (uncredited)
John Harron	...	A Boy with a Barrel (uncredited)
Mary Harron	...	A Wounded Girl (uncredited)
Mrs. Harron	...	A Woman with Daughter (uncredited)
Robert Harron	...	The Boy, Douglas Gordon Hamilton (uncredited)
Tessie Harron	...	A Refugee (uncredited)
Mary Hay	...	A Dancer (uncredited)
Fay Holderness	...	The Innkeeper (uncredited)
Jules Lemontier	...	A Stretcher Bearer (uncredited)
Adolph Lestina	...	The Grandfather (uncredited)
L. Lowry	...	A Deaf and Blind Musician (uncredited)
Georges Loyer	...	A Poilu (uncredited)
Francis Marion	...	The Boy's Third Brother (uncredited)
George Nichols	...	A German Sergeant (uncredited)
Eugene Pouyet	...	A Poilu (uncredited)
Gaston Riviere	...	A Stretcher Bearer (uncredited)
George Siegmann	...	Von Strohm (uncredited)
Herbert Sutch	...	A French Major (uncredited)
Erich von Stroheim	...	Von Strohm's Adjutant (uncredited)
Anna Mae Walthall	...	A French Peasant Girl (uncredited)

Directed by
D.W. Griffith

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
D.W. Griffith		English translation (as Capt. Victor Marier)
D.W. Griffith		scenario (as M. Gaston de Tolignac)

Produced by
D.W. Griffith	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
G.W. Bitzer		(uncredited)
Alfred Machin		(uncredited)
Hendrik Sartov		(uncredited)

Film Editing by
James Smith		(uncredited)
Rose Smith		(uncredited)

Art Department
Frank Wortman	....	set designer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Karl Brown	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
D.P. Cooper	....	photographer: Europe (uncredited)

Music Department
Carli Elinor	....	music arranger (uncredited)
D.W. Griffith	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
D.W. Griffith	....	presenter
Erich von Stroheim	....	technical supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• D.W. Griffith Productions
• Famous Players-Lasky Corporation
• War Office Committee

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1918) (USA) (theatrical)
• Artcraft Pictures Corporation (1918) (USA) (theatrical)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Elliott, Comstock and Gest (????) (USA) (theatrical) (road show managers)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• States Rights Independent Exchanges (????) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Nathan of London  Lillian Gish's authentic peasant dress created by

Also Known As:

Love's Struggle (USA) (pre-release title)
Aos Corações do Mundo (Portugal) [pt]
Coeurs du monde (France) [fr]
Corazones del mundo (Spain) [es]
Cuori del mondo (Italy) [it]

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 Pennsylvania Board of Censors demanded that D.W. Griffith cut scenes of brutality from the film. Griffith's response to those demands was to cancel the Philadelphia opening.

Movie Connections:

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

Good

Hearts of the World (1917)

*** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith's WW1 epic has two Americans (Robert Harron, Lillian Gish) living in France and falling in love. When the German's attack the man goes off to fight, which ends with devastating results. The actual making of this film is somewhat more interesting than the final product, although the movie is still good but several notches below The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. After that epic 1916 film Griffith wanted to try something bigger and found that the British government was willing to give him full access to anything he wanted. Griffith wanted to shoot real battle scenes and that's what he did for the film and he nearly once again was killed doing so. The British paid for the film to be made in hopes that it would inspire America to join the war effert. As for the film, it has some brilliant moments but sadly the love story really brings things down, which was somewhat surprising since Griffith is usually good with the melodrama. Harron is decent in his role but not strong enough to carry the film. Gish on the other hands is terrific as usual as is her sister Dorothy. Erich von Stroheim plays one of the German's in charge. The battle scenes, a lot of them real WW1 footage, is the highlight of the film and like Griffith's previous two films, it's rather amazing to see everything play out. This is certainly some of the greatest battlefield scenes I've ever watched. There's also another terrific scene where Gish, fearing her love is dead, tries to find him in the trenches. Gish's walk mixed with the beautiful cinematography makes this an unforgettable scene. In the end the film is certainly flawed but the battle scenes make it worth at least one viewing.