Way Down East (1920)

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

William A. Brady (play)
Joseph R. Grismer (play)
(more)

Release Date:

3 September 1920 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A naive country girl is tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer, then must rebuild her life despite the taint of having borne a child out of wedlock.

Plot Keywords:

Country Girl | Fake Wedding | Party | Summer | Melodrama

Cast

Lillian Gish	...	Anna Moore
Richard Barthelmess	...	David Bartlett
Lowell Sherman	...	Lennox Sanderson
Burr McIntosh	...	Squire Bartlett
Kate Bruce	...	Mother Bartlett
Mary Hay	...	Kate (the Squire's niece)
Creighton Hale	...	The Professor
Emily Fitzroy	...	Maria Poole (landlady)
Porter Strong	...	Seth Holcomb
George Neville	...	The Constable
Edgar Nelson	...	Hi Holler
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mrs. Morgan Belmont	...	Diana Tremont (uncredited)
Josephine Bernard	...	Mrs. Tremont (uncredited)
Carol Dempster	...	Barn dancer (uncredited)
Patricia Fruen	...	Her sister (uncredited)
Mrs. David Landau	...	Anna Moore's mother (uncredited)
Vivia Ogden	...	Martha Perkins (uncredited)
Athole Shearer	...	Barn dancer (uncredited)
Edith Shearer	...	Barn dancer (uncredited)
Norma Shearer	...	Barn dancer (uncredited)
Florence Short	...	The eccentric aunt (uncredited)
Frank Walsh	...	Barn dancer (uncredited)

Directed by
D.W. Griffith

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William A. Brady		play (as Wm. A. Brady)
D.W. Griffith		uncredited
Joseph R. Grismer		play "Way Down East" (as Jos. R. Grismer)
Anthony Paul Kelly		scenario
Lottie Blair Parker		play "Annie Laurie"

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

Original Music by
Louis Silvers
William Frederick Peters		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
G.W. Bitzer		(uncredited)
Charles Downs		(uncredited)
Hendrik Sartov		(uncredited)

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

Art Direction by
Clifford Pember		(uncredited)
Charles O. Seessel		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Henri Bendel		(uncredited)
O'Kane Cornwell		(uncredited)
Lady Duff Gordon		(uncredited)
Otto Kahn		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Elmer Clifton	....	second unit director
Herbert Sutch	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Frank Walsh	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Stunts
Elmer Clifton	....	stunt double: long shots of Lillian Gish on ice floe
Allan Law	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul H. Allen	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lady Duff Gordon	....	coustumer designer: gowns in prologue

Other crew
Elmer Clifton	....	associate director
Elmer Clifton	....	photo double: Richard Barthalmes
Katherine Johnston	....	photo double: Lillian Gish
Victor Georg	....	decorative titles (uncredited)
Una Merkel	....	stand-in: Lillian Gish (uncredited)
Leigh Smith	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Frank Wortman	....	technical director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• D.W. Griffith Productions

Distributors

• United Artists (1920) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universum Film (UFA) (1923) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reelclassicdvd.com (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Sfinks (1922) (Poland) (theatrical)
• Grapevine Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Punto Zero (2007) (Italy) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• O'Kane Cromwell  gowns worn by Miss Gish in prologue
• Otto Kahn Inc.  furs in prologue

Also Known As:

Mädchenlos (Austria) (Germany) [de]
À travers l'orage (France) [fr]
Agonia sui ghiacci (Italy) [it]
As Duas Tormentas (Portugal) [pt]
Läpi myrskyn (Finland) [fi]
Las dos tormentas (Spain) [es]
Meczennica milosci (Poland) [pl]
Welt im Osten (West Germany) (TV title) [de]

Runtime:

145 min | Spain:165 min | USA:107 min (1931 re-release) | 126 min (Alpha Video)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating) | Finland:S (1965)

Filming Locations:

Farmington, Connecticut, USA

Company:

D.W. Griffith Productions

Trivia:

The scenes on the ice flows were not only very dangerous to film, but for at least for Lillian Gish, they had lasting ill effects. Until the day she died, her right hand was somewhat impaired, due to the extended filming where her hand was in the icy water.

Movie Connections:

Version of Way Down East (1935)

Slow, Stately, and Magnificent

WAY DOWN EAST was an old-fashioned melodrama even in 1920 when D.W. Griffith decided to film it. It's the kind of story that leaves itself open for spoofing, but Griffith approaches the story of a "mock marriage" and its aftermath with earnestness and a great eye for detail.

Aiding Griffith in bringing this story to life are three great stars: Lillian Gish as Anna, Richard Barthelmess as David, and Lowell Sherman as caddish Lennox. The supporting cast includes New England "types" that almost parody Dickens. Kate Bruce is the staunch mother, Creighton Hale the ditzy professor, Vivia Ogden the town gossip, Burr McIntosh the intolerant squire, Emily Fitzroy runs the hotel, etc.

The story of love, betrayal, tolerance, and redemption is slow moving and has (as usual in a Griffith film) subplots, but like the very river, all the actions and events slowly come together for the finale that left 1920 audiences in a frenzy. Indeed the ending is among the most famous in all silent films.

Gish is quite beautiful here. In her opening scene she is in her parlor with her mother making a broom, holding up the straw so that we see only her white cap and large expressive eyes. She's stunning. As Anna she goes through the gamut of shy maiden, young lover, wronged woman, timid servant, and town jezebel. Barthelmess is solid as the young and innocent David who falls in love with the servant girl.

Their final scenes in the blizzard (filmed on Long Island in a real storm) on the icy river (filmed in White River Junction, VT) are totally amazing. And they did not use stunt doubles. As Gish lies exhausted on the piece of ice she may or may not know that it's heading for the falls. There are scenes were her hand and hair trail in the icy river. Just amazing. Barthelmess uses the breaking ice as a trail so that he can reach Gish before it's too late. There are several shots where he falls off the ice or the ice breaks under him and he plunges into that wintry river. The entire sequence is as thrilling today as it was in 1920.

Gish once wrote that her long hair froze solid from being in the river water and snapped off with the ice.

WAY DOWN EAST is a great film.