Orphans of the Storm (1921)

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

Adolphe d'Ennery (novel) &
Eugène Cormon (novel) ...

Release Date:

28 December 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever...

Plot Keywords:

Blindness | Guillotine | Aristocracy | French Revolution | Knife Fight

Cast

Lillian Gish	...	Henriette Girard
Dorothy Gish	...	Louise Girard
Joseph Schildkraut	...	Chevalier de Vaudrey
Frank Losee	...	Count de Linieres
Katherine Emmet	...	Countess de Linieres
Morgan Wallace	...	Marquis de Praille
Lucille La Verne	...	Mother Frochard
Sheldon Lewis	...	Jacques Frochard
Frank Puglia	...	Pierre Frochard
Creighton Hale	...	Picard
Leslie King	...	Jacques-Forget-Not
Monte Blue	...	Danton
Sidney Herbert	...	Robespierre
Lee Kohlmar	...	King Louis XVI
Marcia Harris	...	Henriette's landlady

Also Known As:

Órfas da Tempestade (Brazil) (DVD title) [pt]
Ai dyo orfanai (Greece) [el]
As Duas Orfãs (Portugal) [pt]
Dwie sieroty (Poland) [pl]
Las dos huérfanas (Spain) [es]
Le due orfanelle (Italy) [it]
Les deux orphelines (France) [fr]
Myrskyn lapset (Finland) (informal literal title) [fi]
Orpolapset (Finland) [fi]
Zwei Waisen im Sturm (Germany) [de]
Zwei Waisen im Sturm der Zeiten (Austria) [de]

Runtime:

150 min | Germany:152 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Mamaroneck, New York, USA

Company:

D.W. Griffith Productions

Trivia:

D.W. Griffith decided to enlarge the scope of the melodrama by weaving in historical details from the French Revolution including the historical figures Danton and Robespierre. He made every effort to be true to real events and took additional inspiration from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens and History of the French Revolution by Thomas Carlyle, which Lillian Gish noted every major player in the film studied. Carlyle's book was, in fact, also a major influence on Dickens, who took the incident of an aristocrat's carriage running over a small child from Carlyle's book

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Often Exciting, Often Moving, & A Triumph For the Gish Sisters

The story is often exciting and often moving, yet the chance to see Lillian and Dorothy Gish together might be the best reason of all to watch Griffith's silent classic, "Orphans of the Storm". The story combines the tumultuous backdrop of the French Revolution with a worthwhile melodrama involving the ordeals of two sisters who are practically alone in the world.

The French Revolution used to be a frequent setting for some fine films - between the ideas involved and the upheavals that it brought, it's almost ready-made for cinema. Here, as the two sisters, Lillian and Dorothy are struggling to help each other when they are caught up in the turmoil around them, and they find themselves involved with everyone from the lowest classes of society up to some of the best-known personalities of the Revolution.

The historical background is often stylized, and it is mainly there to lend drama to the story about the sisters, rather than to provide an accurate look at history. The characterizations of some of the revolutionary leaders are interesting, but they are not always accurate. Yet from a purely dramatic viewpoint it works well. The involved story, along with the personal appeal of Gish sisters, combine to win the audience's sympathy quickly, and to heighten the tension as the story plays out. It's a well-acted and memorable melodrama.