Am I Missing Something?

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Lillian Gish stars as the title character in TRUE HEART SUSIE (1919), a bucolic romance directed by DW Griffith. Susie loves William (Robert Harron), but he doesn't fully commit himself to her. Susie makes sacrifices so that William can go to college and become successful. He comes back to town as a minister, and Susie expects that they will marry, but Bettina, a vibrant and modern city girl (Clarine Seymour) sets her sights on the hapless William.TRUE HEART SUSIE is a quite charming film, a portrait of a different era with different values. Susie typifies domesticity, constancy and self- sacrifice, simple country values. Bettina and her friends, the "paint and powder brigade", represent the city life – fast-paced and artificial, enticing men with "suggestive clothing" and heavy use of makeup to emphasize the physical and superficial. Susie becomes insecure because of her appearance and determines to entice William with the same "paint and powder" and flashy dress as Bettina, and her aunt says that she looks like a "Jezebel"! So Susie changes her clothes and goes back to her normal simple look. It's pretty obvious which side will win out in the end, but William and Bettina's marriage proves an unexpected roadblock for Susie. Griffith could lay it on thick with his title cards in many films, driving home the moral of the story with sledgehammer force, but in this film he is comparatively restrained.Lillian Gish again shows her acting prowess as Susie, a simple girl who shows herself to be very resourceful and self-sacrificing. Gish was one of the great screen beauties of her time, but she is quite convincing as the plain heroine. Gish is superbly expressive, nuanced and naturalistic, the only off moment being a bit of jumpiness that Griffith liked to induce in his leading ladies for some very strange reason. Robert Harron is also quite good as William, who is oblivious at first to Susie's affections, but then comes to realize his mistakes. Clarine Seymour is charismatic as the scheming Bettina, full of energy and mischief. Future Griffith leading lady Carol Dempster is effective in a small but important role as Bettina's best friend.Longtime Griffith cinematographer Billy Bitzer again shows his mastery of the camera. The film has a warm, tranquil feel throughout, taking advantage of the beautiful country scenery and using different tints for day, night, and indoor and outdoor scenes. Overall, TRUE HEART SUSIE is a charming film, a "small" film in Griffith's repertoire, but in its modest way, one of his most artistically successful. It features fine acting, a moving story, and it's lovely to look at. SCORE: 9/10

The protagonist in True Heart Suzie is regularly credited with pioneering subtle acting in front of the camera, as opposed to sweeping, dramatic acting of theater players attempting to transition to the new medium. In some parts of the film, it's a little difficult to believe, given today's films with high definition technology, more sophistication, and able to catch every nuance in an actor's face. Compared to earlier films, however, miss Suzie is quite the refined actress.The story centers on True Heart Suzie, who sells her cow in the name of love to send her neighbor boy, William, to college. When he eventually returns, Suzie is heartbroken to find that he has (and marries) a modern young lady named Bettina. Through Bettina's propensity for partying and enjoying pursuits away from her more mild-mannered husband, she eventually becomes ill and dies. Susie and William end up getting married afterwards, and it's happily ever after for True Heart Suzie, proving that true love can eventually conquer anything, even another marriage.The film is a simple country love story, and it reminded me a little bit of the children's tale of the city and the country mouse. When William goes off to college, he's blinded somewhat by the city and returns with a city girl. Eventually, through pain and suffering, he finds what's been waiting in the country for him all along, and he finds a different kind of happiness with the girl who's loved him all her life.True Heart Susie is a little bit boring, a little bit cute, and a little bit heartbreaking (especially when Susie discovers William's engagement). A lovely film to watch and a nice break from nonstop action flicks of today.

D.W Griffith is considered the first director to implement narrative techniques to his filmmaking and "True Heart Susie" is a great example of this. While I wasn't immediately impressed, I found that as the movie progressed I connected with the characters more and more. Susie is a plain girl with completely honorable intentions who falls in love with William. Lillian Gish does remarkable job acting "for film." Her facial expressions are not too over- produced but it is easy to read her thoughts from a simple arch of her eyebrow. Griffith is definitely making a social statement on old-fashioned values. Susie is a pure character and the film really remains honest throughout. For a silent film, it really kept my attention. The thing I really loved was the character Clarine Seymour played because I think her acting; along with Lilian Gish's was a real testament to the time. Seymour's character is not meant to be hated and she does a lovely job pulling off the "vampy" personality without losing the viewer completely. Also, since I was watching this for a film history class, it was a nice departure to see more subtle acting. This is not similar to "Birth of a Nation" at all so if you are looking for a more epic film by Griffith, this is not it. "True Heart Susie" is an intimate, honest journey of a young girl whose values are tested in serious ways. No matter what statement D.W Griffith was trying to make with this film, he made it enjoyable to watch.

Lillian Gish aside, I don't know what is so special about this movie. Apparently D.W. Griffith is so prestigious that our class must see one of his movies. From what I've learned about Griffith, he did not do anything completely original or innovative in his films, but he simply took all the innovative ideas and techniques from his time period and combined them. On that note I can't recall anything that struck me as particularly innovative. That is probably because I am a modern viewer and I have already seen anything that may have been cutting edge at the time of the film's making. Maybe the professor could have pointed out some of these things, but I remain clueless.One technique that is very obvious is the use of tinting to show whether it is daytime or nighttime. Dark blue tint is used for night and a yellowish hue for day and indoor shots.Lillian Gish, however, did stand out. Even though Griffith kept referring to her as plain and inferred that the other woman was more attractive, I felt the opposite was true. Susie was beautiful and Bettina was ordinary. William was an idiot. Susie deserves better. The credited writer is Marian Freemont. The story is lackluster, but she does a wonderful job with Gish's pious character. Gish does even better executing that character. Her acting is subtle and we can see her emotions clear as day with close up shots. This combination is the only redeeming quality of the film. The viewer cares for Susie and her plight. I suppose Griffith deserves credit as well. Actually I don't know who deserves the most credit. Directors and stars seem to get the publicity and the writer is seen as an afterthought. Maybe it's all about teamwork. Who knows? Meow!