D.W. Griffith made a heist movie? In 11 minutes? Buckle up, time traveler.
John Bradley is a trusted clerk with an oil company. Enjoying a fair salary, he is comfortably fixed in a modest little village home with his wife and two small children. Starting from home in the morning he is accompanied by the two little ones, who always looked forward to each morning's scamper in the hills with pleasurable anticipation. He is met at the office door by the manager and handed a large sum of money with instructions to carry it to the bank. This is witnessed by a well-known gambler of the town, who being in hard link, resolves to get that money by hook or crook. Making a short cut across the little town, he manages to intercept John on his way to the bank, and in the course of their conversation invites him to have a drink, as it is half an hour before the bank opens. The invitation is accepted and while in the saloon the gambler tries to inveigle John into a game, but here his will serves him and he resists the fascination.
Direction
Griffith inventing cross-cutting suspense in 11 minutes.
Editing
Parallel action that somehow predates feature films.
Director
D.W. Griffith
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This is peak 'nickelodeon era' filmmaking—literally designed to run while viewers changed seats for a nickel.
Griffith directed 450+ one-reelers like this before Birth of a Nation; he was basically a factory of moral tales.
US
