Judith of Bethulia | |
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Directed by | D. W. Griffith |
Written by | Thomas Bailey Aldrich D. W. Griffith Frank E. Woods |
Starring | Blanche Sweet Henry B. Walthall |
Cinematography | G. W. Bitzer |
Edited by | James Smith |
Production company | |
Distributed by | General Film Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 61 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
Judith of Bethulia (1914) is an American film starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall, and produced and directed by D. W. Griffith, based on the play "Judith and the Holofernes" (1896) by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, which itself was an adaptation of the Book of Judith. The film was the first feature-length film made by pioneering film company Biograph, although the second that Biograph released. [1] [2]
Shortly after its completion and a disagreement Griffith had with Biograph executives on making more future feature-length films, Griffith left Biograph, and took the entire stock company with him. Biograph delayed the picture's release until 1914, after Griffith's departure, so that it would not have to pay him in a profit-sharing agreement they had.
The film is based on the deuterocanonical Book of Judith. During the siege of the Jewish city of Bethulia by the Assyrians, a widow named Judith (Blanche Sweet) has a plan to stop the war as her people suffer starvation and are ready to surrender.
The widow disguises herself as a harem girl and goes to the enemy camp, where she beguiles a general of King Nebuchadnezzar, whose army is besieging the city. Judith seduces Holofernes (Henry Walthall), then while he is drunk cuts off his head with a sabre. She returns to her city, a heroine.
The reviews were favorable: Variety , March 27, 1914, wrote: "It is not easy to confess one's self unequal to a given task, but to pen an adequate description of the Biograph's production of Judith of Bethulia is, to say the least, a full grown man's job."
The Moving Picture World , March 7, 1914, described it as: "A fascinating work of high artistry, Judith of Bethulia will not only rank as an achievement in this country, but will make foreign producers sit up and take notice." [3]
Sarah Blanche Sweet was an American silent film actress who began her career in the early days of the motion picture film industry.
Henry Brazeale Walthall was an American stage and film actor. He appeared as the Little Colonel in D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915).
The New York Hat is a silent short film which was released in 1912, directed by D. W. Griffith from a screenplay by Anita Loos, and starring Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore, and Lillian Gish.
Home, Sweet Home (1914) is an American silent biographical drama directed by D. W. Griffith. It stars Earle Foxe, Henry Walthall and Dorothy Gish.
Oil and Water is a 1913 film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. The supporting cast includes Henry B. Walthall, Lionel Barrymore, and Harry Carey. A stage dancer (Sweet) and a serious-type homebody (Walthall) discover, after marriage, that their individual styles don't mesh. The movie includes elaborate dance sequences.
The One She Loved is a 1912 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. The film, by the Biograph Company, was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey when many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based there at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Painted Lady is a 1912 American short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives.
The Informer is a 1912 American short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and featuring Mary Pickford, Henry B. Walthall, Harry Carey, Lionel Barrymore, Dorothy Gish, and Lillian Gish. It was filmed in the Pike County town of Milford, Pennsylvania. Prints of the film survive at the film archive of the Library of Congress.
Brutality is a 1912 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. Prints and/or fragments were found in the Dawson Film Find in 1978.
The Burglar's Dilemma is a 1912 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. A print of the film survives.
The God Within is a 1912 American short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives.
Three Friends is a 1913 American short silent Western film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet.
Love in an Apartment Hotel is a 1913 American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet.
Broken Ways is a 1913 American short silent Western film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Henry B. Walthall and Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives.
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch is a 1913 American silent Western film directed by D. W. Griffith and featuring Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish, and Alfred Paget.
The Lady and the Mouse is a 1913 American short drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. A print of the film survives. Lillian and Dorothy Gish play sisters in the film. The only other two films where the Gishes play sisters are An Unseen Enemy (1912) and Orphans of the Storm (1922).
Death's Marathon is a 1913 silent film short directed by D. W. Griffith and distributed by Biograph. It stars Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall and was filmed in the Los Angeles area. This film survives and is available on DVD.
Classmates is a 1914 silent film directed by James Kirkwood for the Biograph Company. It is based on the 1907 stage play Classmates by Margaret Turnbull and William C. deMille. It was shot in Jacksonville, Florida at the end of 1913.
Men and Women is an extant short 1914 silent film produced by the Biograph Company and released by General Film Company. It is based on the 1890 play of the same name by David Belasco and Henry Churchill de Mille. It stars Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Sweet and Marshall Neilan. Sweet and Neilan would later marry in real life.
The Little Tease is a 1913 silent black and white drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, produced by Biograph Company and starring Henry B. Walthall and Mae Marsh.