The Great Love (1918 film)

The Great Love
Film poster
Directed by	D. W. Griffith (as Captain Victor Marier)
Written by	D. W. Griffith Stanner E.V. Taylor as Captain Victor Marier
Produced by	D. W. Griffith
Starring	George Fawcett Lillian Gish
Cinematography	G. W. Bitzer George Schneiderman
Edited by	James Smith
Music by	Louis F. Gottschalk
Production company	Famous Players–Lasky / Artcraft
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	August 11, 1918 (1918-08-11)(U.S.)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Great Love is a 1918 American silent war drama film directed and written by D. W. Griffith who, along with scenario writer Stanner E.V. Taylor, is credited as "Captain Victor Marier". The film stars George Fawcett and Lillian Gish. Set during World War I, exterior scenes were shot on location in England. The Great Love is now considered to be a lost film. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

This film had footage of several high society and influential British people helping out with the war effort, including Queen Alexandra, the widow of King Edward VII, and Sir Frederick Treves, the doctor who once knew and tended to Joseph Merrick a.k.a. "The Elephant Man". ^[4] Footage of a Zeppelin air raid on London taken by G. W. Bitzer was also included the film. ^[5]

Plot

Jimmie Young (Robert Harron), a young man from Youngstown, Pennsylvania, enlists in the British army after reading reports of German atrocities, joining the war effort before American forces formally enter the conflict. He begins military training at a camp near London. During a period of leave, he meets Susie Broadplains (Lillian Gish), a young Australian woman. Their relationship develops into a romantic attachment, and Susie's only leisure activity becomes walking with Jimmie in Pump Lane.

Following the death of a relative, Susie inherits £20,000, attracting the attention of Sir Roger Brighton (Henry B. Walthall), who pursues wealthy women. When Jimmie is suddenly deployed to the front, he is unable to say goodbye. Sir Roger uses the opportunity to propose, and Susie accepts.

Meanwhile, German agents plan to bomb a British arsenal, and Sir Roger is persuaded to assist by driving a car with its headlights aimed skyward to guide approaching Zeppelins. While on furlough recovering from an injury, Jimmie recognizes Sir Roger on the road, follows him, and ultimately confronts him in his cottage. Rather than be captured, Sir Roger takes his own life. Susie learns of Sir Roger's betrayal, and she and Jimmie are reunited. ^[5]

Cast

• George Fawcett as Reverend Josephus Broadplains
• Lillian Gish as Susie Broadplains
• Robert Harron as Jim Young
• Gloria Hope as Jessie Lovewell
• George Siegmann as Mr. Seymour
• Maxfield Stanley as John Broadplains
• Rosemary Theby as Miss Corintee
• Henry B. Walthall as Sir Roger Brighton

VIPs appearing as themselves

• Elizabeth Asquith
• Lily Elsie
• Violet Keppel
• Hazel, Lady Lavery as Mrs. John Lavery
• Lady Diana Manners
• Countess of Masserne
• Alice Heine as Princess of Monaco
• Honourable as Mrs. Montague
• Lady Paget ^[a]
• Queen Alexandra
• Henry Charles Stanley ^[b]
• Bettina Stuart-Wortley
• Sir Frederick Treves
• Duchess of Beaufort
• Kathleen Pelham Burn, Countess of Drogheda (1887–1966) ^[6]

Reception

Like many American films of the time, The Great Love was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required cuts, in Reel 4, three scenes of mother with illegitimate child with wife of Baron, Reel 5, after the intertitle "You are my wife and I stay here tonight" eliminate all following scenes of man pounding bed, and, Reel 6, the intertitle "Drunk with two wines — champagne and passion". ^[7]

See also

• List of lost films

References

Notes

1. Unclear if this is Walburga or her son Victor's actress wife Olive May, also called Lady Paget.
2. Incorrectly posted as Sir Henry Morton Stanley, the famous explorer who had died in 1904.

Citations

1. "Progressive Silent Film List: The Great Love". Silent Era. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
2. "The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Great Love". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
3. The Great Love at TheGreatStars.com; Lost Films Wanted ^{[ usurped ]} Archived February 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
4. Wagenknecht, Edward; Slide, Anthony (1975). The Films of D. W. Griffith. p. 97. ISBN   0-517-52326-4.
5. "Reviews: The Great Love". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (8). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 28. August 24, 1918.
6. "Countess of Drogheda, Kathleen Moore Pelham Burn, with her son Charles, 1915". Yooniq Images. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
7. "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (11): 57. September 7, 1918.

External links

• The Great Love at IMDb