In the Border States

"In the Border States" is a very simple story of a horrible and senseless time, but it gets top rating because of the performance of little Gladys Egan.

In years, her career, if that's even the right word, was short, but in those few years, she accumulated 110 credits, apparently not performing after 1914.

She plays the younger daughter of a man who goes off to war, and that terrible event is fought right in the family's neighborhood.

Northern and Southern forces fight back and forth, and the child gets her loyalties and her humanity tested.

Not much surprising happens, but how little Gladys Egan, about age 10 at filming, handles her role makes watching this completely worthwhile.

During the Civil War, there were many cases of divided loyalties; obviously, many occurred "In the Border States", where North met South by happenstance of geography. From the border, young father Owen Moore goes off to join the Union Army. Shortly, Confederate soldier Henry B. Walthall, separated from his regimen, wanders onto the enemy's property, desperate for water; he finds a supply where the Unionist's young daughter Gladys Egan sits. When the Yankee soldiers track him down, Little Gladys innocently helps the Confederate hide. Later, when he returns to kill her father, the little girl's kindness is remembered. A sweet, small story from director D.W. Griffith. Location footage and humanity are lovingly displayed.

***** In the Border States (6/13/10) D.W. Griffith ~ Henry B. Walthall, Owen Moore, Gladys Egan

This is an excellent short drama that leaves a memorable impression of the human side of war, and that makes good points about the conflict between the perceived duty to one's nation and one's higher duty to humanity. The story is about a father who leaves to fight for the Union in the Civil War, while in his absence his family also gets caught up in the terrors of the war. The plot is interesting, eventful, and thought-provoking. Given what the war was like "In The Border States", it is also quite plausible.

Methods of filming at the time were very limited, with each scene using a completely fixed camera field of vision, in which all the actors had to stay for the duration of the scene. Griffith makes up for that at times with some nicely planned shots. There is a good one when the father heads off to join his unit, showing part of the town and its townspeople in the background. There is another good one later, showing a sentry on a hill with a nice view of a river beneath the hill.

This is a fine film to take a look at for those interested in the history of these very old movies.

Eight stars. If there is one short that encapsulates all of Griffith's views on honor and loyalty, this is it. Griffith was a southerner, born in the 1870s. His father and grandfather were Confederate soldiers. And it's pretty clear that he bought into the "Lost Cause" myth. But who does he make the sympathetic core of the film? The family of a Union soldier. The hero is a Confederate, but notice that neither side does anything horrific. Nor anything particularly praise-worthy (until the end). Something modern viewers should consider, watching this film, is that anyone in their 50s would remember the Civil War in 1910. It wasn't history yet, it was memory. So making a war movie that centers on family, and with sympathy for both sides, was a bold act. 2 February 2024.

In the Border States (1910)

*** (out of 4)

Civil War short has a father (Charles West) joining the Union and going off to war. The father gets sent on a secret mission but he is wounded and barely makes it back home. When his child rushes off to get help a group of Confederate solders come in and its up to one to turn the father in or not. This is a pretty interesting short from Griffith because it's rather low-key and shows the human side of war. The story itself is pretty far fetched but that doesn't really matter because the main thing is its message and the director has no trouble getting this across. The fact that two sides could be fighting for their own beliefs but this shouldn't stand in front of doing the right thing is something Griffith told in many of his movies but the war backdrop here just makes it all the more memorable. Another big plus is the cinematography by G.W. Bitzer is excellent as are the New Jersey locations, which are filling in for a Southern state. Henry B. Walthall, Dorothy West and Mack Sennett are among the cast.