Enoch Arden: Part I

Even though Biograph would limit him to one-reelers, DW Griffith had ambitions to move on to longer films. Once or twice before this he had followed a short up with a sequel to be released a week later, but this is his first genuine two-parter, making a full, coherent story. Although Biograph insisted it be released as two shorts, many theatre owners cottoned on and showed it as one film.

Wisely, Griffith chose to expand upon a story he had made a loose adaptation of before, Enoch Arden having been the inspiration for 1910's The Unchanging Sea. Covering a lengthy timescale, the material is also perfectly suited to a longer running time.

Griffith clearly realised that if cinema was going to flourish as a serious and unique storytelling medium, it would not only have to develop in how it conveyed information visually, but also become more subtle and naturalistic. Around the time of Enoch Arden he was really striving to perfect this, and the two parts are like a showcase for everything he had developed so far.

Griffith opens by introducing each of the three main characters with a single title revealing their name only, followed by a shot for each which serves as a brief yet meaningful introduction. Then, without resorting to another title card, he sets up the love triangle with just some careful positioning of the three actors we have just met. This economy of expression would later be taken up and developed by Cecil B. DeMille and John Ford. The use of props by actors to reveal character or emotion is also beginning to develop. In the scene where Annie Lee watches Enoch's boat disappear over the horizon, she stops to wipe the lens of the spyglass – perhaps to see the boat clearer, perhaps also to wipe away a tear.

Griffith was also beginning to develop the emotional impact of his camera work. He had around this time been experimenting by throwing in the occasional functional close-up to clarify an object or action. Here however, in the scene where Annie gives Enoch the baby's curl, he briefly moves the camera closer to the actors. The close-up is not to explain the action, it is to draw the audience into it and makes us involved in this poignant moment. This is a really important breakthrough.

Please see also my comment for Enoch Arden Part II.

Enoch Arden Part 1 (1911)

Enoch Arden Part 2 (1911)

*** (out of 4)

Two-part film from Griffith with part 1 about a strong fisherman who marries and has two children but when he can't afford to pay the bills he decides to take a dangerous voyage to sea. In part 2, feared dead Enoch's wife marries another man only to discover, years later, that her husband is still alive. Both films are certainly melodrama at its highest but there's a certain tender charm running through part one and a strong sense of threat throughout part two. When originally released this was shown in two parts but movie crowds wanted to see them together so theater owners edited the two films together and charged double price on tickets. When Griffith and other studios learned of this they decided to sell all two-reelers for double the price to make sure the theater owners weren't making extra money.

Taken in its entirety this short film ranks with the strongest dramas D.W. Griffith made at Biograph, notable for its understated acting and for cameraman Billy Bitzer's beautifully composed images. Although it lacks the sort of bravura, race-to-the-rescue sequence that would become the director's specialty, Enoch Arden has a deeply moving, melancholy atmosphere that lingers with the viewer long after it's over. Historically speaking, this film is also notable for the director's early attempt to tell a story with a longer running time. Single reel works running about ten minutes were the standard product of the day, and the notoriously risk-averse executives who controlled the American Biograph Company opposed longer films, and tried to discourage Griffith from expanding past the one-reel format. The likeliest reason was the same one Hollywood executives cite today: longer movies mean fewer screenings daily, thus less profit. (Some things never change!) But when Biograph released Enoch Arden in two parts, with instructions for exhibitors to play them on successive days, audiences objected and asked to see the entire film in one sitting. Exhibitors bowed to public demand, and the two-reel drama was born.

Viewing Part One of the film today it's easy to see why audiences responded as they did; the first reel establishes a compelling, suspenseful situation involving sympathetic characters, but ends without resolving it. For those viewers unfamiliar with the Tennyson poem which served as the film's source material this first portion is intriguing, but ends inconclusively.

The story is set in an 18th century fishing village, and concerns a romantic triangle involving fisherman Enoch Arden, his girlfriend Annie Lee, and a wealthy rival named Philip Ray. Enoch wins the girl, they marry, and within a few years they have three children. In order to provide for his young family Enoch chooses to go to sea on a fishing vessel for an extended voyage, over the objections of Annie Lee. When the ship founders, Enoch and two other sailors make their way to an island, but his shipmates die, leaving Enoch the sole survivor. Annie Lee, meanwhile, anxiously watches for his return while Philip Ray stands by.

This is where Part One ends, and while the exposition has been well handled and the production values are first rate for the era, the ending is abrupt and the story is obviously incomplete. Just as we become fully involved in the situation, the film ends. (Although for modern-day viewers, Parts One & Two have been conveniently joined for video and DVD releases.) It's no surprise that audiences of 1911 demanded to see the second reel post haste, for Griffith's Enoch Arden must be viewed in its entirety to be a fully satisfying experience.

This is the story of two men vying for the love of a woman, Annie Lee. Enoch Arden wins her over and they marry. But because there is little money, he goes away on a merchant ship, a dangerous venture at that time. The ship sinks and Arden manages to get to the shore of an unpopulated island. There his fellow sailors die and he is all alone. Meanwhile, Annie doesn't lose faith. She watches the waters every day. She feels they are married forever. Philip continues to seek her out.

This is a solid filming of the first half of the story of "Enoch Arden", based on Tennyson's poem. It's really incomplete in itself, since it leaves off right in the middle of the story, but even at that it's probably not a lot different from the way that a mini-series or other present-day broadcast might require viewers to come back later to see how things turn out.

The sea-side settings create a good atmosphere that help the story considerably, in that they add to its believability. Linda Arvidson was well-cast as Annie, since her natural expression conveys a rather somber look at life, and a healthy respect for how vulnerable human beings are to fate and to the elements.

Since this first part does not complete the story, you really have to watch the next part as well in order to evaluate the picture as a whole. But it can definitely be said that this first part gives a solid telling of the story that would certainly make most viewers want to see the rest of it.