A Corner in Wheat

A Corner In Wheat (1909) : Brief Review :

D W Griffith's parallels with social commentary on two opposite and inevitable corners of the society. The unavoidable fact of the society was, is and will be that, 'The Rich gets richer and The Poor gets even worse' and unfortunately the world doesn't seems to be bothered by the idea of changing this equation. D W Griffith, who has always showm sympathetic approach to the poor people in his film with one constant condition that the character has to have good and kind Nature, have used the same formula but it was far before he used it in his most popular films made years later. A Corner In Wheat is about an Alan unscrupulous and greedy capitalist speculator decides to corner the wheat market for his own profit, establishing complete control over the markets and destroys the lives of poor people. The film showcases two opposite and different corners of the society, the rich and the poor, dealing with different consequences of the same issue and at the same time. This idea of parallel narrative was loved by audience after 50s but who knew that Griffith did it almost 4 decades ago. Watch out for the scenes when he shows the rich people partying and wasting foods and drinks and on the side we see poor and hungry people in que for food and not getting it. Such a heartbreaking scene it was. And the last frame when the poor man is crying and seeding at the time, what a wonderful thing it was. Hats off to D W Griffith and his imaginative brain which was running far ahead of its time and unfortunately we didn't born in his era to experience his brilliance. Whoever is fan of the cinematic genius called Griffith just can't miss this Short flick. Don't take the rating too seriously as it is purely systematic because films made 10 decades ago just cannot be measured with modern strips. A Must See!

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest

A Corner in Wheat is a little meditation on capitalism, derived from Frank Norris, weaving together narrative fragments linked by their relation to wheat. The film begins with farmers sowing grain and taking their meager harvest to market. Capitalist speculators engineer the "corner in wheat" of the title, establishing full control over the world's supply. We see, intercut with this coup and the main capitalist's ensuing celebrations, the effects on others: another speculator is ruined, the farmers return home empty-handed, the urban poor go hungry and begin to riot when bread becomes unaffordable. The riot is squelched, but the "Wheat King" meets with his just desserts, inadvertently buried under an avalanche of grain, while the farmers continue to toil.

7* (10* Rating System)

(Note: This is the first of three short films by D.W. Griffith that I care to highlight by commenting on them. The others are "The Girl and Her Trust" and "The Battle at Elderbush Gulch".)

D.W. Griffith usually made only three types of films: melodramas, social commentary and suspense (usually either battle scenes or the last-minute rescue, or both). His features often contain all three genres. His films were often set during the Victorian age or the Civil War era, or some other turning point in American history. His films of modern setting drip of Victorian sentiments. Mostly, his films were theatrical (the stories, interior shots and acting, most consistently). Griffith's films are categorical because he, apparently, rarely used scripts and was the rare filmmaker that interacted with the scenarists, and thus invented the role of director.

"A Corner in Wheat" is simple: it is social commentary. Based on a Frank Norris story, the anti-monopoly narrative fits with a recurrent theme of Griffith's films--sympathy for the poor. (It's rather hypocritical, however, considering that Griffith worked for a member of the Motion Picture Patents Company.) The story, albeit better than its contemporaries, is not of much interest, or, rather, is not why I highlighted this short film.

In 1903, Edwin S. Porter crosscut scenes out of temporal order in "The Great Train Robbery". Parallel-action crosscutting as dissection of a scene with spatially separate actions appeared as early as 1907 in Pathé and Vitagraph films. The crosscutting in "A Corner in Wheat" is exceptional because it functions as contrast between the wheat magnate's dinner party and the wheat farmers not being able to afford bread at a market. I'm not sure who helped Griffith with the editing, but it was probably James Smith, as usual. The parallel editing is appropriately slow paced, so again in the comeuppance dénouement. As well, the final shot was a good attempt at poignancy. The rest of the photoplay, especially the camera positioning, is primitive.

D.W.Griffith's condensed interpretation (14 minutes) of social conscious novelist Frank Norris's The Pit is an early and beautifully crafted example of what incredible influence film could exert in conveying its message to the masses.

A Corner in the Wheat is a clear and concise portrayal of Capitalistic greed as Griffith masterly employs the early tools of the trade to convey and condemn the repercussions of such action. It is early juxtaposition at its best as cross cuts between the have and have nots with well paced editing and striking compositions (the wheat field scenes are right out of Vincent Millette)that graphically illustrates the imperfection of the system.

There is a powerhouse finish rich in irony in this subversive work by the aristocratic Griffith that clearly must have inspired and influenced the work of the great Russian Socialist directors and by doing so adds final irony to this early work of pure cinema.

Corner in Wheat, A (1909)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

One of D.W. Griffith's best shorts. This one deals with an evil tycoon who makes the price of wheat go up for his own profit but by doing this is causes the poor to suffer. Here's another film where Griffith takes out his anger of being poor and he hits all the right notes making this a high energy and downright dirty tale. The way Griffith shows the poor is wonderfully done and the ending is great as well. Of historical importance, this was the first film to get reviewed in a NY newspaper, which also makes the historians believe that this was the first film reviewed anywhere in the world. Films were discussed in papers before this one but this was the first to actually get its own review.