The Lonedale Operator

This little movie follows the same structure and tropes of most of D. W. Griffith shorts of this era. These shorts often feel dated and very melodramatic from today's point of view, which is understandable. However, there is something about this particular movie that makes it standout from the rest.

In my opinion, Blanche Sweet does a great job in this role. Given the acting style of the early 1910s, Sweet's performance feels more modern than most. Her performance adds to the pace of the movie, which is nicely achieved.

In my opinion, I would take out the "romance" tag for this movie and add the "action" one. To sum up, a nice 17 minutes watch readily available in YouTube, some uploads incorporate music score which makes the experience much better.

This film, nicely preserved with tints, is part of the "Treasures" 4-disc DVD set from the American Film Archives. It captures DW Griffith in the middle of his stint at American Biograph, and it demonstrates his developing skill with montage. I'm fond of Lonedale because it captures day-to-day life in a bygone era (for example, the secretary operating an early typewriter and the operation of steam locomotives).

The performances are by necessity done in broad strokes. Blanche Sweet, then a very mature-looking 15-year-old plays the story's heroine who bluffs her way out of a sticky situation.

This film is one of the highlights of the Treasures DVD set.

Cinema hadn't quite seen the rapidity of edits in a movie as contained in Biograph Studio's March 1911 "The Lonedale Operator." Cross-cutting between two separate scenes, director D.W. Griffith used over 100 edits, an unusual amount of cuts during that time.

"The Lonedale Operator" begins lazily with long sequences, showing the love interest of Blanche Sweet and her train engineer boyfriend. She eventually fills in for her ailing father, the train station's telegraph operator. During late afternoon, a train arrives with a pouch full of money for the local mine's payroll. There's no secure safe to place the money in, but not to worry since the train station is relatively isolated with no one around, except for two drifters who have followed the payroll as it leaves the train into the hands of the Lonedale Operator.

As the film proceeds, Griffith quickens the pace of his edits as he juxtapositions between two separate plots: the robbery and the rescue, where the train with her engineer boyfriend is miles away. The video link below provides an explanation on what cross-cutting, or parallel editing, is all about as Griffith employs the technique to amp up the suspense.

"The Lonedale Operator" is also notable for a rare closeup of a prop, pivotal to the story. It wasn't the first cinematic closeup, as several articles allude to, but it was one of the first that provided a bit of comedy relief after such a harrowing story had unfolded.

Lastly, this was one of the first films Blanche Sweet appeared in. She was a very successful silent movie actress throughout the 1910's and 1920's. But Ms. Sweet could not make the transition into sound films, playing in only three before she retired from Hollywood.

Blanche Sweet stars in this film from 1911 by D. W. Griffith made for Biograph. Considering it was made in 1911, and Griffith's techniques weren't quite as advanced, it is very good. However, only a year later, Griffith remade his movie in a 15 minute short for Biograph, and the remake, I have to say, is more refined in techniques. There is essentially more cutting and the pacing is a lot faster (the beginning to this one starts slow). Griffith was probably looking at this film a year later and thinking, "I could've done better. Say, how about doing a remake of this one? And how about a chase towards the end by locomotive?" Thus "The Girl and Her Trust", the aforementioned remake, was filmed.

Now to the comparison. What makes this film not as advanced? Well, no chasing the tramps when they escape with the money. In fact, in here they don't even escape with the money at all. The shots of the interior of the locomotive look cool, but no tracking shot of the outside of the locomotive. That's another memorable thing in the remake. Plenty of cross-cutting, but the tramps peeking through the window bit is not drawn out as long and there isn't as much of that. Griffith was still learning when he made it, but it is still pretty good, and is certainly worthwhile for any Griffith fan. Even though the director became famous for "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance", short features like this show how advanced Griffith was with film editing.

Wow. It's hard to believe that Miss Blanche Sweet was fifteen when she was directed by the great D.W. Griffith in this Biograph production from 1911. Blanche, at such an early age, was not only extremely mature in terms her physique and baring, she was a remarkably accomplished actress. Her naturalistic acting translates well with modern audiences (at leased with all my friends to whom I've shown this movie). This film is a good one, suspenceful and atmospheric, but it's definatly not the best of Griffith's Biographs. It ranks pretty highly with the other work of his that I've seen. It is certainly aided by Sweet's performance, and also helpful the exemplary early use of "montage" which Griffith had been putting to use in his films as early as 1909. For a peak at what a great man like Griffith was doing before he made The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916) and Way Down East (1920), this is certainly one to take a good look or two at, just to get a peak at what the future had in store for cinema history.