The Sealed Room

One of Griffith's early Biograph films about a king who becomes enraged upon seeing his lover with another in her room. Clever, and mostly interesting for its historical value, this short film is quite entertaining and should not be passed over if you a get a chance to see it.

There are enough positives to this short feature to make it a decent rendering of the idea of "The Sealed Room", familiar from a number of horror stories. The leading performers all give plenty of energy to their performances, and for the most part they are believable. Among its best aspects are the scenery and the costumes, which make the general atmosphere convincing. The physical limitations of the sets and the fixed camera field do, though, somewhat hinder how well the "sealed room" effect can work.

The story is simple, and at one or two points its plausibility is rather strained. But it is the kind of macabre tale that holds your attention in spite of yourself. There have probably been other versions that were more effective, but this one tells the story clearly and efficiently, and it works reasonably well.

This is quote an enjoyable early Griffith film in which he once more makes good use of cross-cutting to create an escalating feeling of tension. Based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, the film efficiently sets the scene as we see a deliriously happy king having all but one of the doors to his love nest sealed so that only his beloved can gain entrance. However, all is not quite as blissful between the king and his beloved as we might expect. Just look at the way the minstrel's lute playing becomes increasingly frenetic each time the king and his squeeze embrace. Sure enough, the moment he's out of the room, his girl and the minstrel are in each others arms.

It's quite interesting to chart the increasing sophistication of films as the 20th Century approached the end of its first decade. The sets are still stagy, but they are more realistic than only a few years before, and the costumes in this period piece are surprisingly realistic. Future stars are also beginning to make an appearance: Arthur V. Johnson, who plays the King here, was one of Griffith's first, and Mary Pickford, who has a bit part in this film, would soon replace Florence Lawrence as the Biograph Girl.

The king constructs a windowless love nest for himself and his mistress only to discover her there with the court minstrel.

Based on a novel by Edgar Alan Poe and directed by D. W. Griffith, this short has an interesting pedigree. Add in an early uncredited appearance by the teenage Mary Pickford, if you can spot her, and an uncredited appearance by Mack Sennett and it's worth spending 11 minutes watching it.

I found it interesting that two very famous silent film stars, actress Mary Pickford and director Mack Sennett, had supporting roles in this D. W. Griffith silent film. To add another famous name to the mix, the screenplay was based on an Edgar Allen Poe novel.

Yes, this short film looks creaky but it's one year short of being 100 years old, so you can't expect much as far as a big-budget film. It's hard to relate to much at all, actually, because movies were only 10-20 minutes long at that time anyway, and since there was no sound, the actors acted more like mimes.

Since "talkies" were still almost two decades away, even the silent actors hadn't quite got their acts down yet. You can see the result: insane overacting and wild, crazy facial expressions - actually laughable at times. But, hey, it was 1909. I find it amazing we still have the opportunity to look at a movie this old, and appreciate the fact it's available.