A Strange Meeting

I didn't get this the first time round when I watched it as a teenager. Back then, I thought it was just boring viewing. Now that I have revisited it as an adult I can see what the 34 year old D.W. Griffith was trying to do. His main character is the camera rather than the actors, and it's what the camera frames that motivates him as opposed to his creative team. He's a bit like Hitchcock believing actors are merely cattle. Cecil B. DeMille also placed a heavy emphasis on scenery and what the camera can shoot. From this perspective, I enjoyed this piece of work because I understood the scenery that he was trying to embrace. Forget the fact that there was no story, the main thing was the scenery.

Arthur V. Johnson (as Reverend John Stanton) is a "good shepherd" minister; he interrupts a sermon to rescue a mother's son from a drunken party, and returns to praise the Lord. While some ministers pass around collection plates, Mr. Johnson reaches into his pocket to give an offering to needy bums. Enter Stephanie Longfellow (as Mary Rollins); she is in cahoots with thieves Frank Powell and Henry B. Walthall - the three are going to disobey the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Steal" in earnest, by robbing Preacher Stanton! But, Mr. Johnson feels an urge for Ms. Longfellow, and she gets an itch to repent. Predictable.

*** A Strange Meeting (8/2/09) D.W. Griffith ~ Arthur V. Johnson, Stephanie Longfellow, Henry B. Walthall

Strange Meeting, A (1909)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A woman is forced into robbing from a preacher but later she wants to repent so she goes to that same precher for forgiveness. Griffith does his usual moral job here with religion being looked at very highly. Nice but nothing overly good.

Broken Locket, The (1909)

** (out of 4)

strange an uneven short from Griffith has a man leaving his wife (Mary Pickford) so that he can make them rich. Before he goes the two break a locket in half to remind each other of their love. The film doesn't make too much sense and it jumps all over the place making it rather hard to follow.

Interesting to see Griffith showing some of what you can assume is his opinions or at least the opinion of the times and/or the studio. A religious drama that is just all around okay. I don't really agree with the overall narrative and the concept of the ending, but overall a good little drama that is somehow a little too long for what it is. It simply had to be more simple to really land in the basic pile.

A young women living on the edge of crime and faith is forced to face her true path after she is confronted during a crime.

This movie is a pro religious movie that shows some divine powers at the end, or at least I think that was what that was. It is a rather simple premise about what faith is all about and from that standpoint it succeeds at being that. It is not religion propaganda enough for me to really discourage it for what it is.

I liked the priest character. He was rather cool and collected a nice character for this story. Same with the girl a rather important character played well here.

It is a rather simple but overall affective premise and story and the movie executes it rather well with only a few hiccups. The movie could have used a bit more dialogue boxes to really sell the plot, since I was lost a few times, especially in the beginning and there is a bit too much back and forward at the end. Cut a little of the beginning and end and you have a simple but affective short. Probably 11-10 minutes is what it should be.

While the ending is symbolically beautiful I hope that was what it was supposed to be, symbolic. If it´s literal than this short is a bit too much, but I think it´s up to some interpolation to a sedan extend.

Most of the sets look good with fine detail, but the bedroom of the woman is rather lacklustre and clearly a set room. A bit too simple and bare is what I´m hinting at.

A fine little short that I enjoyed with a bit too many hiccups for me to really call it truly what it is. A basic mediocre movie.