Le pauvre amour

True, there are no big set pieces. We don't see Richard Barthelmess leaping from ice floe to ice floe, we don't see the Little Colonel ramming a Confederate battle flag down a cannon's mouth. What we see are faces: a small boy watching a church elder eat ice cream; Robert Harron, exultant at getting a scholarship; and, of course, Lilian Gish. She walks funny. Her outfits are ridiculous and True Heart Susie is, let's face it, not very bright, but she feels deeply and we feel with her.

What more, really, can you ask for in a movie? You get beautifully composed pictures, a fluid story, fine acting.... two years later Henry King would tread the same ground with TOL'ABLE David and produce a masterpiece that is not as funny and warm as this.

Minor Griffith? If so, there are few major directors besides Griffith.

Lillian Gish (as True Heart Susie) is an ordinary country girl; she is in love with typical "boy-next-door" Robert Harron (as William Roberts). The film begins with a series of seemingly silly, sentimental, and hopelessly old-fashioned observations about the relationships between men and women like "True Heart Susie" and "William Roberts". Director D.W. Griffith astutely notes, "Of course they don't know what poor simple idiots they are -- and, we, who have never been so foolish, an hardly hope to understand…"

You can tell, early on, that minister-to-be Harron is not really interested, romantically, in Gish. Harron prefers the "kind" of woman later idealized by Clarine Seymour (as Bettina). Ms. Seymour leads a fine supporting cast, as the painted and partying "other woman". Gish tries "power and stockings", but it is not in her character. When she accidentally chances upon Harron and Seymour kissing, Gish realizes circumstances are beyond her control, and Harron is lost to her -- this is followed by an incredible close-up of Gish, which defies description.

With "True Heart Susie", director Griffith and company achieve "non-epic" perfection. In its own way, the film is as "epic" as the director's "Intolerance" (1916). Ms. Gish and Mr. Harron are superb, as usual; though they are young adults, they are thoroughly convincing as opening-scene schoolchildren. The performances are almost outerworldly; especially, after Harron expresses discontent, and Gish reacts. Gish's reactions are particularly amazing; in fact, this may be her most supreme silent-era achievement, besting her own performance in the recently released "Broken Blossoms" (1919). If "Best Actress" awards were given out in 1919, Lillian Gish's "True Heart Susie" might have won over her own lead performance in "Broken Blossoms".

Truly classic.

********** True Heart Susie (6/1/19) D.W. Griffith ~ Lillian Gish, Robert Harron, Clarine Seymour, Loyola O'Connor

Susie is in love with William Jenkins, although he doesn't seem to notice. When William decides he wants to go to college, Susie sells the family cow and sends the money to William, making him believe it is from another benefactor. When William finishes college, he returns and takes up the position of minister. Susie believes she will marry William, but he takes up with a girl named Bettina and eventually marries her. Bettina is no good. Yet, Susie does nothing to break them up, and even lies to protect Bettina. Will William finally learn the truth about his wife, and will Susie finally land him?

This is a solid film, helped along tremendously by the fine performances turned in by Gish and Harron. The pair had previously teamed together in several Griffith films, and this is another opportunity for the two to shine. Gish is lovely, Harron very handsome as the boy with no clue.

Griffith uses the same trick he used in earlier films, making Harron age later in the movie by giving him a moustache. It is hackneyed, but it works. The close-ups of Gish are remarkable. In one scene, she keeps opening and closing her eyes when she spies William and Bettina together, not wanting to see what happens, but still curious enough to take a slight peek.

Clarine Seymour, as Bettina, is also very good. For Harron and Seymour, they each had only two films left in their careers before their premature deaths.

"True Heart Susie" was one of my favorite silent films that I watched during my class. This cute love story follows the lives of William and Susie. By the end of the film I found myself loving Lillian Gish's character (Susie). She sacrifices a lot in order to win William's heart over. I thought that Lillian Gish did a fabulous job throughout the entire movie. In the beginning of the film, Susie (Lillian Gish) tried to kiss William (Robert Harron) in a number of scenes and both characters did a wonderful job at creating awkward moments. I thought they did a fabulous job at making the audience feel uncomfortable as we watched Susie repeatedly getting denied by William. Griffith did a wonderful job at capturing Susie's emotion throughout the movie. The close up shots that were taken really enhanced emotion throughout the film and I found myself feeling genuinely sorry for her. During the movie, we hope and expect that Susie and William end up together, but when William meets Betty our prediction of the movie changes. The movie ends rather dramatically and unexpectedly which I favored because we always assume that endings are happy. This was the only silent film that I have watched where I felt connected to one of the characters. Lillian Gish did such a good job at grabbing the audiences attention through her facial expressions that I found myself hating Betty and feeling extremely sad when her and William got married. I don't think Griffith could have chosen a better actress to play Susie. I would definitely recommend watching this movie just to see Gish's performance. Griffith did a fabulous job at making this a sweet yet unexpected love story that captured my attention fabulously. If you're going to watch a silent film, I would definitely say that this is the one to watch!

"True Heart Susie" is one of my top five or four favorite silent films -a timeless masterpiece of simple beauty and innocence. Set in small rural town in America, it is about a simple and devoted young woman "True Heart Susie" (Lillian Gish, in what is perhaps her finest performance) who makes painful sacrifices to promote her next door neighbor and ignorant love William Jenkins (Robert Harron) to college. This is D.W. Griffith at his peak. There isn't a scene in the this marvellously lyrical film that never attains emotional beauty and resonance. It may not have the technical invention and epic sprawl of "Birth of a Nation" or "Intolerance" or "Way Down East" but it remains one of the most honest and beautiful films I have ever seen.

A work of art you don't want to miss.