An Unseen Enemy

A pair of young twin sisters are in mourning for their father although they are lifted by the news that their brother, always a savvy businessman, has sold part of the estate and made them a tidy sum. This tidy sum he quickly puts in the family safe – observed only by the sisters and their slattern housekeeper. The housekeeper decides she wants this money and gets an unscrupulous acquaintance to rob the safe while she holds the girls at gunpoint through a hole in the wall (hence she is the unseen enemy). Luckily the girls are resourceful enough to use the phone to call for help and soon it is on the way – but will they get there in time?

Having seen this described as a masterpiece by another IMDb user, I was curious about the film and decided to look it up. It was interesting to me to see that it was one of the first films from Lillian Gish and also that it had been directed by DW Griffith and I was curious how it would be. As is often the way with silent shorts, the plot is simple and in this case it is mostly a dramatic scenario where the girls are in danger and help is on the way. This is fine but mostly it doesn't work that well because the delivery is rather inconsistent. The scenario is part of the problem because the drunken hand through the wall device is odd to say the least – the girls are sort of in danger but not really and if anything it looks a bit silly; this takes away from the dramatic side. Similarly the rush to help them is at once dramatic and with lots of concerned gurning but then throws in a Keystone Cops-lite moment where they get stuck on a rotating bridge. Accordingly the musical score is uneven too as it tries to take account of the various moods.

The performances are OK but of course of note are the Gish sisters – like Griffiths himself I don't know which is which, but the stronger performance came from the bravery of the two sisters. Otherwise the most noteworthy performance comes from Elmer Booth due to his intense overacting when he learns of the girl's plight! That said, it is an OK short film that delivers on the simple scenario – it is just very uneven and had me wishing that it had a bit more about it to increase the dramatic tension and thus my engagement in the short.

The quality in which Biograph pictures most excel is the atmosphere of individuality that surrounds each player, making him or her distinct from all others. In no other make of picture is it so marked. There is much of it in this very effective release, but not as much as usual. The object of the picture is to create a feeling of dread and the means it uses is to place two little girls in a locked room, and put them in danger from an "unseen enemy" in the adjoining room. This enemy is a drunken maid, who, with another rough character, is bent on blowing up a safe. There is a hole in the wall made for a stove pipe and the woman can thrust her arm through this and shoot, but she can't see to aim, because the hole is too small. Her purpose is to keep the children from using the telephone. But it lies on the floor where the eldest girl had dropped it and the sound of the shots is more eloquent to bring help than words. The little girls are charming; they are not yet actresses, but in a good place to learn acting. The photography in many scenes is not up to standard. - The Moving Picture World, September 21, 1912

To make newcomers-to-film Gish sisters, Lillian and Dorothy, ages 19 and 14, show fear in their movie debut, September 1912's "An Unseen Enemy," Biograph director D. W. Griffith drew out his gun and chased them around the studio room, shooting into the ceiling. The ploy must have worked since what the viewer sees on the screen reflects two young girls in fear for their lives.

The Gishes were literally brought up on the stage. With a father deserting them early on, the sisters with their mother moved from the Midwest to New York City in an attempt to elevate their theater acting. They became good friends with their next door neighbor, Gladys Smith, aka Mary Pickford. Getting modeling jobs as well as stage work, the Gishes were introduced to D. W. Griffith by Pickford in 1912. Biograph signed the two to contracts, with their first movie scheduled to be "An Unseen Enemy."

Griffith thought they were twins when he first saw them, despite their age difference (19-year-older Lillian lied about her age being 16 at the time). On the set he tied a blue ribbon in the hair of one and a red ribbon on the other. When he wanted to direct one of them to do something, he would say, "Red, do this," or "Blue, do that."

After humiliating the sisters with the ribbons and the firearms shooting, Pickford took Griffith aside and asked him not to treat her friends like that ever again. And he didn't.

As for "An Unseen Enemy," the movie is almost a carbon copy of Griffith's 1909 "The Lonely Villa." Both have robberies taking place in female-only occupied houses, with the males summoned by phone miles away to come and rescue them. At this stage of his career, Griffith was becoming tired of Biograph Studios restraint on limiting the director to stick with just one reelers--about 15 minutes in length. While longer feature movies were being produced with greater frequency, Griffith would begin to search for new avenues to gain more freedom behind the camera. But "An Unseen Enemy" does show his expertise in cross-cutting with dual scenarios playing out at the same time.

Great early film short, directed superbly by D.W. Griffith. In it, Lillian and Dorothy Gish play sisters (is that ever inspired casting?) terrorized by a wicked housekeeper and her male companion. They have the Gish sisters locked in a room, and terrorized them by firing a gun through a hole in the wall. It doesn't sound like much, but the direction makes in exciting (there is a race to rescue them after they are able to make a phone call).

Lillian and Dorothy Gish look extraordinary on film, together, in "An Unseen Enemy"; though, the situation more than a little implausible. Still, the Gish sisters are radiant. Also noteworthy are the scenes with Robert Harron which open and close the drama, earning him a Kiss from Dorothy Gish. The three of them are natural actors, which Griffith (and audiences) could plainly see in this film. Great photography.

D.W. Griffith, Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Robert Harron, and G.W. Bitzer - making the screen magical in "An Unseen Enemy"...

********* An Unseen Enemy (9/9/12) D.W. Griffith ~ Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Robert Harron, Elmer Booth

This short is available as part of Hollywood's Attic VHS tape set. It is on the Griffith Shorts tape #2.

The Gish sisters star and Griffith directs with his standard assortments of cuts and word titles. The music score is difference for other Attic tapes, but it may or may not be the original.

The tape runs a little on the fast end (11 minutes) and the short subject could be given better treatment in a longer movie, but otherwise good. Very few people are credited. While more are credited than usual Griffith films, there are still lots of extras and possible cameo spotting may be fun for buffs.

The story could easily be remade, but it will likely remain in the attic like most early cinema.

As standard the short finishes with "The End"