The Greatest Question

In the mid-1910s, D.W. Griffith was a HUGE name in Hollywood and was considered one of the top talents in the industry. By the time he made this film, however, his cache had started to fade a bit. And, by 1930, he was all but unemployable. What happened with this outstanding film pioneer? Well, I think there were two serious problems. First, he didn't change with the times. His saccharine and very old fashioned types of stories worked just fine in 1915 but by the 1920s, they seemed dated. Second, the films were often very, very moralistic--with messages that lacked subtlety. In the case of this film, it's especially apparent with the intertitle cards. Instead of conveying the action or explaining what was occurring, too often they were filled with long-winded prose and preachy sentimentality. And, in typical Griffith fashion, the black man in the film is not only a negative stereotype but is played by a white guy using burnt cork to darken his features! It seems that Griffith just disliked blacks but needed SOMEONE to make them look awful, so he used some white guy! Top that off with some seriously dumb plot problems and you might understand why I scored this film so low.

Nellie is a little girl and witnesses a pair of maniacs murdering a lady. She tells her parents and they totally ignore her. This happens in the film but in real life, only certifiably insane parents would ignore her. A decade passes. Now Nellie's parents have died and she wanders back to the same country where the murder occurred years ago. Why would she move there of all places and how could she forget about the killing? What's worse, eventually she goes to work for the murderers and has no recollection that they were the killers!!! If any of this makes sense to you (and it shouldn't), then there's the plot involving the son killed in WWI and the stupid way that this is handled (with mom, thousands of miles away, INSTANTLY knowing he's dead and receiving visions of his!). Please...give me a break! This is all stupid and sentimental claptrap....and I never bought any of it. Had this been made in 1905 or so, I could have accepted it. But for more discerning and sophisticated audiences of 1919, it must have been a hard-sell. For me today, it was an impossible sell though I must admit that the cinematography was quite lovely.

"The Greatest Question" is a simple melodrama which includes all the elements for a suspenseful motion picture, and is played by a very experienced cast of DW Griffth players, who do their best to make this film unique. What sets it apart from others of its ilk is its constant illusions to biblical themes of love, faith, prayer, and forgiveness.

Lillian is great as always as an innocent girl who is taken advantage of by the evil neighbors of a family who take her in after her mother dies. The family hits upon hard times and the girl is hired out as a servant to them, with terrifying consequences. Robert Harron is so handsome and wholesome as the young lad she falls in love with. It's always a delight to see Lillian and Bobby together on film. Fans of the two won't be disappointed.

I give the film a 9 out of 10. The print I saw had lots of artifacts but was still watchable and the camera work of Billy Blitzer, Griffith's cinematographer, was very poetic and pretty here.

The Greatest Question is one of the best of Griffith's "unknown" or "forgotten" films. It was made right after Griffith's masterpiece, "Broken Blossoms." Griffith had contracted with First National to make three films. According to Lillian Gish, all three were made in a rush, so Griffith could not take the care with them that he did with his special projects. It stars Lillian Gish and Robert Harron. These two starred in several films together during this period, and they always played well to each other. They would contrast each other in masculine and feminine ways, but they would also sharing a fine sensibility and chemistry. Watching them in this film it is clear that if Robert had lived they could have been a famous screen couple. This is one of their best roles together.

The plot, like many Griffith films, is that of an old fashioned melodrama with a family in distress, a motherless child, a boy lost in the war and so on. Melodrama is somewhat ridiculed today, but in Griffith's hands it often becomes a sincere story, for after all - aren't the lives of most people made up of melodrama? Here, Griffith hits the mark about 85% of the time. Only one scene stands out as poorly done. There is a bit too much weight put on the ghostly appearance of a dead boy to save the day. With more time, care and better editing, Griffith might have made this work, but if anything shows the that the film was rushed it is this scene.

But there are so many good things to make up for this. Lillian's fright over breaking a dish, and knowing she will get a beating for it; the death of her mother; moments when she is cornered in the attic by a rapist; her many moments of flirting with Robert Haron; these are all played with skill and subtly.

Robert Herron had some excellent moments as well. His innocent and playful flirting with Lillian; his youthful willingness to take a man's role when he isn't ready for it; these all ring so true they almost hurt. The rest of the cast also put in some wonderful moments. The father's bitterness over what seems to be a Godless world, and the mothers frantic effort to maintain her faith - these are also unforgettable moments.

Overall, the film is well put together, the story is tight with no waisted moments. The photography by Billy Bitzer is excellent. There are things that Bitzer did which Hollywood has yet to catch up to. One reviewer complained of a bad video copy. Mine was excellent, so they are out there if you look.

The film is not in the first rank of Griffith films, but still, as Griffith himself used to say when he was pleased, "That was very fine!"

The great Lillian Gish is the main reason to see this dated Griffith film. She is wonderful, displaying a wide range of emotions. The other players don't come off as well. Harron, Besserer, and Graves are fine, but the rest of the cast overplays. The story has serious problems when viewed with today's perspective. Most glaring is the black man, portrayed in an extreme racist way. 'The Birth of a Nation' was not Griffith's only film that portrays blacks in this negative way. Also, the couple that murder the immigrant girl in the beginning of the film and abuse Nellie are such despicable characters that they come off as caricatures. The scene with Gish fleeing to the attic and then the couple piling suitcases on top of a table to reach her is pure melodrama. The good family strikes oil and becomes wealthy and the bad family sees the light, but too late--the are led away to be punished. The photography and the scenes with Gish and Harron are beautiful and make this worthwhile.

Actor Bobby Harron was facing a great future in cinema. After his association with director D. W. Griffith for 10 years, he was beginning a four-movie package with Metro Pictures. He traveled to New York City on September 1, 1920 to attend the premier of Griffith's 'Way Down East' when he began unpacking his clothes in a hotel room. A gun he had tucked into his suitcase fell to the floor and discharged, sending a bullet into his chest. He was immediately rushed to the hospital. On the road to recovery, Harron suddenly died four days later at the young age of 27.

Harron's last surviving movie was December 1919's "The Greatest Question," directed by Griffith and co-starring Lillian Gish. He had just finished his first movie for Metro, 'Coincidence,' which was previewed the same evening as 'Way Down East' in New York. 'Coincidence' is considered lost. The irony of "The Greatest Question" is the film deals with death and spirituality, a spooky ending for a career that began for Harron at 14 as an errand boy for Biograph Studios. Griffith, the primary director for Biograph, noticed the boy when he appeared in a few shorts, and gave him a role in 1909's 'The Lonely Villa.'

Harron had acting parts in three of Griffith's most ambitious films, 1914's 'Judith of Bethulia,' 1915's 'Birth of a Nation,' and his most prominent role in 1916's 'Intolerance.' Throughout his career he was protrayed on screen as a naive or sensitive boy, eliciting from viewers sympathetic feelings.

Critics peg Harron's finest role in his later movies in June 1919's "True Heart Susie," also directed by Griffith with Lillian Gish as his secret romantic heartthrob. Harron was cast as a simple boy who, after gratuating from theology college, marries the wrong woman instead of childhood friend Lillian. His acting showed a maturity that struck an emotional chord with his female audience.

Such rave reviews were practically guaranteeing Harron a very promising future. But because, as Harron described, he tried to keep his gun away from his "hard to handle" younger brother by packing it into his suitcase, he paid the ultimate price dying from an accidental gunshot.