The Female of the Species

A picture giving us a remarkable psychological study. It is very effectively and vividly presented and will probably cause a good deal of discussion. It is acted for the most part by three players, and these roles are taken by the three best known ladies of the Biograph Company. The background is the desert and we are given remarkable views of it, with its cutting sand dust, its strange growths, cactus and the like, and its deadly thirst. The action that the picture shows transpires while these three women are crossing the desert toward civilization. Its object, very roughly speaking, is to bring out dramatically two or three considerations that strongly affect the female of the species in her attitude toward life. The picture is clean-handed, artistically strong and unusually interesting. The photographs are excellent. We call it a feature and think it would serve as such almost anywhere. - The Moving Picture World, April 27, 1912

Some very good cinematic touches make this simple melodrama a good short feature. The story is simple and a bit too dependent on coincidence, but otherwise it is a skillfully made little film that will hold your attention. The plot concerns a small group of survivors from an abandoned mining town, who are making a desperate journey across the desert when tensions erupt and threaten all of their lives. The acting is quite good for the most part, and the cast includes Mary Pickford, though in a role quite different from those that would later make her famous. The filming was done with the old method of fixing the camera's field of reference for each scene, but Griffith did a lot to make up for it. In particular, the desert atmosphere is established very well through good backgrounds, blowing sand, and the like. It's a worthwhile film for anyone interested in these very old short features.

A tight production with no wasted shots, flows develops and resolves nicely in tempo and enjoyable for it. We are treated with some remnants of the old stage wild hand movements but not too much. The 'wronged' woman is depicted well and you can feel her isolation from the three.

This must be one of only very few films where Mary Pickford plays a sinister dark role. She created the initial problem by suggesting to her sister something might be up between the husband and the other woman and, throughout treated the 'other' woman with some contempt and suspicion. Love the little sneer she gave!! The only contemptuous nasty sneer I have seen from Pickford.

Throughout the film you see Mary at the back of most scenes or rather behind the two woman, almost lurking and suspicious and, at the very end it is Mary who is out in front, her back to us, her dark looking presence gone and the two woman together.

It is also very noticeable that Pickford moves body and hands deliberately very slowly, especially at the beginning - method acting as the thirsty woman in the desert. Mary gives a stillness and quietness to the setting amongst the greater actions of the others.

This is the only dark role I have seen Mary in and she did it well, too bad she got type-cast so soon into other guises. Also very nice to see the healthy full face of the young 20 year old Mary (and recently married to Owen Moore).

One can only wonder at Griffith's message with this film and its title, considering his background and his other moralistic films. He seems to be saying three woman together is trouble, a triangle leaves room for back biting. This is idea is reinforced at the end of the film where you see Pickford out of the way in the distance and the two women problems solved together. But a baby is the magic formula for harmony among women. Pretty obvious I guess - he is saying a woman's position is with child.

Seven stars. Mainly for it's utter bizarreness. The set-up makes no sense. Why are these four people still there, in this scene of devastation? And the ensuing action is so arbitrary! I think this is the earliest substantial part I've ever seen Mary Pickford play. And she did the best job of conveying what she was up to. Claire McDowell, as 'The Miner's Wife', just seemed deranged. But that could have been the idea. Everyone else just showed up, and did random stuff. Okay, just sit back, and watch this surreal kaleidoscope of events swirl in front of you for 15 minutes. At that level, it was entertaining. But, no matter what, DON'T try to make any sense of it! Take a look at one of the oddest films Griffith ever made. 7 February 2024.

Female of the Species, The (1912)

**** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith short about a miner (Charles West), his wife (Claire McDowell), her sister (Mary Pickford) and another woman (Dorothy Bernard) traveling across the desert after a local mine closes. Along the way the wife begins to think that the other woman is having an affair with her husband and she wants vengeance. Here's one of the best Griffith shorts I've seen with the director perfectly blending the suspense and sentimental aspects. The four performers do a terrific job in their roles. Once again the locations are really beautiful. A historical sidenote is that this film was released theatrically the day after the Titanic sunk.