Gretchen the Greenhorn

This recently recovered drama is very enjoyable to watch, both because it is well-crafted and because it treats its cast of immigrant characters in such a compassionate and thoughtful way. The tenement block atmosphere is convincing, and Chester and Sidney Franklin use it to create a believable world filled with believable characters.

The characters are endearing, and although they are all quite uncomplicated, they are easy to care about. The Franklin brothers present them in an honest yet caring way. The various national backgrounds are generally identified with the most obvious of symbols, yet this comes across well, because the audience is meant to care about them simply because they are honest, innocent men and women, not because they are brilliant or heroic. The one weakness that most of them share is their naiveté – as implied by the title – and this is hardly a censurable quality.

Dorothy Gish makes the most of her starring role as Gretchen, and she fits the part well. Ralph Lewis is also good as her father. Eugene Palette – looking younger and thinner than in his best-known roles – works quite well as the villainous Rogers, making particularly good use of his gestures and expressions to connote his character's nature.

The Franklins film it in what is now a rather old-fashioned style – in particular, lots of 'iris' shots – but it fits the material pretty well. and the story is told well without relying on clichés or contrivances. There is one particularly good sequence of cross-cutting, when an idyllic, innocent date between Gretchen and Pietro is contrasted with Rogers carrying out one of his malicious, deceitful schemes.

Overall, this works quite well and has also held up well. It's a feature worth seeing for anyone who enjoys silent dramas.

When the only known print of this film was found in a barn in Washington state several years ago it was a happy discovery for several reasons. First, Gretchen the Greenhorn is one of the few surviving features in which Dorothy Gish stars, solo—that is, without her sister Lillian. It is also a rare example of the collaborative work of brothers Chester and Sidney Franklin, who directed some twenty films together in the silent era; Sidney went on to have a long and distinguished Hollywood career as a director and producer. It's also one of the comparatively few surviving products of the Fine Art Film Co., an organization supervised by D.W. Griffith during the period he was releasing his work through the Triangle Corporation. Griffith's name does not appear in the credits, and he may have made little or no contribution, but a number of directorial touches suggest the influence of his Biograph shorts, and there are several Biograph veterans in the cast, including Miss Gish, Ralph Lewis, Kate Bruce, and Elmo Lincoln, while featured player Eugene Palette acted in this film just after finishing his role in Griffith's Intolerance.

But in addition to all the historical background there is a simpler reason we can celebrate the discovery of Gretchen the Greenhorn: it's a charming movie, skillfully crafted with a degree of cinematic sophistication impressive for its time, the kind of movie that comes as a pleasant surprise to modern day viewers unfamiliar with silent films. It was not a major release but rather a "programmer," a second tier feature of the sort that would later be termed a B-picture, and yet like the best B-pictures of the '30s and '40s it tells its story briskly and entertainingly, with some technical flourishes we don't expect to find in a modestly-budgeted production.

The plot is easily summarized: Dorothy Gish plays the title character, a girl from Holland who emigrates to America to join her father, Jan, who is struggling to establish himself in business as an engraver. They live in an urban neighborhood (presumably in New York, although this is never specified) where people of all backgrounds struggle to get by. Gretchen is courted by a young Italian, Pietro, who lives across the hall, and she unofficially adopts an Irish boy, Mickey, who lives nearby. When Jan naively allows himself to be used by a gang of counterfeiters the well-being of Gretchen and her little family is threatened, but in the end the neighbors rally to protect them, and the crooks are defeated.

One of the most interesting aspects of this film is its rich depiction of tenement life. The city's immigrant culture is presented with what feels like documentary realism, stylized to be sure but grittier than what we see in later Hollywood films, and presented without undue squalor or sentimentality. In Gretchen's neighborhood Dutch immigrants intermingle with Italians, Irish, Asians, and African Americans, and for the most part the film is free of the racial stereotyping that mars a lot of early films for today's viewers. The ethnic melting pot atmosphere is nicely captured in an amusing title card describing Pietro's serenade: "He woos her with her native Dutch songs, sung in English with an Italian accent."

This film was made before "Hollywood" meant artificial studio sets and rear projection, so most of the scenes (whether in alleys, on rooftops, or on shipboard) were taken in actual locations. The cinematography is excellent, with natural light and shadows used for striking compositions. Color tints were utilized for some scenes, and happily these tints are still evident in the surviving print. Two other photographic techniques, though dated, are nonetheless effective: the framing of facial close-ups on solid black backdrops, and the use of a "masking iris" to highlight key portions of the image. The most fascinating cinematic effect is saved for the wedding finale, which was filmed entirely in a series of close-ups on black backgrounds and edited into a rapid montage. This is the kind of bravura experimentation usually associated with the German Expressionist classics of the '20s, and it concludes Gretchen the Greenhorn on an exhilarating note.

Dorothy Gish gives a charming, low-key performance, and the other players seem to follow her lead: there is no sign of the mugging or arm-waving histrionics so often associated with silent era acting. Eugene Palette, remembered mainly as a rotund, bullfrog-voiced character actor in such comedy classics as My Man Godfrey and The Lady Eve, is surprisingly forceful—and slim!—as the villainous gang leader, Rogers. The stolid ship captain in cahoots with Rogers is played by Elmo Lincoln, two years before he earned screen (and trivia question) immortality as the cinema's first Tarzan.

In sum, there are a number of reasons to be grateful that this entertaining and interesting film was recovered from that barn in Washington. One especially good reason, especially if you own property in the area, is that a few tins of 35mm nitrate stock could easily have blown that barn sky high, and scorched the countryside for miles around! What were those tins doing in a barn in the first place?!?

Hopeful "little" Dorothy Gish (as Gretchen) sails to America, "Fresh as the tulips of her native fields and green as the greatest grass that grows" in Holland. She reunites with poor engraver papa Ralph Lewis (as Jan Van Houck). Being a D.W. Griffith heroine, Ms. Gish arrives at her new home with a duck on a leash. She and her father may be hungry, but don't worry - we never see them eating the duck. They don't have a lot, but what they've got they share with frugal factory worker widow Kate Bush, who has a brood of hungry mouths to feed. Charmed by young Georgie Stone (as Micky Garrity), Gish lets the kid take the cake.

The blond tyke will later help Gish and Mr. Lewis battle counterfeiter Eugene Palette (as Rogers). Mr. Palette wants to take advantage of Lewis' engraving skills. Gish's most significant other neighbor is caring fellow immigrant Frank Bennett (as Pietro), with whom a budding romance develops. Playing the accordion, Mr. Bennett serenades Gish with songs "sung in English with an Italian accent." Their melting pot relationship is one of this above average "Triangle" production's modern strengths.

That this print of "Gretchen the Greenhorn" was found relatively recently, in a barn, will hopefully have everyone searching for similarly placed treasures. It's also a fine print, which shows off the film's keenly dressed sets, and generous locations. An ending sequence works too, although shot entirely in close-up; presumably, the lowly-regarded movie crew couldn't find a willing church. All of this helps overcome the often-recycled plot, which appealed to the mostly immigrant population of the country at large.

"Triangle" had released sister Lillian's "Sold for Marriage" in April (with a similar immigrant plot) and Norma Talmadge's "Going Straight (with this film's basic entourage) in June. Dorothy's film may look a little better because, at the time, she was a bigger star than either Lillian or Norma. Dorothy beat them both to the "Quigley Poll" Top Ten money-making stars, appearing at #7 in 1915.

****** Gretchen the Greenhorn (9/3/16) Chester & Sidney Franklin ~ Dorothy Gish, Frank Bennett, Ralph Lewis, Georgie Stone

Gretchen the Greenhorn is an early silent film starring Dorothy Gish in the title role. She plays a Dutch girl who immigrates to America to be with her father, a man who engraves for a living. He is swindled by a gang who tricks him into counterfeiting money for them. Although his intentions are completely pure, he hesitates to turn the gang in for fear of jail time, but the gangsters act quickly to capture him. It is up to Gretchen to save him.

This film does not have all of the action and suspense of later gangster films, nor the outstanding faces of the screen that could benefit it. Overall, it is an average film, entertaining and short enough for a night of film-watching.

Although some rave about Dorothy Gish, I have never warmed up to her. I thought I might in this starring role, but I still did not find her charming, beautiful, or very talented.