The Lonely Villa

This 1909 Biograph drama cleverly uses a telephone to heighten the stories suspense. A gang of thieves pick a well to do family to rob, by luring the husband away from his home, leaving his wife and three young daughters alone. Watching the husband leave, the gang breaks into the home as the wife and her daughters run to safety into another room, they start barricading the door with furniture. Meanwhile, the car the husband was being chauffeured in breaks down in front of an Inn, as the chauffeur starts to check out the car's motor, the husband notices a sign advertising a telephone inside. He decides to call his wife and tell her about his delay, luckily the room she and her daughters are trying to keep the crooks from breaking into has a telephone. She frantically tells her husband what is taking place, then one of the robbers cuts the telephone line. The husband rushes madly outside and finds a gypsy wagon, he and a group of men race home just in time to save his family. For 1909 audiences watching someone using a telephone was very exciting in itself, and it's use in this manner helps to heighten the viewers anticipation. D.W Griffith keeps the action flowing, making good use of Fort Lee, New Jersey for the outdoor location scenes. The Biograph actors all portray their characters adequately and Mary Pickford fans will instantly recognize the young actress as one of the daughters and Owen Moore as the villain who delivers the letter that summons the husband away from his home. This silent drama is a perfect example of what kept early silent film audiences excitement growing for this popular new form of entertainment.

Three burglars (Owen Moore, Herbert Prior, and Anthony O'Sullivan) lurk outside the Cullison estate. When the family butler and maid leave on a date, the burglars trick master-of-the-house David Miles (as Robert Cullison) into vacating the premises; Mr. Miles doesn't know it, but the lurking trio are planning a robbery. After Miles leaves, the thieves terrorize helpless Marion Lenard (as Mother Cullison) and the three Cullison girls - Mary Pickford, Gladys Egan, and Adele DeGarde. As the burglars bust in, Ms. Leonard's uses her telephone to desperately call for help…

For its time, "The Lonely Villa" likely packed an audience pleasing punch; but it's rather ordinary, when compared to director D.W. Griffith's later revisitations of its story/situation. The location footage is a highlight, and the cutting of the Cullisons' telephone cord is a nice touch. Ms. Pickford, with her relatively small stature, makes a convincing little girl. Real little girl Egan shines as the first Cullison who notices something is not quite right…

**** The Lonely Villa (6/10/09) D.W. Griffith ~ David Miles, Marion Leonard, Mary Pickford

The Lonely Villa (1909) : Brief Review -

Griffith's early real time thriller with editorial techniques of new proportions. This is how suspense would have felt in 1909, and Yes it's still thrilling and intense for today's time. In the meantime, it reminded of many one-room thrillers or one-place thrillers made in 40s decade where the survival of people or the lead characters was at stake. What do we call it now, a Survival drama? It was Survival thriller i guess. The Lonely Villa is about a gang of thieves who lure a man out of his home so that they can rob it and threaten his wife and children. The family barricade themselves in an interior room, but the criminals are well-equipped for breaking in. When the father finds out what is happening, he must race against time to get back home. It wasn't much about acting, writting and dialogues in that time and The Lonely Villa is no different. Cinema was preparing to get rolled by inventing new techniques of filmmaking instead of focusing on screenplay and storytelling. DW Griffith does exactly what was needed for the time as he successfully invents cross cutting edits of the scenes while some of them were fastly moving. Apart from that, he keeps the audience guessing on what should happen in the end assuming the certain predictable Happy ending but how should it come on screen was a major invention by him. Those tight thrillers made after 30s and 40s in one room or at one place were highly influenced by The Lonely Villa. Basically, it was a beginning of this new genre, doesn't matter if it was shorter but it gave a hope to new kind of cinema and that's a great achievement in cinema history. Overall, The Lonely Villa is another gambling attempt won by cinematic genius DW Griffith just like he always did.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest

Cross-cutting editing in movies builds suspense by going from one action to another. The film technique, still used in today's movies, illustrates events happening at the same time but in different locations. In D. W. Griffith's June 1909 "The Lonely Villa," the director advanced this particular editing craft from previous films. It was introduced as far back as the early 1900's, in particular Edwin Porter's "The Great Train Robbery (1903)."

After some prefunctory scenes in "The Lonely Villa" setting the stage of a father being called away for urgent business, Griffith then goes about following two storylines: the family home with just the mother and three daughters, the oldest being Mary Pickford, invaded by thieves while then cutting to the father going to the fake emergency site, only to discover the danger his family is in.

The rescue scenarios take on a quickened pulse as Griffith shortens each advancing clip by going back and forth between the two plots. The director's intention is to get his viewers' hearts beating faster and faster as the tension increases on the screen. Griffith would use this cross-cutting technique throughout the remainder of his film directing career, but with greater sophistication as his experience in movies gained more experience.

Lonely Villa (1909)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A gang lures a father away from his house so that they can rob it and terrorize his wife and three daughters. There's some great editing at the end that builds up the suspense but the direction isn't tight enough for it to work all the way through. Mary Pickford plays one of the children.

Son's Return, The (1909)

*** (out of 4)

A son goes off to the big city to make big bucks. Years later he returns and ends up staying at his parents inn but they've forgotten him but when they see his cash, they plan to rob him. This Griffith short certainly goes "out there" in its story but I always enjoy these downbeat films where the director could do whatever he wanted and didn't always have to add a happy ending onto the film. Mary Pickford has a small part as the man's love.