Way Down East (1920)

Directed by

D. W. Griffith

Genre

drama film, silent film, romance film, melodrama

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 25m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 113 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A naive young woman is tricked into a false marriage and becomes pregnant. She endures hardship and scandal before facing a life-threatening ordeal on a frozen river.

melodramatictenseemotionalold-fashionedharrowingbittersweetvisually strikingmoralistic

What happens

Way Down East is a 1920 American silent melodrama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is one of four film adaptations of the 19th century play of the same name by Lottie Blair Parker. There were two earlier silent versions and one sound version in 1935 starring Henry Fonda. Griffith's version is particularly remembered for its climax in which Gish's character is rescued from doom on an icy river. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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