Orphans Of The Storm (1921)

In late 18th century France, a young woman (Lillian Gish) brings her blind sister (Dorothy Gish) to Paris in the hopes of having her sight restored. They are separated when one of them is kidnapped but they soon find themselves caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution where both aristocrat and commoners are at risk. D.W. Griffith's sprawling epic is a mixture of shameless sentimentality and reactionary politics. Yet there's no denying it's a forceful piece of cinema. At times, the French Revolution seems a mere backdrop to the story of two sisters trying to find each other among the chaos. At other times, the Revolution seems a stand in for any authoritarian government, a cautionary plea against fascism/communism/socialism (take your pick or all three). Whatever ..... it's still an outstanding achievement. Not that it's perfect, mind you. Griffith shamelessly milks the Lillian Gish guillotine scene for every moment he can squeeze, dragging it on and on endlessly till one almost has to smile (in fact, I think I did). The film is somewhat demeaned by its cheesy score by Louis F. Gottchalk and William Frederick Peters, the kind of Mickey Mouse scoring that give silent movies a bad name. The large cast includes Joseph Schildkraut (DIARY OF ANNE FRANK), Monte Blue as Danton, Sidney Herbert as Robespierre, Frank Puglia, Creighton Hale and the mustached Lucille La Verne (the voice of the wicked Queen in Disney's SNOW WHITE) who is perhaps most famous for her role as The Vengeance in the 1935 A TALE OF TWO CITIES.