Two orphaned sisters, Henriette and Louise Girard (the two Gish sisters), arrive in Paris in the midst of the French Revolution: they are first separated by a perfidious aristocrat before they are reunited with the help of insurgents. Griffith’s penultimate kolossal was a large-scale drama based on the popular 1874 play The two Orphans and adapted for the screen by the Palmer-Jackson duo. Wanting to capitalise on the success of Lubitsch’s Madame Dubarry, Griffith put together a colossal production, perhaps a little too heavy. In this film he presented a reactionary reading of the French Revolution, despite its finale and famous ‘last minute rescue’ and excellent acting by the two sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish.
actors: Lilian Gish – Henriette Girard, Dorothy Gish – Louise Girard, Joseph Schildkraut – Chevalier de Vaudrey, Frank Losee – Count de Linieres, Katherine Emmet – Countess de Linieres, Morgan Wallace – Marquis de Praille, Lucille La Verne – Mother Frochard, Sheldon Lewis – Jacques Frochard, Frank Puglia – Pierre Frochard
subject: Play ‘The two Orphans’ by Adolphe d’Ennery and Eugène Cormon
script: David Wark
photography: Paul H. Allen, G.W. Bitzer, Hendrik Sartov
music by: William F. Peters, Louis F. Gottschalk
mounting: James Smith, Rose Smith
scenography: Charles M. Kirk
other titles: Les Deux Orphelines, Orphans of the Storm, Le Due orfanelle
color: Bianco & Nero
taken from: PLAY BY ADOLPHE D'ENNERY AND EUGENE CORMON
production company: United Artists
subject: Play ‘The two Orphans’ by Adolphe d’Ennery and Eugène Cormon
script: David Wark
photography: Paul H. Allen, G.W. Bitzer, Hendrik Sartov
music by: William F. Peters, Louis F. Gottschalk
mounting: James Smith, Rose Smith
scenography: Charles M. Kirk
other titles: Les Deux Orphelines, Orphans of the Storm, Le Due orfanelle
color: Bianco & Nero
taken from: PLAY BY ADOLPHE D'ENNERY AND EUGENE CORMON
production company: United Artists
