The Lonedale Operator (1911) DW Griffith Biograph Silent Film

The Lonedale Operator (1911) DW Griffith Biograph Silent Film starring Blanche Sweet, Charles West, Charles West, Joseph Graybill, Wilfred Lucas, Dell Henderson

[@caitlinbarbery206]

I always find old films fascinating

[@scotnick59]

well, that's because for the most part, they are just that

[@user-kz8tk5po5z]

Those old films made over one hundred years ago are precious living history and time machines to our people living in 2019,i could see how people lived in that old days!

[@ealing456]

Not a cell phone in sight. Just people living in the moment.

[@aminadoce]

"In these modern times people just don't want to stick out from that telegraphs"

[@jelirestri]

A couple of cellphones would be useful .... for the script ! 😉

[@alanbash2921]

One Year BEFORE THE REAL TITANIC SANK !!!!

[@bambinoandmore46]

How can this have 5 thumbs down its 107 yrs old. Its living history

[@loge10]

Steven Spielberg is doing a remake. They are assuming this is garbage compared to that. They would be wrong. It would be the other way around.

@@loge10 I don't know, he might just be producing and J.J. might direct the remake...

[@JohnCine]

Griffith made a good suspense.

[@jelirestri]

He was a poet, a genius, an artist ... and and a sorehead asshole.

[@raymondhummel5211]

Loved the movie! Thank you for sharing it with all of us!

[@DavidSmith-sb2ix]

Cute girl and brave. It's amazing how long the telegraph survived Seven years ago in India and around 2006 or so in America.

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

Blanche Sweet

[@fangyang8353]

im watching this because i need to conduct an analysis for my film101 :>)

[@ImagesofJosephSmithJun.]

He ALMOST got a kiss!

[@emilys3458]

Simply wonderful!!

[@ethancranefield]

Who's here 2021!? :D I can't believe Timmy Tim has been using this for 3 years!

[@bekann]

wait u mean like timothée chalamet ?

[@dexterlee1123]

I'm speechless.

[@staceyhsu2036]

Smart girl! :)

[@miss-astronomikal-mcmxcvii]

Stacey Hsu In my honest opinion, this shows the power, smarts, and innovative thinking that women can have in almost any field (e.g., communications) to make life easier! And this was filmed while real women were out fighting just for suffrage and for workers' rights!!! Amazing movie, when considering the historical events that were going on during this time!!! I mean, also during that time, there were REAL women who did have the smarts and courage to even be inventors, engineers, scientists, whatever, and they silently broke the gender barrier before women had the right to vote! Like, for example, how did we get windshield wipers on our automobiles? Believe it or not, a woman from the South invented them back in 1903 after seeing a NYC trolley man wiping his windshields with his own hands in the cold and in the fog. Or how come we have graphing calculators everywhere now? The original technology was made in the early 1920s by one of the first female engineers for General Electric. Not joking! There is another major innovation whose backstory of the woman having to take over a man's job due to him being ill--the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge! It was because of the wife of the original constructor that we now have that bridge to cross the East River in NYC, and that was, of course, in the 1870s to 1880s!!! Don't believe me still? Check out the website Engineer Girl, look at the link, "Historical Engineers" (I think it is called), and you will see what I mean!!! If you are wondering why I looked at the field of engineering so much, it just so happens that I myself am an engineering student looking at the pioneering field of nanotechnology, and engineering is my passion!!! :) Nonetheless, films like this can convey a great message about women breaking gender barriers in many fields. In this case, the field happened to be communications.

[@jillkjv3816]

@@miss-astronomikal-mcmxcvii I think I read it was a woman who invented the board game Monopoly but a man stole her idea and ran with it. :)

[@TONEBHURT]

thank you for these posts! I have been wanting to see this film for a long while. Luv Blance Sweet and early DWG! Great channel too👍

[@fuzzyburnette7161]

Thank you for this.

[@nicholas4a]

Such a romantic film

[@ZappiBujo]

Very nice film!

[@blackhorse2947]

Ich bin begeistert

[@Userofindian]

Superb

[@tomortale2333]

SHE'S LIKE A LITTLE ANGEL ....A LITTLE CUTE

[@philip2595]

What a great little film BS is so sweet

[@Mr_x_19922]

That's how people called the police, ambulance, etc back in the Edwardian Era

[@hugobarrera7205]

The film and the girl are OK ,but it's hard to believe that all that money could be sent without an armed guard to protect it. lovely girl. she looks more like a girl of the 30's than of 1911

[@youngsteph1]

According to when the film was made & Blanche Sweet's date of birth, she was actually 14 when this film was made, making it even more amazing. Looks physically & mentally very mature for her age. If it was today, she would be in teen films for another 10 years. In early cinema young girls seemed to go straight into adult roles & looked the part.

[@youngsteph1]

When D W Griffiths first saw Lilian & Dorothy Gish he thought they were twins by all accounts, although Dorothy was only 14 at the time, but looked older.

[@MrSuperGeekster]

That's fucking creepy as fuck

[@theanswerisinthebackofyourhead]

BLANCHE SWEET WAS ONLY 15 WHEN SHE MADE THIS, SHE LOOKS SO GROWN UP.

[@johnfd0210]

Blanche Sweet was a far (far) Right leaning Liberal...she would be appalled at your moniker.

[@theanswerisinthebackofyourhead]

@@johnfd0210 SHOW ME THE PROOF OF THAT CAUSE I THINK YOUR FULL OF SHIT!!!!!!!!

[@hiddenflare6169]

Y'all if she was 15 when this 1911 was made I get the feeling she would feel very strange on today political world no matter what it is. Honestly it is pointless to say which side, left or right, someone in history would belong in seeing things are very different back then.

[@MadTracker]

@@johnfd0210 How is one both “far far right” AND liberal? 😂 I’m going with the full of shit consensus too. We can also file that in the *shut up and enjoy the movie department.

[@showcrazy2139]

Lots of makeup!

[@catholiccrusader5328]

That lady was no push over and cute too!

[@lindaloe]

My Mother Was Born This Year!!

[@timvandenbrink4461]

My Grandfather was born this year.

[@pedrokamurate4443]

E uma biografia silenciosa que retrata o cotidiano de Griffith

[@chiriladorin-alexandru2776]

nice girl even after 106 years

[@147Brighton]

Blanche Sweet, she became quite a star.

[@natiiiiiiiii1]

I laughed so hard at the end, nice.

[@GrandmaGazella]

I loved the end too. I thought all along that she had access to a real pistol. While watching this movie I had a few memories of when I worked for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph.

[@AnaloguePhoto]

A courageous pretty girl, a hero, some villains and money. Suppose this movie did well back in 1911.

[@kenrowland7864]

I love her black eyebrows.😌

[@niallfoody97]

whos only here as part of there film history module

[@Brother_Nazarite]

I'm here because I enjoy silent films.

[@niallfoody97]

@@Brother_Nazarite ok three years of film modules made me understand.

[@Luliisabee]

Here!

[@coltonkalmar5633]

Yup Berklee type beat

[@lolatara7737]

❣️

[@jeffpagan7735]

Florence Lawrence was cute

[@Bazookfrederic]

Avec The Lonedale Operator , Griffith franchit un cap dans la narration cinématographique et enrichit considérablement son langage, dans plusieurs direction à la fois. 1°) Tandis que ses illustres successeurs qui marqueront l'histoire du cinéma comprendront que le cinéma peut être la synthèse de tous les autres arts, Griffith les précèdera en imaginant - dans un court-métrage de seulement 16 minutes! - qu'un film puisse être riche de plusieurs genres : la romance, le drame, le western, la comédie, le suspense... A contrario de tout ce qui avait été fait précédemment, Griffith ne se contente plus d'une seule thématique, ni même de deux thématiques en opposition grossière, mais fait s'enchevêtrer ici des jeux de langage, des scènes, et des rôles d'acteurs qui élargissent sa palette narrative tout en conférant une épaisseur et une réalité plus grande à son propos. Ainsi son langage cinématographique s'insère plus naturellement dans la vie réelle des gens, tout en rendant le film d'autant plus prenant qu'il dissimule davantage la part purement artificielle de sa construction. En étant plus élaborée, la narration du film répond ainsi plus immédiatement aux passions humaines et ne se contente plus d'être la mise en image factice d'une histoire. 2°) Chaque image du film devient plus signifiante par plusieurs procédés assez nouveaux dans la technique narrative de Griffith et dont il hérite en partie des anglais de Brighton ou de ces prédécesseurs américains : - Griffith a davantage le sens du détail et enrichit ses décors par un plus grand nombre d'objets (par exemple une simple horloge marque pour le spectateur attentif le temps immuable et inexorable par contraste avec la vie des hommes), par la place qu'il accorde à des actions secondaires (la femme qui tape à la machine) ou à des mouvements à l'arrière-plan, voire dans le champ (les activités sur le quai de la gare). - Il filme les visages et les personnages de plus près, les fait venir dans le champ (par la gauche dans la première vue du virage de la voie ferrée à côté du bureau du télégraphe), les fait sortir du champ par l'avant lors de la première scène de romance. Ces effets modifient la notion de plan en rendant mouvante la scène narrative tandis que l'attention du spectateur est captée différemment en étant prise dans des mouvements qu'il ne maîtrise plus comme dans des scènes plus statiques. La caméra de Griffith n'est pas encore en mouvement (chez lui, le mouvement c'est le montage) mais ses personnages le sont davantage, ce qui leur confère une quantité de vie supplémentaire. - Les images fixes (cette fameuse vue de la courbe de la voie ferrée, comme nue et inattendue), ainsi que les images-mouvements (la locomotive lancée à toute allure) acquièrent la valeur de symboles à la force narrative considérable. Ce sont des images-langage: la voie ferrée nous dit que le drame et l'action surgiront par là, que ces rails sont la trame même du suspense à venir, tandis que l'image de la locomotive est l'image-temps qui symbolise la lutte contre le temps. - L'usage du gros plan à la fin du film (qui révèle le subterfuge de la clé à molette et la ruse inventive de la jeune femme) devient un procédé narratif d'importance dans les mains de Griffith puisque ce simple gros plan est capable de transformer en une seule image une histoire dramatique en une comédie. Quel écrivain ne rêverait pas de changer le cours de son histoire en un seul mot? Chacun mesurera ici le chemin parcouru depuis The Beggar's Deceit (1900) de Cecil Heptworth (pour ce qui concerne l'inventivité dans le champ de la caméra) ou l'usage du gros plan dans les premiers films de G.A. Smith [HDC #13] 3°) Griffith intensifie la narration en augmentant le rythme et le nombre des plans alternés. Jusqu'ici, dans ses films précédents où le montage était l'essence même de son langage, Griffith avait joué sur l'alternance de deux scènes en opposition - en particulier dans The Usurer (1910) [HDC#31]. Avec The Lonedale Operator , le montage fait se juxtaposer trois lieux différents : un lieu plutôt statique (la télégraphiste recluse par le danger lui-même) un lieu mi-statique, mi-mouvant (la progression ralentie des voleurs) et un lieu-mouvement constitué par la locomotive et ses mécaniciens. Il y a donc trois lignes de temps, trois lignes de fuite, trois vitesses narratives différentes, avec lesquelles Griffith joue avec l'attente du spectateur, qui se projette en un point de convergence dans le temps et dans l'espace qui ne cesse de se rapprocher (le dénouement). Il est bien évident que cette présentation analytique ne doit pas masquer la synthèse artistique et conceptuelle géniale de ce film : tous les éléments que nous venons de détailler s'enrichissent mutuellement dans une grammaire narrative désormais complexe. Prenons par exemple l'image de la locomotive lancée à toute allure. Non seulement sa signification en tant qu'image est renforcée par les jets de vapeur dont la force visuelle remplace sans difficulté et à meilleur compte n'importe quel bruit de locomotive, mais aussi les mouvements de tête des mécaniciens - pour ainsi dire lancé au triple galop sur le cheval de fer- et leurs regards vers l'arrière (pour quoi faire??), sur les côtés, vers l'avant... en ajoutent encore à la tension dramatique, dans une sorte de panique et de couse folle contre l'angoisse, comme si regarder dans toutes les directions pouvait conjurer tous les ennemis du temps. Et l'on rit à la fin de l'attitude de ces deux voleurs amateurs, véritables poltrons, saluant courtoisement pour finir une femme qui les a mystifiés avec malice et courage. Chapeau bas! en effet M. Griffith, car la romance se termine en comédie après être passée par le drame, l'angoisse et le suspense. Il faut sans doute tout cela pour qu'un amour naissant soit transfiguré en voyageant sur les ailes du destin! Et l'on mesure ici le chemin parcouru dans la narration cinématographique depuis The Great Train Roberty (1903) d'Edwin Stanton Porter, film qui a montré la voie et dont la thématique est assez proche, mais qui souffre de la comparaison. [HDC#18] (Cette analyse vous a intéressé? Rejoignez-nous sur notre blog "La Culture de A à Z")

[@shobhitsingh6330]

If Jack Dawson was watching this movie, little would he know that 1 year later he would be dead.

[@swainscheps]

Anybody know if this was filmed in New Jersey? It was right around the time when moviemaking was migrating to Hollywood…can’t find anything on filming locations.

[@adriangarcia543]

I wish silent movie of true grit

[@mikedrown2721]

The RMS Olympic made her maiden voyage and the RMS Titanic is still under construction at this time

[@petekanter4582]

This was a time during which I wish I had been able to live in. The present day means all too many catastrophes: everything from international terrorism to noise pollution, and even... robo-calls.

[@Xenderman]

Need I remind you what came a year after this film? And what came 3 years after this film? The Titanic and world war 1. These times were no better. And there were plenty of terrorist attacks too.

[@jillkjv3816]

They were smarter back then about prop guns, I see. 😂

[@theanswerisinthebackofyourhead]

WOW BLANCHE SWEET WAS ONLY 15 WHEN SHE MADE THIS, SHE LOOKS SO MATCHURE AND LADY LIKE, I AM SURE SHE MADE A FINE WIFE

[@catholiccrusader5328]

I can't stand Obama either; that man literally drove me in bankruptcy when my previous health insurance was the best not to mention trouble with the government. Oh yeah I love this movie and the cute women of the Edwardian Era.

[@hadesmcfadden2982]

if you were already covered by the "best" health insurance then you didn't even qualify for the ACA, therefore you didn't "go bankrupt" over health insurance. Fucking hell, does anyone from the last 10 years even understand what "Obamacare" was actually about? Oh, and you look retired, so you don't even have to care about the ACA.

[@carolinalopes8048]

good one, a white supremacist is also a pedo?? wow who saw that one coming?

[@bambinoandmore46]

@@catholiccrusader5328 please talk only about your opinions on the movies not politics.

[@3044Producer]

KISS HIM FOR FUCK'S SAKE!

[@legaultjam]

Wasnt like that at this time all kind of sexual act where not really accepted

[@EliezerPennywhistler]

Why?

[@youngsteph1]

Because American morality was more like the Taliban than modern society at this time. Within a few years though all this morality would be swept away, at least for awhile.

[@youngsteph1]

There has always been a puritan undertone to American society, & every once in awhile it reverts back. Pre-First World War American cinema was represented by virginal actresses like Gish sisters, Blanche Sweet, Mary Pickford etc, to be replaced by Theda Bara, & later Pola Negri, leading to the everything goes era of the 20's. Until it was all put back into its box by the Hays code of the 1930's - 1960's.

[@haydenwittig8877]

Women then had a sex appeal not matched in 2021,beautiful ladies.

[@rodrigocardoso650]

The first plot twist?

[@elchoya100]

7:22,i wonder if G W B ,stood for G W BITZER?

[@omar_rasidagic]

that is in fact correct!

[@147Brighton]

@@omar_rasidagic Nice in-joke and it also reinforced ownership of the film, at a time when prints were still being pirated.

[@theanswerisinthebackofyourhead]

I WOULD RATHER WATCH A FILM LIKE THIS ANY DAY OF THE WEEK OVER THE SHIT AND GARBAGE THAT HOLLYWOOD IS PRODUCING TODAY, AND UNLIKE THE ACTORS OF TODAY I AM SURE THE ACTORS IN THIS FILM HERE LOVED THE COUNTRY AND DID NOT CURSE ANYONE WHO WAS MAKING MORE MONEY THAN THEM, SUCH CLASS AND DIGNITY THE LADY OF THIS FILM HAD

[@hadesmcfadden2982]

HI PAID RUSSIAN SHILL AND/OR OLD BOOMER USING ALL CAPS. News flash! People can LOVE their country and still be critical of it! FUCKING AMAZING CONCEPT EH? Another news flash: PEOPLE DON'T CARE THAT PEOPLE ARE RICH. People DO CARE that the rich BUY OFF OUR GOVERNMENT to their advantage. Make sense now???

[@louiemeister9646]

The actress looks a little like Maisie Williams

[@nacitrezik2969]

「上記のギフトのいずれかを選択できます」、

[@KC-blues]

Times were different, the age of consent was younger, nobody questioned it, there were no freeways, a young man could buy a house with six months wages, confidence was all that was needed to be way ahead of the game.

[@DMBall]

This is practically a remake of "The Girl and Her Trust." Less action but more plausible. Neither is Griffith's best work.

[@loge10]

Those robbers were incredibly stupid...

[@sodality3970]

Good , great old silents ! Too much black makeup , tho'

[@Mr_x_19922]

Being rejected in 1911 lol, getting a girl back then was so much easier than now! nowadays we have way higher standards and social media

[@cidvasconcelos6919]

Resenha sobre o filme: magiadoreal.blogspot.com/2022/06/filme-do-dia-lonedale-operator-1911-dw.html

[@freezerjoe]

The subtext is that the father was a raging alcoholic with a hangover and massive debt hanging over him so he sent the two thieves to steal the money.