Alfred Paget Movies

Intolerance, D.W. Griffith's towering achievement interlocking four stories of intolerance throughout the ages, has been bowdlerized by the Master himself in this 1919 re-tread utilizing the Babylon sections of that mammoth film. In an effort to recoup some of his disastrous personal losses incurred upon the initial release of Intolerance, Griffith re-edited both the Babylon sequences and the modern section (retitled The Mother and the Law) and distributed them as separate films. The lasting appeal of Intolerance has always been the spectacularly extravagant Babylon story and here it is without "the cradle endlessly rocking." In the story, Babylon is ruled by Belshazzar (Alfred Paget) a kindly king. A true democrat in respect to religion, he earns the enmity of his chief priest, the High Priest of Bel (Tully Marshall). When Cyrus (George Siegmann), the king of the Medes and Persians, attacks Babylon's fabled walled city, the High Priest betrays Belshazzar to Cyrus. The city rallies to Babylon's defense -- including a plucky mountain girl (Constance Talmadge) who secretly loves the king -- but Cyrus's immense forces overpower the beleaguered city. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp was another of Fox's lavishly produced "Sunset Kiddies" series, wherein most of the principal roles were enacted by children. In this case, Aladdin is portrayed by juvenile performer Francis Carpenter, while other key roles were filled by such stars-in-the-making as Virginia Lee Corbin, Gertrude Messenger and Buddy Messenger and Lewis Sargent. The film was by no means a parody: the youthful performers played their parts with utmost sincerity, and most effectively. As was traditional in the "Sunset Kiddies" films, a few adult performers were scattered throughout the proceedings, notably Elmo Lincoln, the screen's first Tarzan, who here portrayed the towering Genie of the Lamp. Unfortunately, none of the "Sunset Kiddies" efforts is currently available for reappraisal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sometime during the shooting of the landmark The Birth of a Nation, filmmaker D.W. Griffith probably wondered how he could top himself. In 1916, he showed how, with the awesome Intolerance. The film began humbly enough as a medium-budget feature entitled The Mother and the Law, wherein the lives of a poor but happily married couple are disrupted by the misguided interference of a "social reform" group. A series of unfortunate circumstances culminates in the husband's being sentenced to the gallows, a fate averted by a nick-of-time rescue engineered by his wife. In the wake of the protests attending the racist content of The Birth of a Nation, Griffith wanted to demonstrate the dangers of intolerance. The Mother and the Law filled the bill to some extent, but it just wasn't "big" enough to suit his purposes. Thus, using The Mother and the Law as merely the base of the film, Griffith added three more plotlines and expanded his cinematic thesis to epic proportions. The four separate stories of Intolerance are symbolically linked by Lillian Gish as the Woman Who Rocks the Cradle ("uniter of the here and hereafter"). The "Modern Story" is essentially The Mother and the Law; the "French Story" details the persecution of the Huguenots by Catherine de Medici (Josephine Crowell); the "Biblical Story" relates the last days of Jesus Christ (Howard Gaye); and the "Babylonian Story" concerns the defeat of King Belshazzar (Alfred Paget) by the hordes of Cyrus the Persian (George Siegmann).

Rather than being related chronologically, the four stories are told in parallel fashion, slowly at first, and then with increasing rapidity. The action in the film's final two reels leaps back and forth in time between Babylon, Calvary, 15th century France, and contemporary California. Described by one historian as "the only film fugue," Intolerance baffled many filmgoers of 1916 -- and, indeed, it is still an exhausting, overwhelming experience, even for audiences accustomed to the split-second cutting and multilayered montage sequences popularized by Sergei Eisenstein, Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard, Joel Schumacher, and MTV. On a pure entertainment level, the Babylonian sequences are the most effective, played out against one of the largest, most elaborate exterior sets ever built for a single film. The most memorable character in this sequence is "The Mountain Girl," played by star on the rise Constance Talmadge; when the Babylonian scenes were re-released as a separate feature in 1919, Talmadge's tragic death scene was altered to accommodate a happily-ever-after denouement. Other superb performances are delivered by Mae Marsh and Robert Harron in the Modern Story, and by Eugene Pallette and Margery Wilson in the French Story. Remarkably sophisticated in some scenes, appallingly naïve in others, Intolerance is a mixed bag dramatically, but one cannot deny that it is also a work of cinematic genius. The film did poorly upon its first release, not so much because its continuity was difficult to follow as because it preached a gospel of tolerance and pacifism to a nation preparing to enter World War I. Currently available prints of Intolerance run anywhere from 178 to 208 minutes; while it may be rough sledding at times, it remains essential viewing for any serious student of film technique. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Supervised by D.W. Griffith, Martyrs of the Alamo was directed by Griffith's loyal but considerably less inspired assistant William "Christy" Cabanne. The film never lags in its action sequences, notably the climactic siege of the Alamo. Only in the dramatic scenes does the film cry out for Griffith's masterful touch. Of interest is the casting of Griffith "regulars" Walter Long, Tom Wilson, Alfred Paget and John Dillon as, respectively, General Santa Anna, Sam Houston, Jim Bowie and Colonel Travis. Comedy relief is in the hands of Augustus Carney, the once-popular star of the "Alkali Ike" comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though its script is credited to D.W. Griffith, The Lamb is actually a film adaptation of Winchell Smith's Broadway play The New Henrietta. In his screen debut, Douglas Fairbanks plays a wealthy wastrel who is framed in a stock swindle. To prove his innocence, Fairbanks is plunked into several situations requiring him to display both his athletic and intellectual prowess. Seena Owen plays the girl who knew Fairbanks was a stalwart fellow all along. The Lamb was remade in 1921 as The Saphead, with Buster Keaton assuming the Douglas Fairbanks role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A besieged blockhouse containing a frightened Lillian Gish, marauding Indians, and a Mexican who heroically brings the cavalry to the rescue, are the none-too-original components of D.W. Griffith's endurable 2-reeler The Battle at Elderbush Gulch, made during the director's final year with Biograph. Griffith called the film his finest up to that time, and he might very well have been correct. It was, one could say, all in the editing, which here builds to a crescendo of excitement as Gish is rescued in the nick of time. Timeworn, yes, but the master knew what he was doing and demanded longer pictures in which to do it. The old-fashioned Biograph refused, and Griffith walked, taking with him the stars of "Elderbush Gulch": Mae Marsh, Gish and Robert Harron. They all reunited the following year for the director's masterpiece, the 12-reel The Birth of a Nation. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide