Alfred Paget Movies

Long before his epic Birth of a Nation, D.W.Griffith was turning out such one-reel Biograph Civil War melodramas as The Fugitive. The story focuses on two soldiers, one a Yankee, the other a Confederate. When the Yank shoots down the Southerner, he is targeted for arrest and execution. Ironically, he is saved by the mother of the man he has killed. As was customary in Griffith's Civil War films, there were no heroes or villains: the "heavy" of the piece was the War itself. Dorothy Davenport and Eddie Dillon were among the featured players, in The Fugitive, which was partially lensed on location in Fishkill, New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Thanks to constant television exposure in the early 1950s, The Message of the Violin is one of the best-known of D.W. Griffith's Biograph films. Popular Griffith ingenue Stefanie Longfellow headed the cast of this one-reel romantic drama. The hero, a sensitive violinist, is constantly browbeaten by his drunken lout of a father. Only when he is with his sweetheart does the violinist ever find true happiness, but she cannot abide the boorish behavior of his father and walks out on him. Eventually, the old man dies during a particularly vicious attack of delirium tremens. Taking to the streets with his violin, the hero plays his former sweetheart's favorite song -- and, right on cue, she materializes out of nowhere for a climactic embrace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his characteristic fashion, D.W.Griffith attacked modern-day hypocrisy and bigotry by using a historical example in Rose o' Salem Town. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, during the era of the Witch Trials. When his romantic advances are rebuffed by the heroine, a lecherous Puritan elder accuses the girl and her mother of witchcraft and sentences them to be burned at the stake (and never mind that the "witches" of Salem were all hanged, not burned). Though the mother dies in the flames, the girl is rescued by her sweetheart, with the help of a tribe of friendly Indians. This last plot wrinkle would resurface nearly ninety years later in the Demi Moore version of The Scarlet Letter. Rose o' Salem Town was filmed on location at Delaware Water Gap, New Jersey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 989-foot D.W. Griffith production was advertised by its home studio of Biograph as a "contemporary melodrama." Most of the story takes place at night, as three bold burglars attempt to rob the home of a wealthy banker. The crooks are foiled by the resourcefulness of the banker's courageous daughters, who not only prevent the theft but also manage to hold the villains at bay until the cops arrive. The trade magazine Variety noted that the story was "far-fetched," a common failing of the Biographs of this period. But with D.W. Griffith at the helm, The Banker's Daughters could not be accused of being dull. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide