YouHeart
I gave it a 7.5 out of 10
Stephan Hammond
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
MartinHafer
The reason I say that WAY DOWN EAST is a very good film for 1920 is that even by the mid-1920s, the style film this is would probably have seemed a bit old fashioned. So, compared to late silents it's not a great movie by any stretch but it is a decent movie nonetheless and better than most films of the day. So why is it old fashioned? Well, like the characters in many of the earlier D.W. Griffith films, the peopleof in the movie often seem very one-dimensional--like a 19th century morality play. For example, Lillian Gish plays a wonderful virginal sort, there is the town tattletale, the judgmental man, the cad and the professor--all stereotypes instead of real people. But despite all this, it still is a very good film.WAY DOWN EAST begins with a poor cousin (Lillian Gish) going to the big city to spend time with her rich relatives. At this home, she is spotted by a total cad (Lowell Sherman) and he eventually asks her to marry him. However, the marriage is fake--and Gish has no idea it's not legal. After getting her pregnant, Sherman runs away--leaving her to have the baby on her own. Soon the baby dies and Gish is forced to go look for work in another town. There she gets work as a maid and becomes a beloved member of the family--that is, until word gets to the townsfolk that Gish is "that kind of woman"! This leads to an amazingly climactic scene on the ice (reminscent of the video game "Frogger") that you just have to see to believe and it's one of the best scenes Griffith ever filmed---very tense and amazing even when seen almost 90 years later.What's to like about the film? Well, the biggest star of the movie are the special effects and camera work. As mentioned above, the ice scene is simply amazing, though the snow storm is also very realistic and well done. Also, there were some very lovely camera shots--such as the scene by the lake. All these made this a first-class project.Overall, this is an important film but one that I would recommend mostly to people who already love silents. They will enjoy it considerably. However, for people not accustomed to and appreciative of the silents, it's probably one to hold off on--as you may be too quick to dismiss it because of the preachy plot and one-dimensional characters. For 1920, it was quite the accomplishment.
didi-5
This film has a great reputation as one of the classics of the silent cinema - starring Lillian Gish as Anna, a simple soul from a poor family, but with rich relations; Richard Barthelmess as David, the son of a country Squire; and Lowell Sherman as Sanderson, an adventurer.Does it deserve its reputation? Well, Lillian Gish was certainly an excellent actress, very natural and expressive, and while the film drags a bit in places (and has some comedy scenes which really don't belong), it does have one or two places where the emotion of what's happening on screen reaches across the distance of nearly ninety years and makes the film work very well.Beautifully shot, especially the final scenes out on the river as the ice thaws, this is perhaps DW Griffith's best film - without the dubious racist leanings of Birth of a Nation or the OTT leanings of Intolerance. 'Way Down East', from a stage play, is an excellent film - yes, it is perhaps overly moralistic and more than a bit Victorian in its tone, but it still works well.
wes-connors
Lillian Gish (as Anna Moore) lives with her poor mother in Greenville, a remote New England village. A sore need for money demands Ms. Gish leave for Boston, to appeal to some wealthy relatives, the Tremonts. Richard Barthelmess (as David Bartlett) lives elsewhere; "though of plain stock, he has been tutored by poets and visions wide as the world." In the city, Gish meets Lowell Sherman (as Lennox Sanderson). Mr. Sherman's hobby is "ladies, Ladies, LADIES!"; specifically, he is interested in the sexual conquest of virginal young women. Gish's delicate beauty is "a whip to Sherman's jaded appetite"; and, she innocently enters his clutches. Sherman tricks Gish into a mock marriage, and leaves her pregnant… Deceptively subtitled "A Simple Story of Plain People"; possibly, director D.W. Griffith was seeking to enhance his film's dramatic twists and turns; since, while Gish's "Anna" could be considered of "plain" stock, what happens her could not be called "simple". This film reunites Lillian Gish and Richard Barthelmess, after the successful "Broken Blossoms" (1919); their "Way Down East" performances are also stunning, though Barthelmess has less to do this time around. The spectacular ending is still riveting after all these years; but, it works best after you've seen the preceding story of degradation and love.The flaw in "Way Down East" may be Griffith's overindulgence in ludicrous "slapstick"-type humor; this is most explicit in Edgar Nelson's "Hi Holler" character, which really lays an egg. The silliness also rears its ugly head on Creighton Hale's occasionally cow-licked crown. Neither "True Heart Susie" (1919) nor "The Greatest Question" (1919) veered so wildly into this form of lunacy. But, in the end, these indulgences cannot diminish the great performances, and spectacular ending of "Way Down East". The "great ice-break" is absolutely indispensable. ********** Way Down East (9/3/20) D.W. Griffith ~ Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Lowell Sherman, Creighton Hale
TheMovieCritic_83
Lillian Gish is regarded as probably the best actress of the silent era, and there's a good reason for that. As Elsie Stoneman in 'The Birth of a Nation', she appears as a reasonably serious and strong woman. As Anna Moore in 'Way Down East', she is a much more fragile and vulnerable character. This versatility is the mark of a good performer, and Lillian Gish has got it. It is mostly her presence that makes this a memorable film.Anna Moore is a young naive girl who lives with her mother. When they begin to experience financial difficulties, Anna goes to visit some rich relatives, hoping to get assistance. During the visit, she meets the womanising Lennox Sanderson. To her, it's love. To him, it's just another adventure. Lennox deviously organises a mock marriage ceremony, and after Anna becomes pregnant, the truth comes out and he abandons her. Anna then leaves home and finds work on a farm. She doesn't know it, but Lennox lives close by and, inevitably, the two cross paths again.'Way Down East' is not a classic, but is worth a look. The emotional elements in the film aren't given quite enough attention to leave any real impact, and the film does drag in certain spots and is about half an hour too long. The characters are well defined though, and D W Griffith punctuates the film with some amusing comical moments.
