WATCHING EYES* (1921) 5 reels Frazer/Arrow bw
Kiki the Dog, Edna Beaumont (Evelyn Selby), Geoffrey H. Mallins (Adam Dewey), John Wickens (Clayton Miles).
Strange movie featuring a canine is not geared, as one would expect, to the kid's market-a la Rin-Tin-Tin and Strongheart but plays instead to an adult audience. The story has Kiki. a trained Pomeranian, preventing its mistress from running.off with a man who is after her fortune, and then bringing her to the realization that her original suitor is really the fellow for her. w, Robert Blame.
Drama 11 1(PR:A MPAA:NR)

WAY DOWN EAST**** (1920) 13 reels D.W. Griffith/UA bw
Lillian Gish (Anna Moore), Mrs. David Landau (Her Mother), Josephine Bernard (Mrs. Tremont), Mrs. Morgan Belmont (Diana Tremont), Patricia Fruen (Her Sister), Florence Short (The Eccentric Aunt), Lowell Sherman (Lennox Sanderson), Burr McIntosh (Squire Bartlett), Kate Bruce (Mrs. Bartlett), Richard Bartheimess (David Bartlett), Viva Ogden (Martha Perkins), Porter Strong (Seth Holcomb), George Neville (Reuben Whipple), Edgar Nelson
(Hi Holler), Mary Hay (Kate Brewster), Creighton Hale (Prof. Sterling), Emily Fitzroy (Maria Poole), Una Merkei , Norma Shearer (Extra).
WAY DOWN EAST, D.W. Griffith's second biggest money maker next to THE BIRTH OF A NATION, is remarkable for a number of reasons. The director shocked the industry by paying a record $175,000 (twice the cost of BIRTH OF A NATION) for the rights to this ancient Lottie Blair Parker melodrama which was first presented on the stage in 1898, and then hired Anthony Paul Kelly, for an additional $3,000, to adapt it. This was, incidentally, the first time Griffith ever worked with a scenario. He also broke new ground for the industry by taking out insurance policies on the cast and weather. Gish passed with flying colors, but Barthelmess was discovered to possess a sinus condition, and Clarine Seymour was diagnosed as having "a problem." She would tragically die of intestinal complications during the shooting, and Hay, a dancer who resembled the actress, took her place. (She and Barthelmess were later married.) To be sure, the story did creak loudly, but Griffith took the nostalgia it possessed, obtained masterful performances from his principal players, turned the shortcomings of plot to his advantage, and created a motion picture of unparalleled beauty. The story had to do with a lovely but unworldly girl (Gish), who is tricked into a mock marriage by a wealthy playboy (portrayed by Sherman, in his finest performance). Time passes, Sherman grows bored with his little toy, and when he's told - that she's pregnant, the cad simply deserts her by returning to the city. This leads to one of Gish's most moving moments before the camera. She is baptizing her dreadfully ill baby, clinging to the hope that it will survive. Then she is told that the infant is dead. She just stares straight ahead, rocking back and forth, moving her head slowly from left to right. Suddenly she goes into what can best be described as a catatonic seizure. It is an experience of extraordinary power, and one which could only have been created by an actress and a director who possessed an almost mystical artistic rapport. Having overcome this tragedy, Gish moves on and finds work on a farm owned by Barthelmess' family, who come to regard her with kindly affection. But things become complicated for the hapless Gish once again, when it turns out that the neighboring estate is owned by the family of Sherman, who is interested in Gish's employer's niece, Hay, and begins to spend a lot of time on the farm. Meanwhile, Barthelmess has fallen in love with Gish, but feeling unworthy of him she refuses to make a commitment- Then all hell breaks loose. Fitzroy, Gish's former landlady, arrives in town for a visit, spots the girl doing her shopping, and quickly spreads the story of how the girl had a baby and "there weren't no father!" At the big barn dance, Barthelmess' father, McIntosh, is told this gossip, and makes a visit to Fitzroy. He returns with his puritanical blood boiling, and orders Gish out of the house. Before leaving the girl condemns Sherman, who happens to be a guest, and then disappears into a blizzard. Barthelmess lunges at Sherman and throws him out of the house as well. What then follows are the film's most celebrated scenes as the dazed and disoriented Gish wanders through the storm, her eyes almost frozen shut until she collapses onto the frozen river, just as the ice is starting to break up. Searching for her is Barthelmess, lantern in hand. But already the poor young woman is unconscious on a slab of ice, which is slowly beginning to make its way towards the waterfalls. The young man spots her, however, and in one of the most thrilling scenes ever, Barthelmess leaps from one ice block to the next, often stumbling until he reaches Gish and pulls her to safety just before her own cake goes flying over the fails. With the truth finally out, McIntosh begs Gish's forgiveness and there is a wedding, but not
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