''An Unseen Enemy'' is a 1912

Biograph Company The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, ...

short silent film directed by D. W. Griffith, and was the first film to be made starring the actresses Lillian Gish and

Dorothy Gish Dorothy Elizabeth Gish (March 11, 1898June 4, 1968) was an American actress of the screen and stage, as well as a director and writer. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great s ...

. A critic of the time stated that "the Gish sisters gave charming performances in this one-reel film". The film was shot in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

where early film studios in

America's first motion picture industry Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

were based at the beginning of the 20th century. Consistent with practice at that time, the actors in the cast and their roles are not listed in the film. (The car chase near the end was not filmed in Fort Lee. It began in Little Silver, NJ and ended in Oceanport, NJ, the movable Goose Neck Bridge connecting the two).

Plot

A physician's death orphans his two adolescent daughters. Their older brother is able to convert some of the doctor's small estate to cash. It is late in the day, and with the banks closed he stores the money in his father's household safe. The slatternly housekeeper, aware of the money, enlists a criminal acquaintance to help crack the safe. They lock the daughters in an adjacent room, and the drunken housekeeper menaces them by brandishing a gun through a hole in the wall. The resourceful girls use the telephone to call their brother who has returned to town. He gets the message and organizes a rescue party.

Cast

* Elmer Booth * Lillian Gish *

* Harry Carey Sr. *

Robert Harron Robert Emmett Harron (April 12, 1893 – September 5, 1920) was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in over 200 films, he is possibly best recalled for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed film ...

Grace Henderson Grace C. F. Roth Henderson (January 1860 – October 30, 1944) was an American stage actress and prolific performer in silent motion pictures. Biography Henderson was born Grace C. F. Roth in Ann Arbor, Michigan in January 1860. Her fath ...

as The Unseen Enemy *

Charles Hill Mailes Charles Hill Mailes (25 May 1870 – 17 February 1937) was a Canadian actor of the silent era. Biography Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1870, Mailes appeared in 290 films between 1909 and 1935. He married the actress Claire McDowell ...

* Walter Miller *

Henry B. Walthall Henry Brazeale Walthall (March 16, 1878 – June 17, 1936) was an American stage and film actor. He appeared as the Little Colonel in D. W. Griffith's ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915). Early life Henry B. Walthall was born March 16, 1878 on a ...

Adolph Lestina Adolph Lestina (1861– August 23, 1923) was an American stage and film actor who was a member of D. W. Griffith's stock company of film actors. Career He received positive notice for his performance in Justin McCarthy's ''If I Were King'' and ...

Antonio Moreno Antonio Garrido Monteagudo (September 26, 1887 – February 15, 1967), better known as Antonio Moreno or Tony Moreno, was a Spanish-born American actor and film director of the silent film era and through the 1950s. Early life and silent fil ...

as Man on Bridge, flagging car * Erich von Stroheim as Man in Straw Hat Dancing at Lobby Desk

Commentary

Lillian and Dorothy Gish play the two sisters in peril in this "race to the rescue" film. To emphasize their sisterhood, they wear identical outfits, hairstyles, and perform similar gestures. The other two films where the Gishes play sisters are '' The Lady and the Mouse'' (1913) and ''

Orphans of the Storm ''Orphans of the Storm'' is a 1921 American silent drama film by D. W. Griffith set in late-18th-century France, before and during the French Revolution. The last Griffith film to feature both Lillian and Dorothy Gish, it was a commercial failu ...

'' (1922).

References

External links

*
''An Unseen Enemy''
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

* *''An Unseen Enemy'' available for free download fro
Archive.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unseen Enemy, The 1912 films 1912 short films American silent short films Biograph Company films American black-and-white films Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey Films directed by D. W. Griffith Articles containing video clips 1910s American films

Plot

Cast

Commentary

See also

References

External links