''A Corner in Wheat'' is a 1909 American short

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

which tells of a greedy

tycoon A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

who tries to

Cornering the market In finance, cornering the market consists of obtaining sufficient control of a particular stock, commodity, or other asset in an attempt to manipulate the market price. Companies that have cornered their markets have usually done so in an attemp ...

in wheat, destroying the lives of the people who can no longer afford to buy bread. It was directed by D. W. Griffith and adapted by Griffith and Frank E. Woods from a novel and a short story by

Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalism (literature), naturalist genre. His notable works include ''M ...

, titled '' The Pit'' and " A Deal in Wheat". Griffith may have had a real-life inspiration: six months earlier, James A. Patten had actually cornered the market in wheat, and in some cities, the price of bread doubled from five cents to ten, just as in the movie. In 1994, ''A Corner in Wheat'' was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation (library and archival science), preservation, each selected for its cultural, historical, and aestheti ...

by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Two men sow a field by hand, while a third plows. Meanwhile, the "wheat king" comes up with idea to corner the market in the grain. He sends his underlings to the wheat pit to buy and sell. He dismisses the pleas of a "ruined man" devastated by his business manipulation. As a result, the common folk have to pay double for bread, ten cents a loaf instead of five, or go without. A group of angry men have to be driven back from a baker at gunpoint by policemen. The wheat king celebrates his triumph with a dinner party. He later takes his family and friends on a tour of the

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

s. However, unseen by anyone, he falls into an elevator and is buried by the grain being poured in. He is finally fished out, but too late (see still photograph above). In the final scene, the same farmer as at the beginning sows his field, though now he is alone.

Cast

Release

The film was released on December 13, 1909. Because of an upsurge in political

populism Populism is a essentially contested concept, contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the "common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently a ...

, audiences reacted to the film positively. Before ''A Corner in Wheat'', Griffith avoided making political statements in his work. After the film's success, he began to make bolder statements about society and politics, such as famously championing

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

in ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'' is a 1915 American Silent film, silent Epic film, epic Drama (film and television), drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and ...

'' (1915).

Analysis and impact

Griffith normally used intercutting (

cross-cutting Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simulta ...

) to depict "converging lines of action"; here, however, the three narrative threads—the farmers, the wheat king, and the poor affected by his actions—never interact with each other. Vlada Petrić states that this "anticipates Eisenstein's intellectual montage."

References

External links

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''A Corner in Wheat'' essay by Daniel Eagan
at the

''A Corner in Wheat''
at the

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''A Corner in Wheat''
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corner In Wheat, A 1909 films 1909 drama films 1909 short films 1900s American films 1900s English-language films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Frank Norris Short films directed by D. W. Griffith Biograph Company films United States National Film Registry films Silent American drama short films Articles containing video clips Films with screenplays by Frank E. Woods Surviving American silent films Wheat in culture English-language drama short films