''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 Filmmaking, film production an ...

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

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American actress best known for her work in movies of the silent era. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was dubbed the "F ...

and Dorothy Gish. 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 (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

where early

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

s in America's first motion picture industry 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 *

* Dorothy Gish * Harry Carey Sr. * Robert Harron * Grace Henderson 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 McDowel ...

* Walter Miller * Henry B. Walthall * Adolph Lestina * Antonio Moreno as Man On Bridge, Flagging Car *

Erich von Stroheim Erich Oswald Hans Carl Maria von Stroheim (born Erich Oswald Stroheim, ; September 22, 1885 – May 12, 1957) was an Austrian-American director, screenwriter, actor, and producer, most noted as a film star and avant-garde, visionary director of ...

as Man In Straw Hat Dancing At Lobby Desk

Commentary

To emphasize their sisterhood, Lillian and Dorothy Gish had identical clothes and hairstyles, and made similar gestures. The other two films where the Gishes played sisters are '' The Lady and the Mouse'' (1913) and '' Orphans of the Storm'' (1922).

References

External links

*
''An Unseen Enemy''
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 ...

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

Plot

Cast

Commentary

See also

References

External links