''The Lonely Villa'' is a 1909 American short silent

crime drama film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but al ...

directed by

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

and starring

David Miles David Kenneth Miles (born 1959) is a British economist. Born in Swansea, he has spent his working life in London, in teaching, business and the public sector. He is a professor at Imperial College London, and head of economic analysis at the ...

Florence Lawrence Florence Lawrence (born Florence Annie Bridgwood; January 2, 1886 – December 28, 1938) was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was long thought to be the first film act ...

, and

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

in one of her first film roles. It is based on the 1901 French play ''Au Téléphone'' (''At the Telephone'') by

André de Lorde André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries, as well in Portugal ...

. A print of ''The Lonely Villa'' survives and is currently in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

. ''The Lonely Villa'' was produced by the

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 ...

. It was released on June 10, 1909, along with another D. W. Griffith split-reel film, ''A New Trick''.

Plot

Three burglars check out a house. One of them then delivers a fake letter summoning the house's owner, Mr. Cullison. Before he leaves, Cullison gives his wife a pistol, but the crook manages to unload it unnoticed. The butler and a maid receive time off, and Cullison is driven away by his chauffeur, apparently leaving the wife and three daughters all alone. The crooks break down the front door using a crowbar. Mrs. Cullison and her daughters flee to a room, lock the door and barricade it. Meanwhile, the man's car breaks down. He takes the opportunity to use the telephone at an inn to call his wife. She tells him what is going on. He borrows a horse-drawn wagon from gypsies, and he, a policeman and two men from the inn gallop to his home. When the robbers break down the second door, the family take refuge in a third room, but the burglars soon get in. One tries to open a safe, while a second rips a necklace off the woman's neck. Just then, the rescuers arrive and save the day.

Cast

Production

Filming took place on April 29–30 and May 4, 6 and 14, 1909, 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 ...

, and at Biograph's studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Griffith used cross-cutting to create tension. A series of alternating shots depicts the mother desperately defending her children from intruders, with shots of the frantic father returning at high speed to reach his imperiled family. Griffith, by incrementally shortening the length of each cross-cut "heightened the excitement" of the event.

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonely Villa, The 1909 films 1909 short films 1900s American films 1900s crime drama films 1900s English-language films American black-and-white films American films based on plays English-language crime drama films English-language drama short films Short films directed by D. W. Griffith Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey Films about home invasion Silent American crime drama films Silent American drama short films Surviving American silent films Articles containing video clips

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links