A Corner in Wheat

D. W. Griffith was still finding his feet as a film director when he made this early short for Biograph in 1909, but it's clear that he was already emerging as a leader among the pioneering directors in New York.

This is quite a macabre parable in which an unscrupulous tycoon suffers an ironic fate after cornering the world market in wheat and boosting his bank balance by $4,000,000 in the process. Many aspects of the film are still quite primitive by today's standards - particularly the fraught scene in the trading pit during which nearly everybody overacts outrageously so that the viewer doesn't know where to look.

The cross-cutting for which Griffith would become justly famous is in evidence here, but it's interesting that, instead of using it to heighten moments of tension or suspense, he uses successive shots to emphasise the contrasting lifestyles of the ruthless speculator who drunkenly toasts his good fortune at a banquet with his friends while the poor working masses suffer the economic fallout of his manipulation of the market.

A Corner in Wheat is a little meditation on capitalism, derived from Frank Norris, weaving together narrative fragments linked by their relation to wheat. The film begins with farmers sowing grain and taking their meager harvest to market. Capitalist speculators engineer the "corner in wheat" of the title, establishing full control over the world's supply. We see, intercut with this coup and the main capitalist's ensuing celebrations, the effects on others: another speculator is ruined, the farmers return home empty-handed, the urban poor go hungry and begin to riot when bread becomes unaffordable. The riot is squelched, but the "Wheat King" meets with his just desserts, inadvertently buried under an avalanche of grain, while the farmers continue to toil.

7* (10* Rating System)

A Corner In Wheat (1909) : Brief Review :

D W Griffith's parallels with social commentary on two opposite and inevitable corners of the society. The unavoidable fact of the society was, is and will be that, 'The Rich gets richer and The Poor gets even worse' and unfortunately the world doesn't seems to be bothered by the idea of changing this equation. D W Griffith, who has always showm sympathetic approach to the poor people in his film with one constant condition that the character has to have good and kind Nature, have used the same formula but it was far before he used it in his most popular films made years later. A Corner In Wheat is about an Alan unscrupulous and greedy capitalist speculator decides to corner the wheat market for his own profit, establishing complete control over the markets and destroys the lives of poor people. The film showcases two opposite and different corners of the society, the rich and the poor, dealing with different consequences of the same issue and at the same time. This idea of parallel narrative was loved by audience after 50s but who knew that Griffith did it almost 4 decades ago. Watch out for the scenes when he shows the rich people partying and wasting foods and drinks and on the side we see poor and hungry people in que for food and not getting it. Such a heartbreaking scene it was. And the last frame when the poor man is crying and seeding at the time, what a wonderful thing it was. Hats off to D W Griffith and his imaginative brain which was running far ahead of its time and unfortunately we didn't born in his era to experience his brilliance. Whoever is fan of the cinematic genius called Griffith just can't miss this Short flick. Don't take the rating too seriously as it is purely systematic because films made 10 decades ago just cannot be measured with modern strips. A Must See!

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest

A greedy tycoon decides, on a whim, to corner the world market in wheat. This doubles the price of bread, forcing the grain's producers into charity lines and further into poverty.

D. W. Griffith was, of course, a master of the early cinema and dominated the silent film. He may be best known for "Intolerance" and "Birth of a Nation", but this is a notable film in its own right, showing the struggle between agriculture and investors. What political message was being said (if any)? Strangely, the film is said to be based on the novel "The Pit". How exactly an entire novel can be adapted to a 10-minute film is not known. If anything, it would simply share the same theme. Maybe I ought to track down "The Pit"...

Directors use the technique of freeze frames in movies to emphasize a crucial point where the picture pauses in midstream, somewhat like a photograph. The first film to use this effective cinematic tool was December 1909's "A Corner of Wheat." D.W. Griffith showed the despair of the poor effected by greed in his--and film's--historic freeze frame.

"A Corner of Wheat" marked Griffith's year-and-a-half of directing films. His innovations in cinematic techniques began to really pile up from this point. The movie highlights his now familiarity with cross-cutting and parallel editing, unfolding a story with two perspectives--here the ravenous rich contrasting against the despairing poor. The depth of field in the beginning and ending shots of the farmers walking towards the camera planting wheat reflect an understanding of using the entire frame to capture the essence of the atmosphere of the narrative.

This is the first time Griffith addressed social disparity and holding those responsible for such unfairness. Based on a 1902 Frank Norris book, "The Pit," Griffith was able to effectively slim down the novel into several concise scenes within a one-reel movie.