Was Justice Served?

The 34 year old D.W. Griffith was inspired by plays like 'Quo Vadis', 'Last Days of Pompeii' and 'Les Miserables' when he directed this short film. He had in mind to do his own epic, and so therefore began a serialization of short films like this one that told the American story. During the making of this film, Mary Pickford managed to save up $1200, and told Griffith that she was going to be a star. As he had no point of reference in cinematic terms, he naturally thought she was referring to the stage. Griffith is a kind of cinematic Hogarth in the way that he paints pictures in his films.