In Life's Cycle

In Life's Cycle (1910)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Fair melodrama about a father (George Nichols) who makes his kids promise not to forget their mother who recently passed. As adults, the son (Henry B. Walthall) goes to become a priest while the daughter (Stephanie Longfellow) runs off with a bad man and soon finds herself in trouble. The son keeps his promise of visiting the grave of his mother but the daughter doesn't follow suit. This isn't the best film to come from Griffith but it at least features some pretty good performances with Walthall leading the way. He manages to pass off emotions without ever going over the top and he really manages to put in a lot of heart to the character. Nichols also manages to be pretty good in his part as is Charles West in a supporting bit. Longfellow on the other hand is pretty forgettable in the role of the daughter and this does bring the film down a few notches considering she has perhaps the most important part here. Fans of the director will want to look quickly for his first wife in a small role. Griffith handles the material quite well as its nothing he wasn't use to but the screenplay really isn't all that special and there's not enough backbone to back up all the preaching.