Brute Force

Brute Force (1914)

**** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith's sequel to Man's Genesis has Weakhands (Robert Harron) and Lillywhite (Mae Marsh) living with a new family but the womanless tribe led by Bruteforce (Wilfred Lucas) attacks them and kidnaps all the woman. Since Bruteforce was able to beat the tribe with sticks and rocks, Weakhands must come up with a new invention to get revenge. He then comes up with a bow and arrow. This is another highly entertaining two-reeler from Griffith who pulls out all the stops and makes a really strong film, although the opening and closing sequences set in current times was pretty useless. Once again the cavemen look great with their make up and costumes. Another added bonus is that there's a terrific fight between the two sides, which goes on for quite a while. The action is very much real as Griffith paid the extras a few more dollars if they were willing to get hit upside the head. The one silly segment is Griffith showing some dinosaurs, which are obviously fake. I could tell one was an alligator dressed up as a dino but there's also a real dino skeleton used, which Griffith was able to borrow from a museum. Future Tarzan Elmo Lincoln plays one of the cavemen and Lionel Barrymore is also on hand but I wasn't able to spot him. AKA Primitive Man and In Prehistoric Days.