The Country Doctor

You might have noticed opening shots in movies when they appear after the titles. These are called establishing shots, and they set in motion the locale, time (current or in the past) and the mood of the film. The first such cinematic shot appearing in film took place in July 1909 with the release of D. W. Griffith's "The Country Doctor." The establishing shot in this film is a panning opening (camera moves left to right). Most establishing shots are a series of wide static shots. Griffith's opening takes a deliberate view of the countryside, which was filmed in Greenwich, CT. The sequence lingers over the warm plush scenery until ending at the front door of the doctor's house. This opening establishes the bucolic nature of the residing family which the plot revolves around, who are seen in the following sequence running through a field of flowers. The opening shot also becomes symbolic to nature's role in the subsequent action as well as to the contradictory irony that nature plays in everyone's lives (see linked article). Appearing as the sick child's mother is actress Florence Lawrence, who was becoming a familiar face to Biograph Studio Production audiences. Yet the studio still refused to identify the name of this actress to the public. Griffith's opening served as a template for future movies in cinema, weighing the importance in that initial shot of films going forward.

The Country Doctor (1909) : Brief Review -

Amongst DW Griffith's early works which had more heart than anything else as he tells a emotionally gripping short story of a big, noble soul. The Country Doctor is that perfect tale we hope to read in children's books and just as it happens. The emotional connect and sentimental offering of the main character is always important when it comes to such films and someone like Griffith couldn't have missed it surely. The Country Doctor is about a doctor and his emotional struggle between family and duty. In the first frame we see a pan shot of nature, scenery and then we see doctor and his family walking down the Greenery. In the very next frame, the film comes to point with his daughter falling suddenly ill. While he is worrying about her health, he is called by a native whose daughter is also terribly ill. His duty beckons and he leaves his daughter. Here we get to see Griffith's smart direction. It was 1909 so obviously dialogues and long dramatic sequences did not exist, yet he manages to show the doctor's pain. His longing for daughter and such things. That scene when he moves aside front the bed and pulls his hand away, we know how he's feeling. The next scenes are showcased as we are seeing two situations at the same time, one the doctor's daughter with her mother and the other house where the doctor is busy treating someone else's daughter. Eventually we are drove into a sentimental climax where you feel for the doctor but also have proud feeling for him. His noble work is acknowledged and that's where i think the motive of making this short is fulfilled. Overall, it's a fine piece of filmmaking as well as a good heartwarming storyline that you can connect to. The same noble stories have made Big noise in 1940s you know, so give a try to early attempts which established cinema for us.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

With exteriors filmed in pastoral Cunnecticut and an excellent cast of Griffith's top actors (Florence Lawrence, Mary Pickford, Kate Bruce, baby Gladys Egan), The Country Doctor is still an effective dramatic work, showing a doctor's moral and emotional struggle over treating a young patient while his own daughter lies dying at home.

The family's happiness at the beginning of the film is emphasized with very long takes of the happy threesome walking down their garden path, stopping in a field to pick flowers, smiling and stretching their arms skyward with contentment. Miz Larwence chews the scenery somewhat in these first shots, her gesturing breaking the serenity of the landscape. Once the film goes indoors and she trades her white summer gown for a sober black dress, she is much more controlled. The doctor/father, Frank Powell, also uses some dated indication techniques throughout the film. The real laurels go to the two children of the film, Gladys Egan and Adele DeGarde, who both play their sick-little-girl roles superbly, with subtle, realistic emotion.

There is especially lovely cinematography and scenery in this film. Billy Bitzer's opening and closing panoramic shots of the valley are stunning. Well worth seeing for many reasons, and definitely accessible to modern viewers.

This Griffith short is relatively straightforward, on the surface anyway: a country doctor has to tend to two girls who are bedridden and may be dying at the same time. One may live and one... well, you should watch it to find out that part. What stands out of course is the parallel editing, and the ending is somber and melodramatic, but the actors play the emotion without ever going over the top. I didn't get the 'metaphysical' panning shot part of it, showing the valley where the doctor lives at the start and the beginning. It doesn't add much to the drama of the story, and is Griffith's way of jamming in something spiritual, but the shots look exactly the same from the opening to the closing. We also don't get any sense of the doctor's family life before these two girls become sick, it just jumps right into this conflict of the story: will the doctor be able to save both girls. That makes for a good subject, and again the actors are all solid, but it's not great. There isn't much room for anything as far as changing up shots, it's all static and this only works to the benefit of near the end (to cut away from that would be unthinkable).

This somber D.W. Griffith drama is still quite effective in grabbing hold of your emotions and making you anguish over the dilemmas facing its characters. It's hard to see how even today anyone could significantly improve on the way that it gets the most out of the material.

Griffith chose to open the story with a long panning shot of a beautiful countryside, before introducing "The Country Doctor" and his family. This opening is very effective in establishing the setting, and in fact the first few minutes are taken up with that shot and with some light-hearted scenes of the family outdoors. When the more serious part of the story is suddenly introduced, it is that much more effective for the contrast that has been established.

The main story is based on a simple but powerful premise, as the doctor must make agonizing decisions between his duty as a physician and his loyalty to his own family. Many things work together to make it so effective. The cast (which includes early audience favorite Florence Lawrence as the doctor's wife, and Mary Pickford in a smaller role) is pretty good, and the technique is quite refined for 1909. The cross-cutting at crucial points is particularly effective, as is the careful setup of several significant parallels.

Although many other film-makers of the era deserve to share the credit with Griffith for introducing and experimenting with the kinds of techniques that would soon become standard, this feature is a good example of why Griffith attained the kind of reputation that he had. It's very carefully done, and it works well enough to remain effective even today.