The Adventures of Dollie

Though listed as "lost" in Iris Barry's 1940 biography of D.W. Griffith, "The Adventures of Dollie" was discovered in the Library of Congress' paper print division in the 50s and transferred back to flexible film. Having seen it on 8mm, I can attest that it is a rather ordinary one-reeler consisting of thirteen scenes shot from twelve set-ups with nothing to distinguish it from other Biograph product of the era than that it is known to have been the first film directed by D.W. Griffith. I'm rather surprised by the high rating the imdb voters have given it, as Griffith would achieve much higher standards even within 1908, and would go on in short measure to blow films like "Dollie" totally out of the water, both technically and in terms of story development. For him it was merely a start, for us it's amazing this historic treasure survives to be seen at all.

Having previously played a man whose son gets kidnapped in Rescue from an Eagle's Nest, for his first work behind the camera, D. W. Griffith tells a story in which a father and mother's daughter gets kidnapped by a gypsy. This was quite a straightforward narrative that doesn't seem much different from other films during this time (once again, there are no close-ups) but there's some excitement especially concerning the object the daughter gets stuck in as we follow that object's journey. And Griffith got great help from co-director G. W. Bitzer who'd eventually be his cinematographer. All in all, The Adventures of Dollie was an enjoyable beginning for Griffith's new career.

The Adventures of Dollie (1908) : Brief Review -

This is where the Legacy of The Father Of The Cinema Begun. A quintessential human drama of historical importance. D W Griffith, the father of cinema, who established so many dramatic genres and sub-genres in Cinema World begin his unbeatable career with this short. In the same year he shot 48 shorts for a studio but for historical notes, The Adventures of Dollie stands as a highly important film. The film tells the story of a young girl who, after being kidnapped by a gypsy peddler, ends up trapped in a barrel as it floats downriver toward a waterfall. Within 13 minutes, Griffiths closes on deal with so many substances such as family, emotions, gypsy, thrill and happy ending. That scene when the gypsy tries to rob the woman, he does, the woman fights back, the small girl also throws her hand at him and the husband comes from behind and beats the bad guy. This all happens within 15 Seconds, yes that's the thing to notice. Its not the end but even the later part builds a strong story of commonalty, which, certainly wasn't common for 1908. Griffith's editing also packs a great punch while telling this quintessential storyline in thrilling manners. Well, 1908 wasn't the time where one would have given solid acting performance as the motion pictures were just started learning to take a breath so let's not talk about that and to be frank i couldn't even recognise their faces as there were no close-up shots. It is hard to rate the films made before 'Birth Of A Nation' (1915) because everything was at learning stage then. So, don't take the rating much seriously as i just had to rate it something, somehow. It's a primary schooling for us Movie Buffs where acknowledging and understanding cinema matters more than the Grades.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

After 6 months in front of the camera, D. W. Griffith, 33, was given a shot to direct a movie for Biograph Studios in July 1908. The studio's previous go-to director, veteran Wallace McCutcheon, Sr., became ill and his son didn't work out. G.W. Bitzer, Biograph's primary cameraman, recommended Griffith because the actor was always asking questions about the details of moviemaking. Given the assignment at directing, his first film was "The Adventures of Dollie."

The movie was a success, to which Biograph assigned him as its main director. The film itself is quite pedestrian, but it does show Griffith's understanding of that day's cinematic language. A few clipped scenes reflects his desire not to stretch out segments so in vogue in the early 1900's. (Yet the lingering sequence of the barrel traveling downstream shows he hadn't quite grasped future film pacing) Griffith's use of depth-of-field, however reflects a knowledge of departing from stage-bound right-to-left movements and captures the actors moving towards and away from the camera.

This is where it began: The first picture of arguably the most important director – if not the most important single figure – in cinema history. Is it any good? Well, no, of course not. No genius ever arrived on a scene fully formed. Considered in itself and of its time it is much like anything else an inexperienced director might have produced for the Biograph company in 1908. But with hindsight… DW Griffith's background was in theatre, which set him apart because many of the earliest film pioneers were essentially technicians. This is in part the reason why a lot of visual effects were perfected before narrative and acting style. Silent cinema as it was then however differed little from stagecraft, especially since mime was then a lot more common, and with this crudely melodramatic tale Griffith is essentially directing broad pantomime, full of exaggerated gesture to overcompensate for the lack of speech.

However, Griffith appears to acknowledge one difference between cinema and theatre, one that was to become key to his style ever after, and that is the use of depth. Virtually all the movement in The Adventures of Dollie is towards or away from the camera, as oppose to across it. The long static takes particularly highlight this approach. This is before editing within a scene or using inserts were common methods, and this means we get some odd-looking (and very theatrical) set-ups, as in the scene where Dollie is kidnapped, the father walks away and the gypsy approaches all within the same shot, meaning our sense of logic tells us that the father can't be more than a dozen paces away when his girl is snatched. Griffith is still using the concept of stage wings for entrances and exits, imagining that once someone has walked out of sight they are out of the scene, which looks unnatural for cinema. However, rather than having them at left and right as on a stage, the father exits walking straight into the foreground, while the gypsy emerges from the bushes in the background. It still looks illogical, but it shows a willingness to work on solutions towards a non-theatrical style.

In doing this, Griffith is showing nothing entirely new and certainly nothing exceptional, but he is showing a certain tendency, a particular way of thinking about the medium that would later lead to amazing things. And Griffith also displays his quality as an ideas man that transcends all technique and experience. For example, when the father searches through the gypsy caravan, the gypsy is resting his foot on the barrel in which Dollie is hidden, cockily flaunting the secret before his enemy. It's little touches like this, giving a scene that little bit of character, that separate the great directors from the merely good ones.