In the Border States

During the 1910s, there were a large number of films made in the US about the Civil War--most likely since the 50th anniversary of its start and finish were being celebrated. I've seen quite a few compared to most people alive today and some of them are pretty good (like this one) and some are incredibly old fashioned and totally ridiculous. I was happy to see that even though the plot here is a bit difficult to imagine actually happening, the film itself isn't so heavy-handed and schmaltzy as many of the day. In fact, the film is pretty low-key and the acting is a bit easier to believe than most--with less wild gesticulating and over-acting than usual. The film is a very simple film about a family living in a Border state that is caught up in the war. In many ways, it's like the old story about the lion and the mouse that pulled the splinter out of the lion's paw--only to later have this act of kindness repaid in kind. While this film WON'T change your life, it's well-made, interesting and gives what looks like a real window into the Civil War.

"In the Border States" is a very simple story of a horrible and senseless time, but it gets top rating because of the performance of little Gladys Egan.

In years, her career, if that's even the right word, was short, but in those few years, she accumulated 110 credits, apparently not performing after 1914.

She plays the younger daughter of a man who goes off to war, and that terrible event is fought right in the family's neighborhood.

Northern and Southern forces fight back and forth, and the child gets her loyalties and her humanity tested.

Not much surprising happens, but how little Gladys Egan, about age 10 at filming, handles her role makes watching this completely worthwhile.

Eight stars. If there is one short that encapsulates all of Griffith's views on honor and loyalty, this is it. Griffith was a southerner, born in the 1870s. His father and grandfather were Confederate soldiers. And it's pretty clear that he bought into the "Lost Cause" myth. But who does he make the sympathetic core of the film? The family of a Union soldier. The hero is a Confederate, but notice that neither side does anything horrific. Nor anything particularly praise-worthy (until the end). Something modern viewers should consider, watching this film, is that anyone in their 50s would remember the Civil War in 1910. It wasn't history yet, it was memory. So making a war movie that centers on family, and with sympathy for both sides, was a bold act. 2 February 2024.

This is an excellent short drama that leaves a memorable impression of the human side of war, and that makes good points about the conflict between the perceived duty to one's nation and one's higher duty to humanity. The story is about a father who leaves to fight for the Union in the Civil War, while in his absence his family also gets caught up in the terrors of the war. The plot is interesting, eventful, and thought-provoking. Given what the war was like "In The Border States", it is also quite plausible.

Methods of filming at the time were very limited, with each scene using a completely fixed camera field of vision, in which all the actors had to stay for the duration of the scene. Griffith makes up for that at times with some nicely planned shots. There is a good one when the father heads off to join his unit, showing part of the town and its townspeople in the background. There is another good one later, showing a sentry on a hill with a nice view of a river beneath the hill.

This is a fine film to take a look at for those interested in the history of these very old movies.

In 1910, America was preparing to commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the Civil War, and the gradual development of cinema made it possible to convincingly recreate the events of decades past. While many of these Civil War films were dispensable and quickly forgotten, at least one director knew exactly what he was doing with the camera. D.W. Griffith became such a successful filmmaker because he could really connect with the human side of his characters. War films can very easily become a one-sided affair, showing sympathy and compassion for only one of the feuding powers, while the other one is designated to the role of the faceless enemy. Not so for Griffith, at least not in this case. 'In the Border States (1910)' humanises both sides of the American Civil War, suggesting that there was little difference between the soldiers who fought for either the Union or the Confederacy (a sobering realisation that usually only comes years after the bloodshed of combat).

The film opens with a young father (Charles West) joining the Union army and marching off to war, leaving behind an anxious family. His daughter (Gladys Egan), collecting water at the well one day, is surprised by a Confederate soldier, who is dying of thirst and being pursued by the enemy. Despite her prejudices, the girl decides to help the poor man, a simple act of kindness that will later reward her in kind. 'In the Border States' really captures the turmoil and confusion of the Civil War, with soldiers fighting fellow Americans at their own doorstep, and being unable to understand why they are in conflict with men who are so similar to themselves. The young girl's benevolence shows that, while loyalty to one's army is noble, this comes second to one's obligation towards his fellow man – regardless of nationality or beliefs. Griffith's action-packed Biograph short, without needing to hammer its message home, is a stirring anti-war testament; it's too bad that, within a few years, the world would be making the same mistakes all over again.