Ramona

The first movie to be adapted from a novel that paid an author a fee for rights to use the story was Biograph Studio's "Ramona," released in May 1910. Director D.W. Griffith insisted the studio pay Helen Hunt Jackson $100 to translate her best-selling book to film. The sentiment of Griffith paying an author for the rights may have been because of the pending appeal of the case against Karem Studios working itself through the courts to the Supreme Court. That was the 1907 "Ben Hur" litigation suit on the studio using the Ben Hur story without the author's heirs' permission. Griffith made sure his audience noticed the attribution to the author by stating her name and and the book's publisher in the opening credits--a first in cinema.

"Ramona" stars Mary Pickford as a Spanish orphan who falls in love with a Native American. Griffith uses solitary or small groups of people to symbolize the larger historical scope of the white man civilization's treatment of constantly evicting Native Americans from their lands. Here, the Indians are represented by a ranch worker who falls in love with Ramona, who returns his passion. Once the Spanish Californians realize the mixed race affair, they go about burning the Indian village where her lover resides, causing a dislocation of the natives from the area.

"Ramona" was filmed in Ventura County, CA, during Griffith's winter stay in that state's warmer climate. Taking advantage of its stunning typography, Griffith used the high, rugged mountains as a backdrop to capture the movie's eye-popping visuals as the drama unfolds before his camera.

Regrettably, this is not a good film by any standards. Aside from fine location photography, it's a complete mess. Of course, it's an epic tale of love and suffering, squeezed into less than 20 minutes, filmed probably in a couple of days. But even under these circumstances it should have been better. As the film proceeds, it becomes more and more ludicrous, with white men perpetually stepping into the frame, declaring "This is my land!". The acting is disastrous. Mary Pickford has only two expressions in her acting book; the tragic death of Alessandro (Henry B. Walthall) sadly comes across as one of the funniest in the silent films. Only veteran Francis J. Grandon gives a decent, less-than-rabid performance in one of his last films, before he turned into directing. All said, the film is presented on BluRay in good quality and has a soaring (contemporary) score, played by violin and piano. Wouldn't hurt one to watch it, but make sure this isn't your first encounter with Miss Pickford. She has done better.

This film is part of a DVD set entitled "Treasures III"--a set of four DVDs all about social issues and reform. The fourth disk (where you'll find this one) is about ethnic issues in particular.

In many ways, this film is reminiscent of the later film, THE SQUAW MAN as both are about people falling for and marrying Native-Americans--though in RAMONA, it involves a Spanish (not Mexican) lady and SQUAW MAN was an Englishman. In D.W. Griffith's own "special" way, he was trying to promote racial harmony and understanding--this, the same man who made BIRTH OF A NATION, a film that almost single-handedly was responsible for the rebirth of the KKK!! Oddly, RAMONA stars, of all people, Mary Pickford! At the time, he was one of Griffith's favorite stars, but she looked little like a Spaniard--even under the dark wig and makeup. Why he didn't get a woman who looked the ethnic part is odd considering this was a relatively expensive film when it was made. In 1936, the film was remade starring Loretta Young(!) in this role!! At least the 1928 version starred Delores Del Rio--a Mexican lady.

Ramona falls for an American-Indian, but is attacked by her family. Likewise, her love interest is also punished and he is eventually sent to a reservation. In an odd twist, Ramona learns that she, too, has American-Indian blood--thus making her love not so forbidden after all (and more palatable to the more racist elements seeing the film).

Now that she has chosen the Indian life, she sees how nasty persecution of her new people is by the Whites. She also needs to learn what it is like to live a simple life of poverty. This is a nice attempt by Griffith to promote better treatment for natives. Also, the film features some wonderful cinematography at this point in the film--with amazing vistas of the American West. Sadly, however, this is ruined by a goofy scene where her husband goes crazy and starts jumping about wildly. This is not one of silent film's best examples of acting. Subtle it ain't. And, to make it worse, after he collapses, Ramona herself collapses over the now dead body of her lover.

For 1910, this is very good stuff. Too bad that Griffith lost all the good will and karma he generated in this film with his later infamous BIRTH OF A NATION. Even INTOLERANCE (which followed BIRTH OF A NATION) couldn't do much to improve his image today. Most people just remember him for his Klan-loving mega-epic about the evils of letting Black people "out of their place". Ugghh!

This film was an adaptation of Helen Hunt Jackson's 'Ramona'. Griffith gravitated towards this project because his previous film, 'The Two Brothers', came to a halt because of three days of rain. He felt like a caged lion being trapped inside his hotel room, and decided to get to work on his next project: this one.

Griffith had an affinity for RAMONA, having appeared in two stage versions of the novel and having hectored his bosses into paying a hundred dollars for screen rights -- this two-reeler was advertised as the most expensive picture ever made. It falls into the class of Griffith films in which he expresses sympathy for minorities and suggests that the best thing to do with people is to leave them alone. This statement may come as a bit of a shocker to those whose only knowledge of Griffith is knowing, second hand about the racism of BIRTH OF A NATION, but none to those who are familiar with more of his work: BROKEN BLOSSOMS also falls into this category and, to a great extent, so does BOAN.

Although this film is full of fine visual touches -- some excellent deep-focus shots of the characters with the distant mountains behind them dominate the camera-work --and has good performances by Mary Pickford in the title role and a slightly over-the-top performance by Henry Walthall, there is far too much solitary posing and the two reels are too brief for the story. Still, Pickford and Walthall are excellent in their scenes together, Griffith has some lovely landscape to work with and his stock company is up to their usual level of competence.