The Battle of Elderbush Gulch

10 years after what is, arguably, the first western of all time, "The Great Train Robbery", D.W. Griffith (who is, perhaps, the most important filmmaker of all time) put his own spin on the western genre with his 30 minute masterpiece "The Battle at Elderbush Gulch".

Bullets going off! Horses running around! Cowboys and Indians in a fierce battle! This action packed western has almost everything you'd want out of an action packed western, and it is all presented in an only 30 minute runtime!

However, the plot, itself is really flawed, mainly because of how weird it is. It portrays Native Americans in a horribly stereotypical and downright offensive light (like how the African Americans are portrayed in Griffith's controversial epic "The Birth of a Nation"). They literally feast upon dogs, which triggers the whole battle. It is really weird and, overall, possibly the worst movie plot I've ever seen be paired with such an exciting and great movie!

While it is a bit racist, it is still engaging, entertaining, and historically important! Possibly Griffith's best short film.

Two girls (one is played by Mae Marsh) move in with their uncle. Nearby, and Indian tribe has just concluded their dog-eating festival. The Indian Chief's son (an unrecognizable Henry B. Walthall) arrives too late for the feast and is angry. Now the girls just happen to have two puppies. Now the puppies just happen to escape from the girls. Now Walthall just happens to spot his potential meal. Now Marsh goes looking for the puppies and accosts Walthall. Now Marsh's uncle just happens to be looking for Marsh and shoots Walthall. Now the rest of the tribe is angry and decides to attack the town, leading to a well staged gunfight which is resolved once the soldiers arrive.

Lillian Gish plays the mother of a newborn, and she and her husband (Robert Harron) have just arrived in town. Gish gives the best acting performance as she almost has a nervous breakdown trying to find her baby once the shooting starts.

In one very creepy scene, during the attack, we see a gun being pointed down at Gish, but it is eventually withdrawn. I assumed this scene was meant to illustrate that being shot would be preferable to whatever these Indians would do to you. There is a scene similar to this in Birth of a Nation, but don't think this is just some thing of D.W. Griffith's. In Stagecoach, a 1939 John Ford film, the same scene is played out.

Many of the cast members were reunited for The Birth of a Nation. Harry Carey is supposed to be in this, but I couldn't spot him. I did spot Lionel Barrymore as a soldier, and he certainly has a great physique here at age 34. Recommended as a good piece of silent drama, and I usually don't even like westerns.

No other film before "The Birth of a Nation" better shows the potential D.W. Griffith could direct something of such scope than does "The Battle at Elderbush Gulch". His direction of the battle scenes here are the best precursor to those in "The Birth of a Nation", even so much as for this website to say that the later film references this one. Griffith's last picture for Biograph, "Judith of Bethulia", had battle scenes, too, but nothing was added to the grammar. It was a larger battle than the one in this film, yet Griffith didn't have the budget or time to make it grand. He was going over-budget and making a feature-length film without permission from studio-heads.

The battle scenes in this film are on a smaller scale. Within that battle, there's focus on small skirmishes via extensive crosscutting. It's brutal--an infant is tossed around at one point, which I hope was a trick-shot of some sort. There's lots of smoke. There are multiple plot lines throughout, which are interlinked fluently in the climax.

All of this creates an omniscient, unrestricted narrative. The bird's eye views of the fighting are a style still used today, although the irises aren't. Griffith and Billy Bitzer further display their mastering of camera distance with frequent use of medium shots. They hadn't figured out how to do an onrush shot yet, though, as the camera position of the cavalry is boring; they'd correct that in "The Birth of a Nation". There's the missing wall in interior shots; they'd never correct that.

As fellow posters have condemned, this film is a precursor of "The Birth of a Nation" in another way: racism. Although I suppose it is racism either way, I doubt that Griffith intended to portray Native Americans ridiculously (he clearly stated that he considered Blacks to be childlike, although he didn't agree that was racist), but rather it was the result of his lack of understanding any particular tribal culture or fully understanding film representation. Bad acting didn't help, either. Only Lillian Gish and Mae Marsh really knew what they're doing. Anyhow, Griffith's earlier short film, "The Redman's View" was an attempt to be respectful of the Native-American population, even though it's a boring movie.

(Note: This is one of three short films by D.W. Griffith that I've commented on, with some arrangement in mind. The other films are "A Corner in Wheat" and "The Girl and Her Trust".)

Epic early film, directed by D.W. Griffith. Mae Marsh, her little sister, and their dogs are orphaned - they must go to live with an uncle. Aboard their coach is young couple Lillian Gish and Robert Harron, celebrating the birth of their first child. The coach arrives in Elderbush Gluch. Marsh's uncle tells her she can't keep the dogs, and they are put out. There are Indians (Native Americans) nearby; and, Indians love to eat dog meat (no kidding?). These Indians are hungry! Lionel Barrymore is sympathetic to Ms. Marsh, desiring to help her recover the runaway dogs. While rescuing the puppies, an Indian is shot - resulting in a "Cowboys vs. Indians" confrontation.

This "Saga of the American West" is certainly an important film; however, the reliable Griffith performers begin to overplay their hands, and the story is too contrived. Many of the Griffith elements are in place - some good, and a few bad. "The Battle at Elderbush Gluch" foreshadows the later epic, "Birth of a Nation".

******* The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (3/28/14) D.W. Griffith ~ Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Lillian Gish

There are several story lines in this film and shows some of the techniques that D.W. Griffith would be famous for (iris, capturing action up close and from a distance, etc.). This film has a few names that would become well-known, Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore. Sally (IMDb has her as "Hattie" (Marsh) and her sister are sent to join their uncles on the "frontier" - taking with them two puppies.

One of the uncles won't allow the puppies to stay in the cabin. Meanwhile, at the Native American village, the natives are celebrating "The Feast of the Dog", which is apparently, the day they all eat dogs. I don't know if any tribes were eating dogs, some cultures do, and the Indian tribe of Griffith's imagination ate dogs - at least once (you don't actually see any dogs being killed, cooked, or eaten). Part of this celebration apparently is the stereotypical dancing (hiring a choreographer seems to never entered the discussions). The chief's son and his friend arrive late and try to find some dogs to eat. They soon come upon Sally's puppies, she tries to save them, and gunfire soon starts up.

The Native Americans start a war dance - this time they seem to be a bit more coordinated. A war party rides toward the whites' settlement.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, Lillian Gish's husband (Robert Herron) takes their baby to show him or her off to some of the other settlers.

The Natives ride into town firing rifles (this is where some of Griffith's more interesting shots come in to play - capturing what looks like a much larger battle taking place). There is some hand-to-hand combat taking place in the small town. When the people at the cabin hear about the attack, Gish becomes hysterical and tries to find her baby. The men who have the baby try to take shelter in a barn and "a Mexican" (William A. Carroll) rides to the nearby fort. He also appears to mount a horse and ride off in less than a second - it's either bad editing or a few frames of the film is lost.

The Natives set the barn on fire, forcing the people inside to flee. The man holding the baby is killed just outside the cabin. In the midst of a lot of smoke and confusion, Sally (aka Hattie) sneaks out of the cabin to try to save the baby.

Will the cavalry get to the cabin in time to save the remaining settlers? Will the Natives scalp anyone? You'll have to watch to find out!