The Massacre. 1912. Directed by D. W. Griffith.

(2/3/00)

This is a well-made film for 1912. My problem is that it is mostly a battle between whites and Indians and I personally don'tget interested in such scenes no matter how well done. But I did appreciate the western vistas, photographed from a high angle.
I admire this film in that it first shows Indians being massacred by whites. The attack on the settlers thus seems justified in a way, though no less hostile. So Griffith is kind of fair in his presentation of Indians. However, I would have admired it more if there had been more footage of the first massacre, if the two attacks had been better balanced. We see Indian women cowering with their babies, but not nearly as much as we see of white women in the same predicament. And we are emotionally involved with some ofthe whites in a way that we aren't with the Indians, especially the character played by Blanche Sweet. But the film is fair-minded as far as it goes.
I thought it was touching how the hero loved and lost both mother and daughter.