The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919) watch online HD

D.W. Griffith places his 17-year-old mistress, Carol Dempster, in the leading female role for this somewhat overlooked 1919 film, opposite sturdy Richard Barthelmess, although both are outshined by the secondary leads, Robert Harron and Clarine Seymour, as Griffith is providing his customary surfeit of sub-plots during the telling of a romantic drama concerning the Great War, just concluded at the time of filming. Griffith's systematic skills with flashbacks, montage and editing, along with the as ever creative camerawork of his loyal cinematographer, Billy Bitzer, combine to produce a very tightly-made film, with no loose ends in evidence after its fast-moving 60 minutes. The scenario involves, among so many other elements, the experiences of two brothers, portrayed by Barthelmess and Harron, who are drafted into the United States Army, experience combat in France, each stimulated by a left-behind love affair founded upon, and developing for the most part from, hope alone. A dark aspect of the work stems from the deaths not long after its completion of Harron (a freak gun accident at 27) and Seymour (intestinal illness at 21) with the petite actress who made only a handful of films just having signed a four year contract for two million dollars, an enormous sum at the time; she was that good, and Harron was an actor whose humanity and subtle comic skills were as fine as could be found.

I think this film showed that Griffith needed good players to put his films across. Originally "The Girl Who Stayed at Home" was supposed to star the Gish sisters fresh from their triumphs in "Hearts of the World", but Lillian was tired so Carol Dempster was given her part and Dorothy had started a series of comedies at Paramount Artcraft so Clarine Seymour was substituted. Clarine gave this film pizazz and was definitely the discovery of the year. Clarine had been busy at Pathe in their Toto the Clown series. She wasn't happy there and when Toto left owing one film - a young comic, Stan Laurel took his place - Griffith saw her and the rest is history. Clarine may have progressed quicker with Griffith but he was besotted with Carol Dempster - even if no one else was. In her short career, Clarine never received a bad review and "The Girl Who Stayed at Home" was no exception.

Mr. France has made his home in France rather than surrender to the Northern States in the Civil War. He resides in a château with his grand-daughter, Acoline, (Carol Dempster) and when a school chum and her family visit, she finds she is the object of affection from her friend's brother Ralph Grey (Richard Barthelmess). She is already engaged though and Ralph is crestfallen. In 1914 she visits her American friend and meets Ralph's brother, Jim "the Oily Peril" (Bobby Harron) - a lounge lizard (who walks in a very odd way)!! Some of Griffith's titles were quaint and old fashioned for the time. There are some snide references to Germany - a thug - "half drunk and half German" challenges Jim to a fight but Jim cowardly backs down. Later on the same German is called up but tears up his slip. The film was originally planned as another "propaganda" piece but when it was completed the War was over so I think a couple of scenes were inserted showing a good German soldier - one who loves his mother and saves Acoline from a fate worse than death.

War is declared and conveniently her fiancée dies. America enters the War and both brothers wish to enlist. Enter Clarine Seymour as Cutie Beautiful - the film's highpoint - at least she's an actress who knows how to act!! She plays a showgirl who is full of pep!! While Ralph runs away to join up, Jim is kept busy at his father's shipyard and begins to realise the fruitlessness of his work when the world is at war. To me, Robert Harron is the real star of the film and excellently shows the change from shallow man about town to a soldier facing the realities of War. He joins the Army, Cutie gives him a farewell dinner and he proclaims he will come back a different man. Cutie confesses her flirtations - as does Jim and together they put their trust in one another.

There are some wonderful battle scenes, that would have been stirring and exciting to the movie going public in any year but 1919. People were battle weary and sick of movies with war themes. In a homecoming scene, very distantly reminiscent of "Birth of a Nation", Atoline reunites with Ralph and Cutie tries her hardest and manages to stay faithful to a healthier looking Jim, who embraces her with a new found strength at the film's close.

I agree with the other reviewers, there is a bit of a problem when the co-stars far out shine the main stars. Richard Bartelmess didn't have much of a part. Carol Dempster, quite unattractive and with amateur acting skills was out of her depth, although at only 17 she was very young. From her first scene you could almost see her taking direction - there was a scene at a party where she is giving an odd dancing demonstration - even though she had started out as a dancer, it was almost painful to watch. As this was one of her first films she may have matured as an actress later on.

Recommended.

The Girl Who Stayed Behind is one of Griffith's minor works. A programmer that he hoped would raise some money after the financial disaster of Intolerance. It was part of a group of films that were made with some original footage and some left over footage from Hearts of the World. The main plot is quite predictable. The scenes of the lost patrol holding on despite hunger and thirst are poorly done to the point of embarrassment. Mixed with actual war footage the Griffith took when he was in France, the staged scened look rather - staged, and badly staged at that. They fail to convince.

But even a poor Griffith film has its surprises and rewards. In this case the sub-plot with Robert Harron and Clairine Seymour is quite good. Although they both start out as stereotypical young characters from the beginning of the jazz age, they both develop outside their shallow types into real and unique individuals.

The real problem is not so much the plot, Griffith's plots were often very predictable, it is the main actors. Richard Barthelmess never develops a real presence in the film. But Griffith does not give him much to work with so I can't really blame him. However, Carol Dempster has no such excuse. In this film she acts very woodenly and although she learned to act well in some of her later films ("Isn't Life Wonderful" for example) she never had the screen presence needed to be a star, even in her best roles. Her performance here is flat and lackluster, almost like a department store dummy. On the other hand, Robert Harron and Clairine Seymour both had presence to burn. They command the screen and they invest their roles with life. It is a pity that Robert Harron and Clairine Seymour did not live to become the legends that they could have. The film rates a 5 for their performances.

THE GIRL WHO STAYED AT HOME (Paramount/Artcraft, 1919), directed by D.W. Griffith, is only a movie title. It doesn't reflect upon a widowed housewife caring for her children but mostly about two brothers off to war, with the girls they love left behind. Following the current Great War trend of Griffith's earlier two hour production of HEARTS OF THE WORLD (1918) starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish, the great director attempts to do another, but on a lesser scale minus the Gish Sisters but honorable support of Griffith stock players. While the movie might have or should have been titled "The Men Who Went to War," in all essence, the "girl who stayed home" in the story is basically on a secondary character with a promise to remain loyal to her soldier of war.

Before the individual character introduction begins, an opening passage to what is to be presented ensues: "On a June day, gold with spring and blossoms in an old château in the pleasant valley of the Marne, Monsieur France sits dreaming. It is his boast that he is the only citizen of the confederate states of America who has never surrendered. At the end of the Civil War he escaped to his father's home in France rather than submit to the Yankees." The man in question is Monsieur France (Adolphe Lestina), a veteran of the Civil War who has purchased a run-down home of his forefathers where hangs on the wall his flag of the Confederacy. With the passing of a generation, he is again alone, with the exception of his granddaughter, Atoline (Carol Dempster), "A young blossom from the old stock." Coming for a visit is Atoline's New York chum (Frances Parkes) at the Paris School who visits while touring Europe with her family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Grey (George Fawcett and Kate Bruce), and their elder son, Ralph (Richard Barthelmess). While Ralph shows love and compassion towards Atoline, she happens to have a favored suitor, Count de Brissac (Syn De Conde). James (Robert Harron), Ralph's younger brother, better known as "The Oily Peril" (translation: "Heartbreaker"), is both college boy and a weakling. He shows his cowardice by refusing to defend himself towards a drunken German while entertaining Atoile in the park during her visit in America. James loves Cutsie Beautiful (Clarine Seymour), a Broadway café entertainer with a reputation for the men. As war breaks out in Europe, Ralph enlists while his father keeps James behind in his shipping business "juggling time-cards." Although drafted, Grey's influence with the draft board fails to influence them in keeping him home, thus, becoming a soldier of war. While Cutsie Beautiful becomes the girl who stayed at home, avoiding a past suitor (Tully Marshall), will she remain faithful to James?

Of a handful of silent features directed by D.W. Griffith, THE GIRL WHO STAYED AT HOME, which fortunately survives intact, ranks one of his lesser known works. Credited as part of his "short stories" collection, this is definitely a small movie (69 minutes) compared to his earlier two hour plus epics of THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) and INTOLERANCE (1916). Yet, this little movie demonstrates how a good film doesn't have to be lengthy to become great. Though the film is far from great, it's quite satisfactory. The Griffith ingredients are all there: flashbacks extreme close-ups on the principles, last minute rescues, etc. Battle scenes are well staged and photographed, although by today's standards, heavy melodramatics appear primitive, but for film scholars, acceptable for what it is.

While Richard Barthelmess' career extended to talkies before retiring in 1942, Robert Harron's performance stands out in the early scenes through his physical resemblance to both comedian, Charlie Chase, and John Gilbert during his battle scenes which makes one think of Gilbert's scenes from the epic war movie, THE BIG PARADE (MGM, 1925).

Piano scored, with no known possibility of ever been televised, THE GIRL WHO STAYED AT HOME, from the Killiam collection, has been both distributed to home video (1990s) and DVD a decade later. For silent film enthusiasts, viewing the performances of both Robert Harron and Clarine Seymour would make one wonder had they both not died so young in 1920, would their movie careers have been successful and extended through decades ahead? This is a question that will never be answered. (***)

At the end of the U.S. Civil War, the well-named "Monsieur France" (Adolph Lestina) moved to his father's home in France, rather than submit to the Yankees. Boasting he is "the only citizen of the Confederate States of America," he sits by his old Confederate flag, dreaming of a time gone with the wind. Mr. Lestina lives with his exuberant granddaughter Carol Dempster (as Atoline France). Ms. Dempster catches the eye of Richard Barthelmess (as Ralph Grey), the older brother of a school chum; but, Mr. Barthelmess is too late in his courting -- and, so, Dempster gets herself betrothed to Syn De Conde (as the Count de Brissac). Then, Dempster goes to visit the "Grey" family in New York.

In New York, Dempster meets Barthelmess' younger brother, Robert Harron (as James Grey). Mr. Harron is more interested in continuing a partying lifestyle than settling down; he gives Dempster the once over, but finds singer-dancer Clarine Seymour (as Cutie Beautiful) more fetching. Ms. Seymour shares Harron's interest in youthful Ragtime fun. Although their father is against the Great War (aka World War I), Barthelmess and Harron eventually join in the fighting. Will the two brothers get out of the war alive, and return to the women they left behind?

Harron effortlessly steals the film, with his portrayal of the slouching, partying brother who becomes a war hero; Seymour is also delightful as his 31st conquest, and true love. That Harron's performance so outdistances the other players may be why director D.W. Griffith, as the film progresses, devotes more screen time Harron's character. In hindsight, a re-titled, re-edited "The Girl Who Stayed at Home" would have been improved by scenes from Harron's college days, and his contrasting relationship with brother Barthelmess. Old Confederate rebel Lestina's final acceptance of the United States of America is a nice touch.

******** The Girl Who Stayed at Home (3/23/19) D.W. Griffith ~ Carol Dempster, Richard Barthelmess, Robert Harron, Clarine Seymour

Girl Who Stayed at Home, The (1919)

** (out of 4)

D.W. Griffith film about a couple American's, living in France, who join the army so that they can destroy Germany. Both men leave women behind who they love and who are the main reasons for them wanting to get back home. This was one of four pictures Griffith made for Artcraft, a foreign company wanting films centered around WW1. It's also the first film to star Griffith's then 17-year-old mistress Carol Dempster, who would prove to be one of his biggest downfalls. The film runs just over sixty-minutes and it's quite confussing all the way through. The biggest problem is that the second leads (Robert Harron/Clairine Seymour) is a lot more interesting than the actual leads and that includes Dempster who just can't reach the emotions needed for the role. The cinematography by Bitzer is great, the direction is good and tight but the film still doesn't work. Another strange note is that Harron committed suicide the night before the premiere of Griffith's Way Down East (apparently over Griffith not giving him a part) and Harron would die on an operating table after signing a $2 million contract. Part of the battle scenes used here are leftovers from Hearts of the World, which had actually WW1 footage shot by Griffith.