''The Escape'' was a 1914 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

written and directed by

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

and starred

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

. The film is based on the play of the same name by Paul Armstrong who also wrote the screenplay. It is now considered

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

. The master negative of the production was destroyed in the disastrous 1914 Lubin vault fire in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Cast

as Bull McGee * Edna Foster as Crippled Girl * Earle Foxe *

Robert Harron Robert Emmett Harron (April 12, 1893 – September 5, 1920) was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in over 200 films, he is possibly best recalled for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed film ...

as Larry Joyce * Ralph Lewis as The Senator * Walter Long * Mae Marsh as Jennie Joyce * Owen Moore as Doctor von Eiden * Blanche Sweet as May Joyce *

Fay Tincher Fay Tincher (April 17, 1884 – October 11, 1983) was an American comic actress in motion pictures of the silent film era. Early years Tincher was born in Topeka, Kansas, and was the daughter of George Tincher and Elizabeth Tincher. She had th ...

as An Adventuress *

F. A. Turner F. A. Turner (October 12, 1858 – February 13, 1923) was an American actor of the stage and of the silent era. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1914 and 1922. He was born in New York City. He is sometimes billed as Fred Turner. Pa ...

as Jim Joyce *

Tammany Young Tammany Young (September 9, 1886 – April 26, 1936) was an American stage and film actor. Early life Born in New York City, Young appeared on Broadway in '' The Front Page'' (1928) by Ben Hecht and ''The New Yorkers'' (1930) by Herbert Fields ...

as McGee's Henchman

Plot

The film begins with a short prologue explaining the science of

Eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

; contrasting the careful selection observed in the animal world with the less predictable breeding habits of humans. This is illustrated by the story of the Joyce family, headed by Jim Joyce (Turner), a cruel and senseless man. Joyce's son Larry (Harron) is by nature a sensitive kid, but Jim Joyce turns him into a heartless monster, strangling a cat as a sort of

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

ritual. Larry Joyce contracts a case of

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium '' Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, a ...

, and seeks out treatment from Doctor Von Eiden (Moore), who also takes a keen interest in Larry's sister May (Sweet). Von Eiden encourages May to make a break with her family, and she succeeds. However she is unable to find employment and enters into a relationship with a wealthy senator (Lewis) as a kept woman. While May will not marry the Senator, her sister Jennie (Marsh) does marry a man named "Bull" McGee (Crisp), an abusive lout just like her father. Their infant child is killed when McGee trips over its cradle in a drunken stupor, and Jennie becomes delusional, endlessly rocking the cradle with a doll inside. McGee is repulsed by her condition and puts Jennie away quietly through selling her into prostitution. May manages to wrest Jennie away from this peril, but Jennie expires soon after. Von Eiden, however, has managed to restore Larry's original sensitivity through a surgical procedure; May has broken off the relationship with the Senator and agrees to marry Von Eiden.

Historical background and legacy

''The Escape'' was based on a play by Paul Armstrong, a prolific playwright best known for his properties '' Alias Jimmy Valentine'' (1910) and '' Salomy Jane'' (1907). Griffith's film version was begun first, finished second, but released third among the cycle of five films he made at

Reliance-Majestic Studios Reliance-Majestic Studios was an early American movie studio in Hollywood, California, originally built around 1914 at 4516 Sunset Boulevard. Within a few years, it became the home of D. W. Griffith and Mutual Film Corporation. The studio's nam ...

between his ouster at Biograph Company and the advent of ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...

'' (1915). Filming of ''The Escape'' began in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, but was completed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

partly due to an illness in the cast. There was a long delay in getting it out; although

Mutual Film Mutual Film Corporation was an early American film conglomerate that produced some of Charlie Chaplin's greatest comedies. Founded in 1912, it was absorbed by Film Booking Offices of America, which evolved into RKO Pictures. Founding Mutual ...

finally released it on June 1, 1914, response to ''The Escape'' was of a mixed character and the film was dumped on the States' Rights market by the end of the year.

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

recalled ''The Escape'' as one of the finest films Griffith ever made, whereas Griffith himself regarded its failure as a momentary distraction during the planning stages of ''The Birth of a Nation''.

Status

Iris Barry first reported ''The Escape'' as a lost film in 1940 and despite an international search for Griffith's film output lasting the decades since, ''The Escape'' remains one among a small handful of Griffith features that have never been located.

References

External links