''The Lonely Villa'' is a 1909 American short silent

crime drama film In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

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 ...

. The film stars

David Miles David Kenneth Miles (born 1959) is a British economist. Born in Swansea, he has spent his working life in London, in teaching, business and the public sector. He is a professor at Imperial College London, and was Chief UK Economist of Morgan ...

Marion Leonard Marion Leonard (June 9, 1881 – January 9, 1956) was an American stage actress who became one of the first motion picture celebrities in the early years of the silent film era. Early career Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Marion Leonard began her ...

and

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

in one of her first film roles. It is based on the 1901 French play ''Au Téléphone'' (''At the Telephone'') by André de Lorde. A print of ''The Lonely Villa'' survives and is currently in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

. ''The Lonely Villa'' was produced by the

Biograph Company The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, ...

and shot in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

. It was released on June 10, 1909 along with another D.W. Griffith split-reel film, ''A New Trick''.

Plot

A group of criminals wait until a wealthy man leaves to break into his house and threaten his wife and daughters. The wife and daughters take refuge inside one of the rooms, but the thieves break in. The father finds out what is happening and runs back home to try to save his family.

Cast

* David Miles as Robert Cullison *

as Mrs. Robert Cullison *

as the eldest Cullison daughter *

Gladys Egan Gladys Egan (also credited as Gladys Eagan; May 24, 1900March 8, 1985) was an early 20th-century American child actress, who between 1907 and 1914 performed professionally in theatre productions as well as in scores of silent films. She began her ...

as the youngest Cullison daughter *

Adele DeGarde Adele DeGarde (born Adelaide De Gard, also credited Adele De Garde; May 3, 1899 – November 1972) was an American silent film actress, who performed in at least 114 productions between 1908 and 1918. A native of Brooklyn, New York, she init ...

as the second eldest Cullison daughter * Charles Avery guest at the Inn *

Clara T. Bracy Clara T. Bracy (born Clara Rose Hodges; 1 January 1848 – 22 February 1941) was an English stage and silent film actress. Life and career Bracy was born Clara Rose Hodges in London, England. Her father was Edward Hodges, and her mother was ...

John R. Cumpson John R. Cumpson (August 30, 1866March 15, 1913) was an American stage and film actor. On Broadway, he appeared in ''Up York State'' in 1901. With regard to his screen career, Cumpson appeared in at least 124 films between 1905 and 1912. A 1910 n ...

as At the Inn *

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 ...

Anita Hendrie Anita Hendrie ( – April 15, 1940) was an American actress. She appeared in 67 silent motion pictures between 1908 and 1912, in addition to working in stock theater and vaudeville. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter o ...

as The Maid *

Arthur V. Johnson Arthur Vaughan Johnson (February 2, 1876 – January 17, 1916) was a pioneer actor and director of the early American silent film era. Career Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Rev. Myron A. Johnson, Arthur Vaughan Johnson left college at 19 ...

as At the Inn * James Kirkwood as Among Rescuers *

Florence Lawrence Florence Lawrence (born Florence Annie Bridgwood; January 2, 1886 – December 28, 1938) was a Canadian-American stage performer and film actress. She is often referred to as the "first movie star", and was thought to be the first film actor to ...

Violet Mersereau Violet Mersereau (October 2, 1892 – November 12, 1975) was an American stage and film actress. Over the course of her screen career, Mersereau appeared in over 100 short and silent film features. Early life Mersereau was born in New York City ...

as At the Inn *

Owen Moore Owen Moore (12 December 1886 – 9 June 1939) was an Irish-born American actor, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937. Early life and career Moore was born in Fordstown Crossroads, County Meath, Ireland. Along with his ...

- A Burglar *

Anthony O'Sullivan Anthony O'Sullivan (1855July 5, 1920) was an American silent film actor and film director. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1906 and 1918. He also directed 35 films between 1913 and 1915. He died in The Bronx, New York Director * '' ...

as A Burglar *

Frank Powell Frank Powell (born Francis William Powell, May 8, 1877) was a Canadian-born stage and silent film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter who worked predominantly in the United States."Ontario Births, 1869-1912", digital copy of original h ...

Herbert Prior Herbert Prior (2 July 1867 – 3 October 1954) was an English silent film actor. He appeared in more than 260 films between 1908 and 1934. He was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, and died in Los Angeles, California. Prior was married to actress ...

as A Burglar *

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...

as The Butler/A Policeman

Production

''The Lonely Villa'' is notable for one of the earliest applications of “cross-cutting in a peril-and-rescue sequence”, a cinematic method used to create suspense. The film, 12-minutes in duration, includes a series of alternating shots depicting the mother desperately defending her children from intruders, with shots of the frantic father driving at high speed to reach his imperiled family. Griffith, by incrementally shortening the length of each cross-cut “heightened the excitement” of the event.Gow, 1968 p. 14: Gow quotes from film historian Arthur Knight on Griffith’s early use of cross-cutting to creat suspense. “Excitement” quote is from Knight. Gow, Gordon. 1968. ''Suspense in the Cinem''a. Castle Books, New York. The Tanvity Press and A. S. Barnes & Co. Inc. Library of Congress Catalog Card No: 68-15196.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lonely Villa, The 1909 films 1900s crime drama films 1909 short films American crime drama films American silent short films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films directed by D. W. Griffith Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey Home invasions in film Articles containing video clips 1900s American films Silent American drama films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links