The opening and closing scenes of D.W. Griffiths' The Country Doctor feature enough lush Connecticut scenery, undulating fields of tall grass, and windblown tree branches to make Terrence Malick green with envy. The film's story, which serves as the substantial filling in between these pastoral moments, is more than satisfactory for a 1909 one-reeler, with Griffith telling a never dull tale of a medico torn between caring for both a poor child and his own comparatively well-off daughter, each apparently stricken with diphtheria. He saves the life of one via surgical intervention, but the other expires before he can return to her sickbed. The Country Doctor is a deeply affecting and beautifully shot drama and features an uncharacteristically grim visaged Mary Pickford in one of her earliest roles.
Review of The Country Doctor
