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Reviews
The Dream (1911)
A Couple of Correctives
A couple of notes place our understanding of this film in a different light than that alluded to by the earlier writer. This was probably Thomas Ince's second film for IMP, after Little Nell's Tobacco. As a new director just come from theater, it is unfortunate to expect the same ability to be displayed by him as that of Griffith, who had been making one reelers for more than two years and had largely redefined the form. Also, Mary Pickford, herself has traditionally been credited as scenarist for the film. It should not be seen as exploitative of her, but perhaps even as an effort on her part to provide a social commentary on a situation she knew first hand.
Dangerous Hours (1919)
Dangerous Hours, an important moment in American cinema
The previous comment could not be more off. Dangerous Hours was incendiary and simplistic. It was more a tract than a film made as a profound social commentary. It was written by C. Gardner Sullivan, the dean of American screenwriters, a man who set the mold for all screenwriters who came after him. Many of Sullivan's scripts are among the most lyric and poignant of the silent period. He did not mess up and make a stupid film. Dangerous Hours was a collaboration between Ince and a number of figures within the American labor movement who saw the film as a way of warning blue collar America about the false promise of Bolshevism. Of course the characters are overdrawn. DUH. Critcizing this film for being unfair to leftists is like criticizing Keaton films for lacking character development or Birth of a Nation because there is no talking. Dangerous Hours is a very well-done film, but must be understood in light of its mission and social context.