Judith of Bethulia (1914)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

Thomas Bailey Aldrich (poem) (play)
D.W. Griffith (writer)

Release Date:

8 March 1914 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Plot:

A fascinating work of high artistry, "Judith of Bethulia" will not only rank as an achievement in this country...

Plot Keywords:

Bible | Melodrama | Male Female Relationship | Based On Play | Character Name In Title

Cast

Blanche Sweet	...	Judith
Henry B. Walthall	...	Holofernes
Mae Marsh	...	Naomi
Robert Harron	...	Nathan
Lillian Gish	...	The young mother
Dorothy Gish	...	The crippled beggar
Kate Bruce	...	Judith's maid
J. Jiquel Lanoe	...	Eunuch Attendant
Harry Carey	...	Assyrian Traitor
W. Chrystie Miller	...	Bethulian
Gertrude Robinson
Charles Hill Mailes	...	Bethulian Soldier
Edward Dillon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gertrude Bambrick	...	Lead Assyrian Dancer
Lionel Barrymore	...	Extra
Clara T. Bracy	...	Bethulian
Kathleen Butler	...	Bethulian
William J. Butler	...	Bethulian
Christy Cabanne
William A. Carroll	...	Assyrian Soldier (as William Carroll)
Frank Evans	...	Bethulian Soldier
Mary Gish
Harry Hyde	...	Bethulian Soldier / Assyrian Soldier
Thomas Jefferson
Jennie Lee	...	Bethulian
Adolph Lestina	...	Bethulian
Elmo Lincoln
Antonio Moreno	...	Extra
Marshall Neilan
Frank Opperman	...	Bethulian
Alfred Paget	...	Bethulian / Assyrian Soldier
W.C. Robinson	...	Bethulian Soldier
Kate Toncray	...	One of Judith's Servants

Also Known As:

Her Condoned Sin (International: English title) (reissue title)

Runtime:

USA:61 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Biograph Studios, Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Biograph Company

Trivia:

The original company that made "Judith of Bethulia" (American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.) is in development and planning a feature re-make of the film.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Her Condoned Sin (1917)

Interesting & Worthwhile, In Several Respects

With a good cast, an interesting story, and settings that are generally convincing, "Judith of Bethulia" is a worthwhile and enjoyable dramatization of the semi-historical story of Judith (from the Old Testament Apocrypha). It fits together pretty well, and tells the story with a good amount of action and some depth as well. It is also of historical interest, as an example of what movies were like in the era when full-length pictures were just about to become common.

Blanche Sweet stars as the heroine Judith, a popular and prominent resident of the town of Bethulia, near ancient Jerusalem. When the town is attacked and besieged by the Assyrians, Judith becomes her town's best hope, so she must be courageous and must also work through some dilemmas. Sweet does a very good job of letting us see what her character is thinking and feeling. The rest of the cast includes several names well-known to fans of silent films (some in smaller roles), and they help out as well.

Although this was one of the earliest feature-length films, most of the story-telling techniques work all right, and it shows only a few real signs of age (mostly in the more lavish or large-scale sets and scenes). While it's probably too 'old-fashioned' to appeal to most of today's movie-goers, it's a good movie that is worthwhile both for its content and its historical interest.