The House of Darkness
Encyclopedia
The House of Darkness is a 1913
short drama film
directed by D. W. Griffith
.
The remainder of the film takes place at the aforementioned setting which hosts several unstable individuals. When violence erupts between two patients; one of them (played by Charles Hill Mailes) escapes the scene in an attempt to avoid capture. At the climax of the chase; the patient is ultimately soothed by the music emitting from a piano in the main hospital building (Lillian Gish in a minor role) and lets himself be taken away by the guards. As he is removed from the vicinity of the music; he once again becomes violent and escapes the grasp of his attendants. After having come upon a gun he makes his way towards the house of the doctor's wife (during this sequence, the perhaps most interesting part of the film seen out of a technical perspective takes place as the lunatic sticks his head out in front of the camera from behind a tree). When the woman discovers him; she becomes terrified. During the farce; the wife puts her hands on the piano by accident, creating a sound which appears pleasing to the lunatic. He urges her to continue, using the gun as a tool of persuasion. She proceeds with the playing which ultimately results in him leaving the house and once again welcomes capture.
The film ends informing the viewer on how music becomes an integral part in aiding mentally unstable individuals.
1913 in film
The year 1913 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* The Squaw Man, the first Hollywood feature film, is made.* December 29, Charlie Chaplin signs a contract with Mack Sennett to begin making films at Keystone Studios.* D. W...
short drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
.
Plot
In the introduction a woman is shown descending into insanity after having lost her baby. As she mourns, she takes a blanket from the baby's cradle and starts rocking it as if it were her deceased child. This serves as an introduction to what kind of individuals that reside at the mental institution. The doctor at the hospital is also introduced as he proposes to a nurse.The remainder of the film takes place at the aforementioned setting which hosts several unstable individuals. When violence erupts between two patients; one of them (played by Charles Hill Mailes) escapes the scene in an attempt to avoid capture. At the climax of the chase; the patient is ultimately soothed by the music emitting from a piano in the main hospital building (Lillian Gish in a minor role) and lets himself be taken away by the guards. As he is removed from the vicinity of the music; he once again becomes violent and escapes the grasp of his attendants. After having come upon a gun he makes his way towards the house of the doctor's wife (during this sequence, the perhaps most interesting part of the film seen out of a technical perspective takes place as the lunatic sticks his head out in front of the camera from behind a tree). When the woman discovers him; she becomes terrified. During the farce; the wife puts her hands on the piano by accident, creating a sound which appears pleasing to the lunatic. He urges her to continue, using the gun as a tool of persuasion. She proceeds with the playing which ultimately results in him leaving the house and once again welcomes capture.
The film ends informing the viewer on how music becomes an integral part in aiding mentally unstable individuals.
Cast
- Lionel BarrymoreLionel BarrymoreLionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
- The Doctor - Claire McDowellClaire McDowellClaire McDowell was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 360 films between 1908 and 1945. Still somewhat of a youthful beauty when she started in early silent films she appeared in numerous short & early feature films. She graduated to playing character and mother types...
- The Doctor's Wife - Charles Hill MailesCharles Hill MailesCharles Hill Mailes was a Canadian actor of the silent era. He appeared in 290 films between 1909 and 1935.He was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and died in Los Angeles, California...
- The Lunatic aka The 'Unfortunate' Patient - Lillian GishLillian GishLillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
- Nurse Playing Piano - Dorothy BernardDorothy BernardDorothy Bernard was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 87 films between 1908 and 1956.She was born Nora Dorothy Bernard in Port Elizabeth, South Africa to William H Bernard and Roy Elizabeth Ayrd. Her father was from Auckland, New Zealand, and her mother was born in Sligo,...
- (unconfirmed) - Adelaide Bronti - In Tenement Apartment
- Kate BruceKate BruceKate Bruce was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 289 films between 1908 and 1931.She was born in Columbus, Indiana and died in New York, New York.-Selected filmography:* The Golden Louis...
- A Patient - William J. ButlerWilliam J. ButlerWilliam J. Butler was an Irish silent film actor. He appeared in 262 films between 1908 and 1917.Butler, an Irish immigrant to the United States, moved his family from Ohio to Hollywood, California, in 1908. At the age of 48, he wanted to get involved in a new industry called motion pictures. He...
- Extra - Christy CabanneChristy CabanneChristy Cabanne , born William Christy Cabanne, was an American film director, screenwriter and silent film actor. Christy Cabanne was, along with Sam Newfield and William Beaudine, one of the most prolific directors in the history of American film.-Biography:Cabanne graduated from the U.S...
- Attack Victim (as W. Christy Cabanne) - William Elmer - Asylum Guard (as Billy Elmer)
- Robert HarronRobert HarronRobert "Bobby" Harron was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in scores of films, he is possibly best remembered for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed films Intolerance and The Birth of a Nation...
- Asylum Guard - Adolph Lestina - A Patient
- Joseph McDermottJoseph McDermott (actor)Joseph McDermott , was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 76 films between 1912 and 1923.He died in Los Angeles, California by committing suicide.-Selected filmography:* Perils of the Yukon...
- Asylum Guard / Searcher - Walter MillerWalter Miller (actor)Walter Miller was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 248 films between 1911 and 1940.He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart attack, aged 48...
- A Clerk - Frank Opperman - A Patient / A Clerk
- Alfred PagetAlfred PagetAlfred Paget was an English silent film actor. He appeared in 239 films between 1908 and 1918.-Selected filmography:-External links:...
- Asylum Guard - W.C. Robinson - Asylum Guard
- Henry B. WalthallHenry B. WalthallHenry Brazeale Walthall was an American film actor.-Career:Walthall began his career as a stage actor, appearing on Broadway in a supporting role in William Vaughn Moody's The Great Divide in 1906–1908. His career in movies began in 1908, in the film Rescued from an Eagle's Nest, which also...