Sure, there is a bit of "camp" here, but overall, this is a movie that is a tour-de-force for the Gish sisters.I have accompanied on the piano silent movies since 1975. For this one I turned loose everything from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (movement one) to other highly- sentimental classical pieces (too numerous to name here).My Mom's grandmother adored this movie, and always carried a pocket full of handkerchiefs when she sallied out to see it.Spoiler: The town set used in this movie was the backdrop for the burning of Atlanta in "Gone with the Wind".

Set at the time of the French Revolution this film follows two women, Henriette and Louise who have been raised as sisters. A plague has killed their parents and left Louise blind so the head to Paris hoping to find a doctor who may cure her. Unfortunately things don't go according to plan; Henriette is snatched by people working for a lecherous aristocrat then Louise falls into the clutches of a spiteful hag who forces her to beg on the streets. Luckily for Henriette she is saved by the kind aristocrat Chevalier de Vaudrey; they set off to find Louise but they have made powerful enemies. When the revolution comes it looks as though life in France will get better but it isn't long before the callous aristocracy has been replaced by a new more brutal regime and it looks as if Henriette and Chevalier may fall victim to the guillotine!This film by G. W. Griffiths probably won't be watched by too many people as it is both monochromatic and silent; which is a pity as it really is rather good. I say monochromatic rather than black and white as the scenes are shown through different coloured filters; this serves to emphasise the atmosphere of each scene. I was surprised just how quickly I got used to the fact that I couldn't hear what the characters were saying; occasional inter-titles explained key points and the casts emoting was good enough to convey the meaning of what was being said.The way the story is told may seem a little melodramatic to modern viewers and it isn't subtle about telling us just who is good and who is bad… in one scene an aristocrats carriage runs over and kills a peasant and he is more concerned about his horses and Robespierre couldn't have been more villainous if he'd t been depicted stroking a white cat like Blofeld in a Bond film! This wasn't a problem though as the story moves along at a cracking pace. There is plenty of drama as well as a romantic subplot involving Henriette and Chevalier all of which leads to a fine ending; right up until the last moment I wasn't sure whether or not that couple would survive. The cast did a fine job; especially real life sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish who play Henriette and Louise.Overall I'd certainly recommend this and not just to people fascinated by early cinema; the two and a half hour run time goes by faster than plenty of modern films!

If pushed to the wall I think that most film historians will agree that the first great director/player team in American film is that of D.W. Griffith and Lillian Gish. The last collaboration of that team is Orphans Of The Storm in which sister Dorothy had a prominent role as another orphan.The source for this film is a story of French origin, the kind of material it would be impossible to do today, it would date so. Lillian and Dorothy are a pair of adopted sisters, Dorothy is in fact of noble birth, but as an infant she was abandoned because her mother had married a commoner and such was not done in Bourbon France. The story of Orphans Of The Storm is how Lillian and Dorothy raised together, get separated through time and circumstance and in between when they reunite, France undergoes a revolution. Although Griffith's source of the story was French, he relied heavily on Thomas Carlyle and Charles Dickens. Carlyle's history and A Tale Of Two Cities by Dickens became the picture that the average person in the English speaking world had of those times in France it would have been what the movie-going public expected. As history Orphans Of The Storm falls way short.As entertainment to this day the Gish sisters will tear your heart out with their troubles and turmoil. Playing the part of an aristocrat with a conscience like Charles Darnay in A Tale Of Two Cities is a young Joseph Schildkraut. It was clear he would have a long career ahead of him and his speaking voice enhanced his employment opportunities when sound came in.Lillian Gish when she wrote her memoirs in the 1970s and who knew she still had a substantial career ahead of her, entitled the book, The Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me. Reading that book and hearing interviews with her while she was alive, I don't think I ever heard any player convey more love for her art and her mentor than Ms. Gish did. From The Birth Of A Nation until The Whales Of August no one ever had a longer or more fruitful career in film than Lillian Gish.I don't want to shortchange Dorothy either. Her part called for her to lose her sight and you will rarely see innocence portrayed quite as touchingly as she does in Orphans Of The Storm. An unseen hand of Providence protects those like Dorothy Gish. Doesn't hurt to have a caring sister.If you're a silent movie fan, this film is an absolute must as well as a fan of the Gish sisters.

Before and during the French Revolution, "Orphans of the Storm" Lillian and Dorothy Gish (as Henriette and Louise Girard) "suffer through tyranny and selfishness." During the Plague, the sisters lose their parents, and Dorothy goes blind; but, Lillian vows to care for her sister forever, declaring, "I'll see for you." And, she does, for awhile... When the sisters learn the city may hold a cure for Dorothy's blindness; they journey to Paris. There, Lillian is accosted by lusty aristocrat Morgan Wallace (as Marquis de Praille), but she rejects his advances. Mr. Wallace decides he must have Lillian, and arranges to have her abducted for an upcoming orgy; this leaves the blind Dorothy helpless, on the streets of Paris. She is rescued by street beggar Frank Puglia (as Pierre Frochard); unfortunately, his mother Lucille La Verne is a cruel hag, who abuses Dorothy. Joseph Schildkraut (as Chevalier de Vaudrey) falls for, and rescues Lillian, but finding her blind sister during the French Revolution proves to be quite le problème.D.W. Griffith and company are triumphant in this (yet another) breathtakingly beautiful film; the direction, photography, sets, and editing, and performances are superb. Lillian and Dorothy Gish are flawless as the "Orphans of the Storm" (this was the last Griffith/Gish cinematic team-up). The children who play the Gish sisters look and act amazingly like their adult counterparts. Mr. Schildkraut is quaint, yet charming, as Lillian's leading man; he is a romantic ideal, kissing her tears and stroking her face; after the revolution, he becomes quite strong. Dorothy's relationship with poor Puglia is an unexpected pleasure; Puglia is given, and gives, a surprisingly vivid characterization; as his mother, Ms. La Verne is deliciously wretched - you can almost see her tonsils as she cackles! The "Frochard" family (La Verne, Puglia and Sheldon Lewis) help give the film a Charles Dickens touch. Monte Blue is thunderous as revolutionary Danton, and Creighton Hale quirky as Picard. One of the characters gets it in the end. ********** Orphans of the Storm (12/28/21) D.W. Griffith ~ Lillian Gish, Dorothy Gish, Joseph Schildkraut, Frank Puglia