Orphans of the Storm

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Orphans of the Storm

1921,

2h 5m,

Drama

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Watchlist

87%

15 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

15 Reviews

71%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

When the plague kills their parents, Henriette (Lillian Gish) and her blind adopted sister, Louise (Dorothy Gish), go to Paris in hopes of finding a doctor to restore Louise's sight. As soon as they arrive, Henriette is kidnapped by an amoral aristocrat (Morgan Wallace), but escapes with the help of Chevalier de Vaudrey (Joseph Schildkraut). Louise, meanwhile, is taken in by thieves who force her to beg. As the French Revolution rages all around them, the two sisters struggle to reunite.

Mabel McElliott

New York Daily News

May 17, 2021

Orphans of the Storm is real Griffith material, worked up at moments to the point of hysteria, but always interesting. The photography is especially good.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Mar 26, 2009

Dorothy Gish is the blind girl, and this step from comedienne roles into a role of unlimited emotional possibilities reveals new capabilities in the less famous of the two Gish girls.

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David Thompson

Time Out

Jan 26, 2006

While the director's handling of humour (clumsy) and pathos (heavily milked) demands some generosity from the audience, the eternal radiance of Lillian Gish shines through everything.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

Aug 24, 2022

7/10

Its historical melodrama about injustice and class struggle is captivating to me because it never loses its sense of epicness during the two and a half hours that it lasts, set in the context of the French Revolution. [Full review in Spanish]

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Dec 29, 2021

This 150-minute Storm is often imposing in the scale of its sets and crowds. Yet they are employed over-theatrically, movement blocked within a stationary frame. There is not enough camera movement, and on the other hand too much gesticulatory movement.

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Robert E. Sherwood

LIFE

Oct 6, 2021

There is scarcely a scene or an effect in the entire production that is not beautiful to look upon, and there is scarcely a moment that is not charged with intense dramatic power.

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Abraham S

Jan 15, 2018

1001 movies to see before you die. An overlong melodrama.

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D.W. Griffith

Director

Lillian Gish

Henriette Girard

Dorothy Gish

Louise Girard

Joseph Schildkraut

Chevalier de Vaudrey

Frank Losee

Count de Linieres

Katherine Emmet

Countess de Linieres

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Synopsis

When the plague kills their parents, Henriette (Lillian Gish) and her blind adopted sister, Louise (Dorothy Gish), go to Paris in hopes of finding a doctor to restore Louise's sight. As soon as they arrive, Henriette is kidnapped by an amoral aristocrat (Morgan Wallace), but escapes with the help of Chevalier de Vaudrey (Joseph Schildkraut). Louise, meanwhile, is taken in by thieves who force her to beg. As the French Revolution rages all around them, the two sisters struggle to reunite.

Director: D.W. Griffith
Producer: D.W. Griffith
Screenwriter: D.W. Griffith
Production Co: D.W. Griffith Productions
Genre: Drama
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 28, 1921, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 28, 2016
Runtime: 2h 5m

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