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Amazon.com's Price: $7.98 Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0089218416391
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Silent, NTSC
Label: Alpha Video
Manufacturer: Alpha Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Alpha Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: June 10, 2003
Running Time: 150 minutes
Sales Rank: 45998
Studio: Alpha Video
Theatrical Release Date: December 28, 1921
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
This is D.W. Griffith's last great success, an epic melodrama from 1922 about two orphaned girls (real-life sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish) raised in the same house and tragically separated during the French Revolution's infamous reign of terror. While this is no Birth of a Nation or Intolerance, it still reveals Griffith's inimitable talent for spectacle and intimacy. Not surprisingly, it works best when focusing on the plight of the two sisters: Lillian is a peasant who cares for the blind Dorothy, a product of the deposed aristocracy. Orphans of the Storm is a film about intriguing pairings. Mingling with the upper class to help find Dorothy, Lillian falls in love with the handsome and compassionate Joseph Schildkraut (best known as Otto Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank) and beguiles the influential Danton. Dorothy, meanwhile, is held captive by a family of gypsies, and is fought over by two brothers. Despite the lavish sets and Lillian's stirring performance, the love stories and political tumult don't quite mesh. But there are two magnificent moments emblematic of Griffith's dual talents: When Lillian recognizes Dorothy's plaintive voice outside her window and comes to her rescue, and the thrilling climax when Danton rescues Lillian from the guillotine. --Bill Desowitz
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Sweeping and Romantic
"Her name is Louise. Save Her."
This is without a doubt one of film pioneer D.W. Griffith's most rich and beautiful silent films. It is truly grand, an epic which never lags, its stars and story holding the viewer's attention with both its beauty and drama.
Griffith took the 19th century play, "The Two Orphans," and made one of the finest films of the silent era. The story of excess and poverty which brought about the French Revolution is told through the moving story ... Read More
Rating:  - A compelling historic drama
By 1921, "the Father of Film" D.W. Griffith was well on his way to setting the standard for Hollywood epics with all the main ingredients: emotional drama and tragedy, romance, political intrigues, moral injustices and the essential thrilling climax to keep you on the edge of your seat. In fact, Griffith had set the benchmark several years earlier with grand epics such as "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance", and like these, "Orphans of the Storm" is also a fast-paced drama packed with action and emotion, ... Read More
Rating: - Great for a silent movie
I haven't seen a great many silent movies, but this one seems much better than average. The production values are high and Lillian Gish looks hot. I like her better than Mary Picford. This movie interested me because I'm a francophile. The sets of old Paris were pretty good. I couldn't tell for sure if they were real or fake.
Rating: - You'll shiver better without that shawl
ORPHANS OF THE STORM is a great movie, and this time I'm not going to deduct a point for print quality and its non-sequiter of a sound track.
Real sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish star as half-sisters Henriette and Louise Girard. Louise (Dorothy) was found on the cold and snowy steps of the church Henriette's father had, before a change of heart, placed her. Their parents die, the girls grow into porcelain beauties and Louise loses her sight. Henriette vows to take care of Louise forever, and they ... Read More
Rating: - Great historic period piece
This is one of those early films that kept me checking the date of production. This is impressive stuff coming so early in the history of American cinema. From the lush costumes and sets to the use of thousands of extras, this reminds us how ground-breaking some of Griffith's work truly was.
Sure, it's campy melodrama, the sets are stagey, and cinematography had not yet matured beyond wide-shot vs. close-up, but for its time, "Orphans of the Storm" is full of moving characterizations and real drama. ... Read More
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