A Temporary Truce
A Temporary Truce is a 1912 American short silent Western film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Library of Congress.[1]
| A Temporary Truce | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | D. W. Griffith |
| Written by | George Hennessy |
| Starring | Blanche Sweet Charles Hill Mailes |
| Cinematography | G. W. Bitzer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 17 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent English intertitles |
Plot
Mexican Jim, the villain, kidnaps Alice, wife of Jack the prospector. Jack declares a temporary truce with Jim so they can both battle the Indians as a common enemy.[2]
Cast
- Charles Hill Mailes as Mexican Jim
- Claire McDowell as Mexican Jim's Wife
- Charles Gorman as Jack, the Prospector
- Blanche Sweet as Alice, the Prospector's Wife
- W. Chrystie Miller as The Murdered Indian / Indian on Street
- Christy Cabanne as An Indian
- William A. Carroll as In Bar / Among Rescuers
- Frank Evans as In Bar / Among Rescuers
- Robert Harron as The Murdered Indian's Son
- Bert Hendler as In Bar
- Harry Hyde as Among Rescuers / Outside Pony Express Office
- J. Jiquel Lanoe as An Indian / Among Rescuers
- Wilfred Lucas as An Indian
- Mae Marsh as A Murdered Settler
- Frank Opperman as A Drunken Cutthroat / The Indian Chief / The Bartender
- Alfred Paget as A Drunken Cutthroat / An Indian / Among Rescuers
- Jack Pickford as An Indian
- W. C. Robinson as An Indian / In Bar / Among Rescuers
- Charles West
Themes
D. W. Griffith did not always portray Mexican characters in a negative light; however, in this film they are portrayed as a threat to white families and women.[3] The film is more complex in this regard that previous Griffith work.[4]
Production
The cast was considered to be quite large for a short film under two reels.[5] This is one of three D. W. Griffith films that Bert Hendler appeared in.[6] The cast also included Mae Marsh, who worked with Griffith on many films, including The Birth of a Nation. She was one of his favorites and in a 1923 interview, Griffith noted that "Mae Marsh was born a film star."[7]
References
- "Silent Era: A Temporary Truce". silentera. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- Division, Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound; Niver, Kemp R. (1985). Early Motion Pictures: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress. Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-8444-0463-9.
- Bernardi, Daniel; Green, Michael (July 7, 2017). Race in American Film: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-313-39840-7.
- Usai, Paolo Cherchi (July 25, 2019). The Griffith Project, Volume 5: Films Produced in 1911. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-83902-011-7.
- Film & Video Finder: Title section (A-K). National Information Center for Educational Media, a Division of Access Innovations, Incorporated. 1997. p. 3110. ISBN 978-0-937548-29-5.
- Slide, Anthony (March 12, 2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-61703-250-9.
- Lowe, Denise (January 27, 2014). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-71896-3.