Isn't Life Wonderful" is a masterpiece, a film that has the usual Griffith story subjects ( of course there's an orphan) and is impeccably directed. The often-criticized actress Carol Dempster, a favorite of Griffith after Lillian Gish left his fold, has been particularly praised here as showcasing a credible performance as the orphan Inga. Her fictitious character had grown up with the Polish family before their immigration to Germany. Griffith changed the citizenship of the film's central figures from German to Polish, knowing American viewers would be more apt to sympathize with them than the German populace.

This doesn't mean Dempster and Hamilton aren't adequate in the parts - but one of Mr. Griffith's problems was pigeonholing an actress like Dempster into something she was not. Griffith directed a "type" - the old lady, the mother, the virginal heroine, the suitor, etc. Herein, he is obviously directing his cast to act like the "types" co-created with performers like Gish and Harron; and, he incorrectly assumes one performer (Dempster) is able to deliver the same kind of performance as another (Gish). This thematically beautiful film was said to be Griffith's apology for his ostensibly pro-War and necessarily anti-German "Hearts of the World" (1918, with Harron and Gish). But, Griffith apologists should have looked at "Hearts" more closely, and beat a hasty retreat; because, the turnaround began within that film. Like a war weary world, Griffith foresaw a pacifist mood. He knew how to be both ahead of the curve and behind the times; pulling no punches, "Isn't Life Wonderful" serves up blistering pessimistic optimism. And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must avoid the financial crisis of his Teutonic heiresses. The achievement's description may be a reference to the 1993 movie Jurassic Park, in which the character Dr. Malcolm says the quote "life finds a way."

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To make a film about such difficult times and striking the right balance between realism and a larger than life love story that intertwines sadness and hope is a task only a few of the great silent film masters could accomplish and to this German aristocrat, forgetting old rivalries, it must said that Herr D. W. Griffith was one of those. Most of the scenes were filmed in Germany and Austria. Only one was filmed in New York at the studio. The film stars Carol Dempster and Neil Hamilton. The film was a failure at the box office, and it led to Griffith leaving United Artists shortly after its run in theaters. [4] Reception [ edit ]

ISN'T LIFE WONDERFUL is often considered director DW Griffith's last "great" film, and the last one he made as an independent producer. It is a simple tale of a family struggling to survive in post-WWI Germany, despite food shortages, rampant inflation, and general despair. Through it all, they do their best to find the simple joys in life. Following is my review.

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There are a lot of essential and distinguished silent film pioneers who contributed greatly to film history with their mastery of cinema art but they do not always appeal to all of the world's silent film fans. It is a question of personal preference that does not deny their important merits, natürlich!!. For example there is a strained relationship between this German count and Herr D. W. Griffith. Isn't Life Wonderful is a 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith for his company D. W. Griffith Productions, and distributed by United Artists. It was based on the short story "Isn’t Life Wonderful?" in the 1923 book Defeat by Geoffrey Moss, and it was released under the alternative title Dawn. [2] Plot [ edit ] The film tells the story of a family of Polish refugees in Germany in the hard times of the aftermath of the WWI. It was a struggle to survive and make a living as there was unemployment, hunger, a financial disaster dominated by uncontrollable inflation and terrible social conditions. Herr Griffith depicts these tragedies perfectly. In spite of facing a gloomy future, the couple that stars in the film, Dame Inga ( Dame Carol Dempster in a moving performance ) and Herr Paul ( Neil Hamilton ) try to bear these troublesome times with some optimism, a complicated task in itself given that disease almost kills Herr Paul and one can hardly forget that hunger makes turnips the German national food par excellence. Nevertheless, Inga and Paul face those problems with inner strength and unconditional love. As great as the film is, "Isn't Life Wonderful" had a difficult time finding an audience. The public just wasn't interested in seeing a Polish refugee family painfully trying to exist in an economically dysfunctional Germany. The postwar country was experiencing an inflationary monetary system never seen before, with its marks currency escalating literally by the minute. Fatigue, hunger and crime greeted its citizens after its defeat against the Allied countries, especially France, demanding Germany keep up with its reparations for its invasion in 1914. Griffith, reading Geoffrey Moss' account of the German's life in his series of 1923 short stories, decided to produce a movie based on one of them. To make his production appear even more authentic, he took his crew and actors to film in Germany and Austria . So now Griffith gets the credit for neorealism too? As if American films like Regeneration and European films like The Outlaw and His Wife (not to mention plenty of Griffith's Biograph shorts) hadn't been shooting grim reality for years? Perhaps he did encourage Germans to film their own urban reality, but if so, they soon surpassed this film.