This is a short film by D. W. Griffith for Biograph Studios and is full of some pretty exciting action. Blanche Sweet is an apparently nice girl that was kidnapped and secreted aboard a boat. The only problem is, WHY?! There's really no context and I had no idea why some crew members from a sailing ship kidnapped the woman in the first place and why later they tried to kill the captain and take the boat. Some explanatory inter-title cards or making the film longer than 13 minutes might have taken care of all this. With just a little more work, this could have been an excellent little film. And, given that it's a Griffith film, you KNOW that the woman will be rescued (they always are in his films)--so there isn't all that much excitement or suspense. It's a time-passer and that's all.
Review of The Lesser Evil
