'The Sunbeam' features one superb shot of about a minute and a half, in which a little girl wanting to play is at first shooed away by a taut woman, before blowing her a kiss, at which the woman hardly knows how to react, but is so deeply affected she must embrace the child. As was standard, the camera is still the whole time, but the layers of emotion revealed in such simple action is strong.
Unfortunately the film doesn't reach the same heights again, as the story of kids mischief bringing two otherwise unfriendly adults together, feels very staged. Being set solely indoors the film doesn't allow Griffith to use what in my eyes is his most winning trait - a wonderful eye for poetic framing of the outdoors - and instead draws attention to his lesser traits - sentimentality and melodrama.
I don't know when the first 'childhood mischief' themes appeared on film, but certainly this is notable for predating the 'Our Gang' series, which became 'The Little Rascals'.
Unfortunately the film doesn't reach the same heights again, as the story of kids mischief bringing two otherwise unfriendly adults together, feels very staged. Being set solely indoors the film doesn't allow Griffith to use what in my eyes is his most winning trait - a wonderful eye for poetic framing of the outdoors - and instead draws attention to his lesser traits - sentimentality and melodrama.
I don't know when the first 'childhood mischief' themes appeared on film, but certainly this is notable for predating the 'Our Gang' series, which became 'The Little Rascals'.