Review of An Unseen Enemy

"An Unseen Enemy" is an American black-and-white short film that is already way over a century old. And despite all this time passed, you will find several names attached to this project that are the reason that this one here is far from forgotten. The first is director D.W. Griffith, maybe the defining filmmaker from the 1910s, especially if we are looking at dramatic works. And then there are the Gish Sisters very very early in their careers. The older one isn't 20 yet, the younger not even 15. The play a pair of sister in here too who have inherited a great amount of cash money, but a greedy housekeeper and her ruthless accomplice want to steal the money. Luckily, the girls get some help in dealing with these crooks. So an unhappy ending was still too much at that point, but Griffith still got in some interesting features. One would be the female primary antagonist as this really wasn't too common back then. But there are weaknesses too. The whole brother plot wasn't very convincing. The Gishes have little to shine as they are basically playing scared panicking girls from start to finish. And the ending is slightly too happy for my taste. And honestly, this film could have been fit into half the runtime of 15/17 minutes to be honest given the story. But there are positive aspects too. Griffith is finally a filmmaker who understands that frequent intertitles are absolutely essential in understanding a film like this and many other silent filmmakers could have learned from him. Grace Henderson, the criminal housekeeper, did a very good job in my opinion and she was the film's MVP. Overall, a bit of a tough choice, but I will be generous and give this film the 3 out of 5 it requires for a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. Go check it out.