Lloyd Ingraham commenced acting in shorts in 1912 and he started directing them in 1913. By the time he got around to this picture, he had directed some forty shorts and three features including "The Missing Links" on which D.W. Griffith was both a writer and a supervisor. The word "supervisor" is interchangeable with "executive producer" but not with "producer". A supervisor is rarely, if ever, seen on the set. He may make suggestions to the director after viewing the rushes, and he may even make suggestions to the cutter after the movie has been completed. So D.W. Griffith's engagement on "Hoodoo Ann" as supervisor does not mean that he engaged in any actual directing, although he no doubt made suggestions and voiced his approval (or disapproval) of the rushes. Aside from the writing and the photography, for everything else that is good and bad about the movie we have Lloyd Ingraham to thank or to criticize. From me, he has my heartfelt thanks. As for the writing, in this case that is entirely in Mr. Griffith's domain. And a very peculiarly constructed screenplay it is too, although in fact it's a very typical Griffith scenario, built on the same writing lines as "The Birth of a Nation". Griffith is not content with telling one story about his lead character, he likes to tell two or three. Just as "Birth of a Nation" is split in two by the Civil War, "Hoodoo Ann" is split in halves by the fire at the orphanage and we then move on to an entirely different story in which Robert Harron finally makes his entrance and plays a leading part. In "Birth of a Nation", it's Henry B. Walthall who holds the film together. In "Hoodoo Ann", however, it's Mae Marsh. Beautifully photographed by G.W. Bitzer, Miss Marsh really shines and radiates an almost intoxicating warmth and sincerity. The other actors, led by Robert Harron, are there to lend support – and that's exactly what they do! Although there is one possible exception and that's Anna Hernandez (or Anna Dodge and at least four of five other variations in her list of exactly 150 movie appearances). She is really an awesome presence! But fortunately, for the super-lovely Mae Marsh, Anna's role is comparatively small. So those are the two presences I carried away from "Hoodoo Ann": A radiantly beautiful Miss Marsh and a truly awesome Mrs. Hernandez! (I have the budget sheet for this movie. It came in at nearly $30,000 including the cost of burning down the specially constructed orphanage. All this was recouped with thousands to spare at the initial USA splash release at 95 cinemas).
Review of Hoodoo Ann
