Even at his second-best, D.W. Griffith can still pull off a fascinating film. True, all current prints also seem to be second-rate, but I doubt if any really first-class copies have survived. The casting is well-nigh perfect, with the three leads – Ivor Novello, Mae Marsh and Carol Dempster – all giving fascinating yet seemingly realistic performances. Ivor Novello is just as prissy and self-accusing as we might expect some clergymen to be, and no-one can suffer on the screen more convincingly than Mae Marsh. It's true that some of the support roles are none too well cast or played, but this is a defect that you can easily shake off. A lot of money was spent on the movie – $650,000 to be precise (a huge budget by 1923 standards) – and it all shows on the screen. The full-length version is available on a quite watchable Alpha DVD.
Review of The White Rose
