Warning: Don't get turned off by the primitiveness of the titles and intertitles.
In fact, the story, the content, the photography, the acting, the directing, and especially the directing, are first rate!
Although I was already a general fan of director Lois Weber, "Suspense" has made me one of her devotees.
In this short film, she demonstrates some astonishing creativity and inventiveness, even if most shots are with an immobile camera, many are not, and those moving camera shots are mind-boggling; and there are examples of divided screen that she might not be the first to use, but that she uses awfully well.
Lois Weber deserves to be much better known. That she was female alone should make her practically a household name, but that she did such great work should make her an idol to most motion picture fanatics.
There is a good print at YouTube and I highly recommend "Suspense."
In fact, the story, the content, the photography, the acting, the directing, and especially the directing, are first rate!
Although I was already a general fan of director Lois Weber, "Suspense" has made me one of her devotees.
In this short film, she demonstrates some astonishing creativity and inventiveness, even if most shots are with an immobile camera, many are not, and those moving camera shots are mind-boggling; and there are examples of divided screen that she might not be the first to use, but that she uses awfully well.
Lois Weber deserves to be much better known. That she was female alone should make her practically a household name, but that she did such great work should make her an idol to most motion picture fanatics.
There is a good print at YouTube and I highly recommend "Suspense."