Female of the Species

Mary Pickford, Dorothy Bernard, Claire McDowell

Silent 17 mins B&W 1912

Dir. D.W. Griffith. Melodramatic and moralistic tale of four survivors from an abandoned, desolate mining town--a married couple, the wife's sister, and a younger woman--who are making a desperate trek to safety across the desert. The wife suspects that her husband and the younger woman are having an affair. Soon after, the husband suddenly dies. The three women continue their dangerous journey amid growing tension caused by the wife's hunger for revenge. Exceptional photography and cinematic vision. Characters are very deeply and clearly drawn out.