Judith of Bethulia

Judith of Bethulia

Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Written by	Thomas Bailey Aldrich D. W. Griffith Frank E. Woods
Starring	Blanche Sweet Henry B. Walthall
Cinematography	G. W. Bitzer
Edited by	James Smith
Production company	Biograph Company
Distributed by	General Film Company
Release date	March 8, 1914 (1914-03-08)
Running time	61 mins.
Country	United States
Languages	Silent film English intertitles

Judith of Bethulia

Judith of Bethulia (1914) is an American film starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall, and produced and directed by D. W. Griffith, based on the play of the same name by Thomas Bailey Aldrich. The film was the first feature-length film made by pioneering film company Biograph, although the second that Biograph released.^[1]^[2]

Shortly after its completion and a disagreement Griffith had with Biograph executives on making more future feature-length films, Griffith left Biograph, and took the entire stock company with him. Biograph delayed the picture's release until 1914, after Griffith's departure, so that it would not have to pay him in a profit-sharing agreement they had.

Synopsis[]

The film is based on the deuterocanonical Book of Judith. During the siege of the Jewish city of Bethulia by the Assyrians, a widow named Judith (Blanche Sweet) has a plan to stop the war as her people suffer starvation and are ready to surrender.

The widow disguises herself as a harem girl and goes to the enemy camp, where she beguiles a general of King Nebuchadnezzar, whose army is besieging the city. Judith seduces Holofernes (Henry Walthall), then while he is drunk cuts off his head with a sabre. She returns to her city, a heroine.

Cast[]

Blanche Sweet as Judith

Blanche Sweet - Judith
Henry B. Walthall - Holofernes
Mae Marsh - Naomi
Robert Harron - Nathan
Lillian Gish - The young mother
Dorothy Gish - The crippled beggar
Kate Bruce - Judith's maid
J. Jiquel Lanoe - Eunuch Attendant
Harry Carey - Assyrian Traitor
W. Chrystie Miller - Bethulian
Gertrude Robinson
Charles Hill Mailes - Bethulian Soldier
Edward Dillon
Gertrude Bambrick - Lead Assyrian Dancer
Lionel Barrymore - Extra
Clara T. Bracy - Bethulian
Kathleen Butler - Bethulian
William J. Butler - Bethulian
Christy Cabanne
William A. Carroll - Assyrian Soldier (as William Carroll)
Frank Evans - Bethulian Soldier
Mary Gish
Harry Hyde - Bethulian Soldier/Assyrian Soldier
Thomas Jefferson (actor)
Jennie Lee - Bethulian
Adolph Lestina - Bethulian
Elmo Lincoln
Antonio Moreno - Extra
Marshall Neilan
Frank Opperman - Bethulian
Alfred Paget - Bethulian/Assyrian Soldier
W. C. Robinson - Bethulian Soldier
Kate Toncray - One of Judith's Servants

Reviews[]

The reviews were favorable: Variety, March 27, 1914, wrote: "It is not easy to confess one's self unequal to a given task, but to pen an adequate description of the Biograph's production of 'Judith of Bethulia' is, to say the least, a full grown man's job."

The Moving Picture World, March 7, 1914, described it as: "A fascinating work of high artistry, 'Judith of Bethulia' will not only rank as an achievement in this country, but will make foreign producers sit up and take notice."^[3]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Judith of Bethulia.

Judith of Bethulia (1914) on YouTube
Judith of Bethulia at IMDb
Judith of Bethulia at SilentEra
Judith of Bethulia at AllMovie
Judith of Bethulia available for free download at Internet Archive

v t Films directed by D. W. Griffith
1908	The Adventures of Dollie (1908) The Fight for Freedom (1908) The Tavern Keeper's Daughter (1908) The Black Viper (1908) The Red Man and the Child (1908) Deceived Slumming Party (1908) The Bandit's Waterloo (1908) A Calamitous Elopement (1908) The Greaser's Gauntlet (1908) The Man and the Woman (1908) The Fatal Hour (1908) For Love of Gold (1908) Balked at the Altar (1908) For a Wife's Honor (1908) Betrayed by a Handprint (1908) Monday Morning in a Coney Island Police Court (1908) The Girl and the Outlaw (1908) Behind the Scenes (1908) The Red Girl (1908) The Heart of O'Yama (1908) Where the Breakers Roar (1908) A Smoked Husband (1908) The Stolen Jewels (1908) The Devil (1908) The Zulu's Heart (1908) Father Gets in the Game (1908) Ingomar, the Barbarian (1908) The Vaquero's Vow (1908) The Planter's Wife (1908) Romance of a Jewess (1908) The Call of the Wild (1908) Concealing a Burglar (1908) After Many Years (1908) The Pirate's Gold (1908) The Taming of the Shrew (1908) The Guerrilla (1908) The Song of the Shirt (1908) The Ingrate (1908) A Woman's Way (1908) The Clubman and the Tramp (1908) Money Mad (1908) The Valet's Wife (1908) The Feud and the Turkey (1908) The Reckoning (1908) The Test of Friendship (1908) An Awful Moment (1908) The Christmas Burglars (1908) Mr. Jones at the Ball (1908) The Helping Hand (1908)
1909	One Touch of Nature (1909) The Maniac Cook (1909) Mrs. Jones Entertains (1909) The Honor of Thieves (1909) Love Finds a Way (1909) The Sacrifice (1909) A Rural Elopement (1909) Those Boys! (1909) The Criminal Hypnotist (1909) The Fascinating Mrs. Francis (1909) Mr. Jones Has a Card Party (1909) Those Awful Hats (1909) The Welcome Burglar (1909) The Cord of Life (1909) The Girls and Daddy (1909) The Brahma Diamond (1909) Edgar Allan Poe (1909) A Wreath in Time (1909) Tragic Love (1909) The Curtain Pole (1909) His Ward's Love (1909) The Joneses Have Amateur Theatricals (1909) The Hindoo Dagger (1909) The Politician's Love Story (1909) The Golden Louis (1909) At the Altar (1909) The Prussian Spy (1909) His Wife's Mother (1909) A Fool's Revenge (1909) The Wooden Leg (1909) The Roue's Heart (1909) The Salvation Army Lass (1909) The Lure of the Gown (1909) I Did It (1909) The Voice of the Violin (1909) The Deception (1909) And a Little Child Shall Lead Them (1909) A Burglar's Mistake (1909) A Drunkard's Reformation (1909) Trying to Get Arrested (1909) The Road to the Heart (1909) A Sound Sleeper (1909) Lady Helen's Escapade (1909) Lucky Jim (1909) Resurrection (1909) Two Memories (1909) Eloping with Auntie (1909) The Cricket on the Hearth (1909) The Violin Maker of Cremona (1909) The Lonely Villa (1909) The Son's Return (1909) Her First Biscuits (1909) The Country Doctor (1909) The Cardinal's Conspiracy (1909) Tender Hearts (1909) The Friend of the Family (1909) The Renunciation (1909) The Mended Lute (1909) The Sealed Room (1909) The Little Darling (1909) The Hessian Renegades (1909) Getting Even (1909) Leather Stocking (1909) Pippa Passes or The Song of Conscience (1909) Fools of Fate (1909) The Gibson Goddess (1909) Nursing a Viper (1909) The Death Disc: A Story of the Cromwellian Period (1909) Through the Breakers (1909) The Red Man's View (1909) A Corner in Wheat (1909) A Trap for Santa Claus (1909) In Little Italy (1909) To Save Her Soul (1909) The Day After (1909) Choosing a Husband (1909) Bill Sharkey's Last Game (1909)
1910	The Rocky Road (1910) The Woman from Mellon's (1910) The Englishman and the Girl (1910) In Old California (1910) Faithful (1910) The Two Brothers (1910) As It Is In Life (1910) A Romance of the Western Hills (1910) The Unchanging Sea (1910) Ramona (1910) In the Season of Buds (1910) In the Border States (1910) What the Daisy Said (1910) A Flash of Light (1910) An Arcadian Maid (1910) The House with Closed Shutters (1910) The Modern Prodigal (1910) A Mohawk's Way (1910) Rose O'Salem-Town (1910) The Fugitive (1910) Winning Back His Love (1910)
1911	The Two Paths (1911) The Italian Barber (1911) His Trust (1911) His Trust Fulfilled (1911) Heart Beats of Long Ago (1911) What Shall We Do with Our Old? (1911) Fisher Folks (1911) His Daughter (1911) The Lily of the Tenements (1911) A Decree of Destiny (1911) Was He a Coward? (1911) The Lonedale Operator (1911) The Spanish Gypsy (1911) The Broken Cross (1911) How She Triumphed (1911) The New Dress (1911) The Crooked Road (1911) The White Rose of the Wilds (1911) The Smile of a Child (1911) Enoch Arden: Part I (1911) Enoch Arden: Part II (1911) The Primal Call (1911) Fighting Blood (1911) The Indian Brothers (1911) A Country Cupid (1911) The Last Drop of Water (1911) Out from the Shadow (1911) The Blind Princess and the Poet (1911) Swords and Hearts (1911) The Stuff Heroes Are Made Of (1911) Her Awakening (1911) The Making of a Man (1911) The Adventures of Billy (1911) The Long Road (1911) Love in the Hills (1911) The Battle (1911) Through Darkened Vales (1911) The Miser's Heart (1911) A Woman Scorned (1911) The Voice of the Child (1911)
1912	The Eternal Mother (1912) The Old Bookkeeper (1912) For His Son (1912) The Transformation of Mike (1912) A Sister's Love (1912) Under Burning Skies (1912) The Sunbeam (1912) A String of Pearls (1912) The Girl and Her Trust (1912) The Root of Evil (1912) The Goddess of Sagebrush Gulch (1912) The Punishment (1912) The Female of the Species (1912) Just Like a Woman (1912) One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912) The Lesser Evil (1912) A Beast at Bay (1912) An Outcast Among Outcasts (1912) Home Folks (1912) A Temporary Truce (1912) The Spirit Awakened (1912) Man's Lust for Gold (1912) The Sands of Dee (1912) The Narrow Road (1912) The Inner Circle (1912) A Change of Spirit (1912) An Unseen Enemy (1912) Blind Love (1912) The Massacre (1912) Two Daughters of Eve (1912) Friends (1912) So Near, yet So Far (1912) A Feud in the Kentucky Hills (1912) The Chief's Blanket (1912) In the Aisles of the Wild (1912) The One She Loved (1912) The Painted Lady (1912) The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) Heredity (1912) Gold and Glitter (1912) My Baby (1912) The Informer (1912) Brutality (1912) The New York Hat (1912) My Hero (1912) The Burglar's Dilemma (1912) A Cry for Help (1912) The God Within (1912)
1913	Three Friends (1913) The Telephone Girl and the Lady (1913) An Adventure in the Autumn Woods (1913) The Tender Hearted Boy (1913) A Misappropriated Turkey (1913) Brothers (1913) Oil and Water (1913) A Chance Deception (1913) Love in an Apartment Hotel (1913) Broken Ways (1913) A Girl's Stratagem (1913) The Unwelcome Guest (1913) Near to Earth (1913) Fate (1913) A Welcome Intruder (1913) The Sheriff's Baby (1913) The Hero of Little Italy (1913) The Little Tease (1913) A Misunderstood Boy (1913) The Left-Handed Man (1913) The Lady and the Mouse (1913) If We Only Knew (1913) The Wanderer (1913) The Stolen Loaf (1913) The House of Darkness (1913) The Yaqui Cur (1913) Just Gold (1913) The Ranchero's Revenge (1913) A Timely Interception (1913) Death's Marathon (1913) The Mothering Heart (1913) The Sorrowful Shore (1913) The Enemy's Baby (1913) The Mistake (1913) Two Men of the Desert (1913) Madonna of the Storm (1913) The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) The Conscience of Hassan Bey (1913)
1914–1931	Judith of Bethulia (1914) Battle of the Sexes (1914, lost) Brute Force (1914) Home, Sweet Home (1914) The Escape (1914, lost) The Avenging Conscience: or "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (1914) The Birth of a Nation (1915) Intolerance (1916) Hearts of the World (1918) The Great Love (1918, lost) Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal (1918, lost) The Greatest Thing in Life (1918, lost) A Romance of Happy Valley (1919) The Girl Who Stayed at Home (1919) Broken Blossoms (1919) True Heart Susie (1919) Scarlet Days (1919) The Greatest Question (1919) The Idol Dancer (1920) Remodeling Her Husband (1920) The Love Flower (1920) Way Down East (1920) Dream Street (1921) Orphans of the Storm (1921) One Exciting Night (1922) The White Rose (1923) America (1924) Isn't Life Wonderful (1924) Sally of the Sawdust (1925) That Royle Girl (1925, lost) The Sorrows of Satan (1926) Drums of Love (1928) The Battle of the Sexes (1928) Lady of the Pavements (1929) Abraham Lincoln (1930) The Struggle (1931)