Florence-Lawrence-and-George-Gebhardt-in-The-Cord-of-Life-1909-director-DW-Griffith-00 

   Florence Lawrence and George Gebhardt

 

Directed by                       D.W. Griffith
Cinematography by         Billy Bitzer, Arthur Marvin
Starring                             Charles Inslee, Marion Leonard, George Gebhardt, Arthur V. Johnson, Florence Lawrence
Distributed by                   Biograph Company
Release date                      January 28, 1909
Country                             United States
Running time                    11 m.

 

"The Cord of Life"  is a short crime drama.  The film is included in our program to illustrate the work of our star Billy Bitzer, who shares the cinematography credit with Arthur Marvin.  Our stars Arthur V. Johnson and Florence Lawrence have small parts in the film.

 

George Gebhardt demands money from Charles Inslee, but is thrown out empty-handed and vows revenge.  Then when Charles Inslee's wife Marion Leonard leaves their little girl alone for a moment George Gebhardt jumps in.  He puts the child in a basket and lets it hang outside on a cord in such a way that when the window gets open, the child is bound to fall several floors to its death.

We trust that silent film lovers will not judge harshly the quality of the print.  Many early D.W. Griffith films are only available in a paper print format, and we are all very lucky that they have survived the trials of time for us to enjoy.

 

 

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