True Heart Susie
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | True Heart Susie |
| Original title | True Heart Susie |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1919 |
| length | 86 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | DW Griffith |
| script | Maria Fremont |
| production | DW Griffith |
| music | Rodney Sauer (2007) |
| camera | GW Bitzer |
| cut | James Smith |
| occupation | |
| |
True Heart Susie - The Story of a Plain Girl is a 1919 American silent film directed by DW Griffith .
content
Susie has loved the neighbor boy William since she was at school. He carves a heart with both initials in a tree, but William shrinks from the first kiss. At school, Susie is smarter than he is, and because he cannot afford to study and she wants an intelligent husband, she sells her favorite cow against her aunt's wishes and uses it to secretly finance William's studies. When the amount was sent to the university, she only identified herself as a “philanthropist”, so William suspects that the anonymous benefactor is a stranger who had stopped in the village a short time before and prophesied a bright future for him.
William successfully completes his studies and returns to his home village, where Susie is already waiting for him modestly and faithfully. He sees her as a good friend after all this time, while she is already secretly forging wedding plans in her diary . Williams' saying that men would look after the women who were made up and dressed up, but marry the common women, strengthens their quiet and modesty. When William finally succeeds the village pastor , however, he also becomes interesting for the cleaner Bettina. Although she likes to go to parties, she also has constant financial worries, which is why she is looking for a partner. The simple William is surprised when she flirts with him, but also flattered, especially since Susie never made advances to him. He proposes marriage to Bettina just as Susie tries to jump over her shadow and confess his love to him. Susie suffers quietly, especially since she saw Bettina kissing Sporty Malone shortly before the application was accepted.
Time goes by and William realizes that he has made a mistake with the marriage: Bettina can neither cook nor is she interested in him. When he is on a trip for some time, Bettina promptly organizes a party to which all of her dressed up friends appear. Concerns Williams, who sees Sporty kissing Bettina on return, can quickly dispel them. Meanwhile, Susie destroys the only letters she has ever received from William.
Bettina is increasingly bored next to her husband and one evening sneaks out of the house unrecognized, faking William a headache. In reality, she's going to a party with her friends. There she loses the house keys, gets caught in a heavy thunderstorm on the way back and stands in front of a locked door at home. She asks for help from Susie, who lies for her in front of William - Bettina was with her all night because she was afraid of the thunderstorm. William believes the story. Bettina becomes seriously ill because of the ride in the rain and dies a short time later without telling William the truth. Who swears never to love another woman again.
William learns from Susie's aunt that Susie financed his studies at the time. When one of Bettina's friends visits him a little later and tells him the truth about the party shortly before Bettina's death, he no longer feels bound by his oath and confesses to Susie that he has always only loved her. Both become a couple.
production
From True Heart Susie a copy that film archives of the National exists British Film Institute outsourced. In Germany, the film was shown for the first time on November 30, 2009 on the arte channel .
criticism
The lexicon of international films described True Heart Susie as “the fascinating melodrama of a self-sacrificing woman, in which David Wark Griffith, the pioneer of silent films, almost perfected his diverse artistic means. Experts see the film as the director's real masterpiece. "
Web links
- True Heart Susie in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ True Heart Susie in the Lexicon of International Films , accessed April 14, 2012