AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Red-Barracuda The story of Holofernes leading the Assyrians against the Judean city of Bethulia. After a failed attack the Assyrians try to withhold the water supply from the Judeans. Judith of Bethulia is called into action to save her people.This is the first D.W. Griffiths feature film. Indeed it's one of the very first full-length movies. It's a dry run for later Griffith epics such as Intolerance, which also features a biblical attack on an ancient city, in that case Babylon. This film is a lot less grand it has to be said. Watch out for the version available on-line with the abysmally inappropriately jolly score! It's really only going to be of interest to those who wish to delve into the origins of feature film-making. It's a little heavy going otherwise.

FerdinandVonGalitzien Since it is Easter time, Herr Graf's curiosity about strange Christians' pious habits led to a decision to watch a film inspired lightly by or based on religious scenes ( although aristocrats don't share any Christian feelings about their fellow men at this time or any other time of the year ). For this reason "Judith Of Bethulia" was chosen, a film located in Bethulia, a village near Jerusalem, so it was perfect penance for this German aristocrat. "Judith Of Bethulia" was the last film directed by Herr D.W. Griffith for "Biograph Studios" because the American director had a strange idea about how many reels were necessary to depict a story, an opinion about film running time that the company didn't share ( afterwards Herr Griffith would take revenge and put his theory in practice in his well-known and longer silent films ). The film is the story of Damen Judith, a widower who, in order to save her city from the Assyrian invaders and the thirst and famine that her countrymen suffer in the besieged city, sacrifices her virtue to Herr Holofernes, the invading leader."Judith Of Bethulia" is a film in which the techniques are recognizable which made the American director famous in the silent world, even though this film exposes them in a subtle way: not forgetting the pace, the perfectly entwined shots and situations, the strong male characters that Herr Griffith was so fond of, and the fragile and self-sacrificing little fräuleins so characteristic of his cinema. This film is not remarkable but perfect ( clean, even antiseptic ) in its technical, formal and performing aspects.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count must sacrifice himself to one of his devoted fat German heiresses.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/

drednm The first feature-length film from DW Griffith, JUDITH OF BETHULIA tells the story of a young widow who saves her city (Bethulia) from the Assyrians by an act of treachery.It's a warm-up for Griffith's masterpiece, INTOLERANCE, a few years later but still has merit of its own despite hammy acting and lackluster sets.Blanche Sweet (then 18) stars as Judith and is very pretty but the acting style (it is 1914 after all) is still crude with waving arms and long dramatic poses. Henry B. Walthall is the head of the Assyrian army, Mae Marsh and Robert Harron play the young lovers, Lillian Gish is a young mother, Dorothy Gish is a young cripple, Kate Bruce is the loyal maid, Harry Carey is the traitor.The extras (in heavy makeup) include Lionel Barrymore, Antonio Moreno, Elmo Lincoln, Mary Gish (mother of the stars), and someone named J. Jiquel Lanoe who is quite excellent as the head eunuch.Certainly worth a look but this seems very amateurish compared to what was coming. The film is also famous for going well over budget and getting Griffith fired from Biograph Studio.

rsoonsa D.W. Griffith fuses Thomas Bailey Aldrich's long poem of Judith's story with its basis in the Apocrypha to derive this somewhat austere and powerful film of the widow's noble sacrifice to save her besieged city and its inhabitants from an invading Assyrian army, led by Holofernes. With JUDITH as Griffith's first feature length effort, he turns away from the commercial needs of the Biograph Company, the management of which desires to maintain its policy of making only one and two reelers, and his expenditure of $36000 is double the amount budgeted, reflecting his expanded use of sets and extras and providing the requisite exercise in preparation for his next major work: BIRTH OF A NATION, made as a free agent. Eighteen year old Blanche Sweet's performance is striking as she utilizes all of her wide range of expressivity, uncommon in one so young, to mirror the emotions of a woman who is physically attracted to a man, Henry Walthall as Holofernes, toward whom her only possible final act will be his death by her hand, as depicted in many a well-known painting. The supporting cast serves the sparsely titled production well, with emotional performances from Mae Marsh and Robert Harron as endangered lovers, and among the many bit players who animate the work may be seen Lionel Barrymore, Harry Carey, Antonio Moreno and Lillian and Dorothy Gish as victims of the invaders. This version is the four reeler rather than the one of six reels released later and is Griffith's answer to the full-length epics which were being imported from Europe; its release was delayed a year by Biograph to ensure that the director had left its employ, but this brought scant gain to the company: Biograph was soon defunct, while Griffith's star was rising.