Orphans of the Storm

Griffith's neglected epic stars the Gish sisters as victims of the chaos that hits Paris during the French Revolution. Authentic down to real champagne at an aristocratic bacchanal, the film depicts the storming of the Bastille with spectacular flair. While the director's handling of humour (clumsy) and pathos (heavily milked) demands some generosity from the audience, the eternal radiance of Lillian Gish shines through everything. The restored print under review (in 1998), from New York's Museum of Modern Art, is fine on detail but suffers from excessive tinting.