Way Down East 1920

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: Through his star, Lillian Gish, Griffith gives the story an emotional power that lifts this 1920 silent feature to the level of a folktale; it becomes something simple, strong, and timeless. Read more

Tony Rayns, Time Out: [Lillian Gish's] virtuoso performance makes the heroine's growth from gullible innocence to bitter experience credible. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: With the gathering together of a relatively small cast and less than half a dozen stellar film artists, D.W. has taken a simple, elemental, old-fashioned, bucolic melodrama and milked it for 12 reels of absorbing entertainment. Read more

Mark Adamo, Washington Post: What's amazing is that so much of Gish's tough, funny, intuitive performance, particularly in the film's middle section as she bears her illegitimate child, transcends time, place and technology. Read more