A Temporary Truce

A Temporary Truce is a 1912 American short silent Western film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Blanche Sweet. A print of the film survives in the film archive of the Library of Congress.^[1]

A Temporary Truce
Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Written by	George Hennessy
Starring	Blanche Sweet Charles Hill Mailes
Cinematography	G. W. Bitzer
Release date	June 10, 1912 (1912-06-10)
Running time	17 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	Silent English intertitles

Plot

Mexican Jim, the villain, kidnaps Alice, wife of Jack the prospector. Jack declares a temporary truce with Jim so they can both battle the Indians as a common enemy.^[2]

Cast

• Charles Hill Mailes as Mexican Jim
• Claire McDowell as Mexican Jim's Wife
• Charles Gorman as Jack, the Prospector
• Blanche Sweet as Alice, the Prospector's Wife
• W. Chrystie Miller as The Murdered Indian / Indian on Street
• Christy Cabanne as An Indian
• William A. Carroll as In Bar / Among Rescuers
• Frank Evans as In Bar / Among Rescuers
• Robert Harron as The Murdered Indian's Son
• Bert Hendler as In Bar
• Harry Hyde as Among Rescuers / Outside Pony Express Office
• J. Jiquel Lanoe as An Indian / Among Rescuers
• Wilfred Lucas as An Indian
• Mae Marsh as A Murdered Settler
• Frank Opperman as A Drunken Cutthroat / The Indian Chief / The Bartender
• Alfred Paget as A Drunken Cutthroat / An Indian / Among Rescuers
• Jack Pickford as An Indian
• W. C. Robinson as An Indian / In Bar / Among Rescuers
• Charles West

Themes

D. W. Griffith did not always portray Mexican characters in a negative light; however, in this film they are portrayed as a threat to white families and women.^[3] The film is more complex in this regard that previous Griffith work.^[4]

Production

The cast was considered to be quite large for a short film under two reels.^[5] This is one of three D. W. Griffith films that Bert Hendler appeared in.^[6] The cast also included Mae Marsh, who worked with Griffith on many films, including The Birth of a Nation. She was one of his favorites and in a 1923 interview, Griffith noted that "Mae Marsh was born a film star."^[7]

See also

• D. W. Griffith filmography
• Blanche Sweet filmography

References

1. "Silent Era: A Temporary Truce". silentera. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
2. Division, Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound; Niver, Kemp R. (1985). Early Motion Pictures: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress. Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-8444-0463-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. Bernardi, Daniel; Green, Michael (July 7, 2017). Race in American Film: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-313-39840-7.
4. Usai, Paolo Cherchi (July 25, 2019). The Griffith Project, Volume 5: Films Produced in 1911. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-83902-011-7.
5. Film & Video Finder: Title section (A-K). National Information Center for Educational Media, a Division of Access Innovations, Incorporated. 1997. p. 3110. ISBN 978-0-937548-29-5.
6. Slide, Anthony (March 12, 2012). The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-61703-250-9.
7. Lowe, Denise (January 27, 2014). An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-71896-3.

External links

• A Temporary Truce at IMDb