The Adventures of Billy
| Title: | The Adventures of Billy |
| Year: | 1911 |
| Directors: | D.W. Griffith |
| Writers: | James Carroll (writer) |
| Actors: | Edna Foster | Donald Crisp | Joseph Graybill | Dell Henderson | Claire McDowell | Kate Bruce | Frank Evans | W. Chrystie Miller | D.W. Griffith | Grace Henderson | Harry Hyde | Charles Hill Mailes | Alfred Paget |
| Rating: | 5.6 | 17 votes |
| Languages: | English |
| Color: | Black and White |
| Country: | USA |
| Company: | Biograph Company |
| Genres: | Drama | Short |
| Plot: | |
| Billy witnesses two tramps accidentally kill someone during a robbery. The tramps lock him up and decide that he must be killed, too. | |
| Comments: | |
| 1) This is a lesser example of Griffith's series of shorts concerned withsocial problems, like WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR OLD? and ONE ISBUSINESS, THE OTHER CRIME. It is, according to its first title,"suggested by Press Comment on the Tramp Evil." Billy, a poorbootblack, played by Edna Foster, decides to try finding a town wherebusiness is better. On the road he meets with two tramps, played byDonald Crisp and Joseph Graybill. They force him to beg for him, andthen kill and rob an old man.
At this point, Billy protests and they decide to kill him. They lockhim in a shack while they decide which of them is to do the evil deed.Billy is rescued when a friendly dog carries a plea to help to a richfamily in the neighborhood. They subdue the tramps and adopt Billy. Some of what I consider to be weakness in the story — the randomnessof the tramps' crimes — may well be an artifact of the short length ofthis film and the contemporary view of tramps. It may also be anattempt to tell the story from Billy's point of view, in which adults'actions seem capricious. Also, Griffith offers no clear solution to theproblem; but he never did. He always seemed more interested in statinga problem than solving it. In any case, this particular short, while done well enough, suffersfrom these, in my opinion, uncertainties. While not bad, it iscertainly understandable that this is not one of Griffith'sbetter-known pieces. |
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