HEARTS OF THE WORLD

HEARTS OF THE WORLD
Opened at the 44th Street Theatre, New York, April 4, 1918. 12 reels.

Directed by D. W. Griffith; scenario by M. Gaston de Tolignac, translated into English by Capt. Victor Marier (both pseudonyms for D. W. Griffith); photographed by G. W. Bitzer; technical supervision by Erich Von Stroheim; music arranged by Carli Elinor and Griffith.

Hearts of the World (Paramount, 1918) – Herald

Cast:

The Grandfather – Adolphe Lestina
The Mother – Josephine Crowell
The Girl, Marie Stephenson – Lillian Gish
The Boy, Douglas Gordon Hamilton – Robert Harron
The Father of the Boy – Jack Cosgrave
The Mother of the Boy – Kate Bruce
The Littlest Brother – Ben Alexander
The Boy’s Other Brothers – M. Emmons, F. Marion
The Little Disturber – Dorothy Gish
Monsieur Cuckoo – Robert Anderson
The Village Carpenter – George Fawcett
Von Strohm – George Siegmann
The Innkeeper – Fay Holderness
A Deaf and Blind Musician – L. Lowy
A Poilu – Eugene Pouyet
A French Peasant Girl – Anna Mae Walthall
A Refugee Mile. – Yvette Duvoisin of the Comedie Frangaise, Paris
A French Major – Herbert Sutch
A Poilu – Alphonse Dufort
A Poilu – Jean Dumercier
Stretcher Bearers – Gaston Riviere, Jules Lemontier
A Poilu – Georges Loyer
A German Sergeant – George Nicholls
A Refugee Mother – Mrs. Mary Gish
Woman with Daughter – Mrs. Harron
Wounded Girl – Mary Harron
Refugee – Jessie Harron
Boy with Barrel – Johnny Harron
Dancer – Mary Hay

Hearts Of The World Press Book – The Bride Gish

Not credited on the original programs: Erich Von Stroheim as a Hun in several scenes, and Noel Coward as the Man with the Wheelbarrow and as a Villager in the Streets.

Publicity men created myths about the production of Hearts of the World, claiming that it consisted largely of on-the-spot recording of events. For the most part, Griffith recreated scenes which he witnessed or learned about first hand—Lillian Gish trying to guide her confused grandfather to safety as the village is bombarded; the orphaned children burying their mother’s body in the cellar. The only Americans who joined Griffith for filming in France and England were the two Gish girls and their mother, Robert Harron, George Fawcett, George Seigmann, Ben Alexander and his mother, and Bitzer with several assistants; even Von Stroheim was not hired until the company returned to California. The scenes in which other members of the Griffith company appeared must have been shot on the West Coast, and, though Griffith and Bitzer toured the front lines photographing action scenes, Griffith added stock footage later.