The Origins of film: America's first women filmmakers: origins of the gangster film

Volume three of a three disc anthology of restored early silent American films (1900-1926) from archival prints held in the Library of Congress’s Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. This volume contains 3 short films and one feature by early women filmmakers Lois Weber and Alice Guy-Blache and 2 feature-length gangster films. “How men propose”: a woman researches male courtship rituals in this comedy of reversed gender expectations. In “Matrimony’s speed limit” a young man is duped by his fiancee into believing he must marry before noon to inherit a fortune. “A House divided” is a comic take on divorce. The feature-length “Too wise wives” is a droll satire about women’s place in society. Griffith’s short film “The Narrow road” and Tourneur’s feature “Alias Jimmy Valentine” both centre on ex-criminals caught amongst the devotion of a woman, the lure of criminal buddies and the suspicion of a dogged detective. Tourneur’s film is distinguished by its sophisticated visual style which can be attributed as much to his direction as to the contribution of set designer Ben Carre.