Good vs Evil is and always has been the plot of a good story. Stereotype or not, in this case the gypsies do not have good intentions and are willing to beat up an old man. You have to get over PC brainwashing to view the film (or any Griffith film). It's 1910! And it is a short.
When I view silents I am seeing the birth of film. Knowing there is not going to be much of a plot I look for scenery, set design, costuming/hairstyles, and cinematography/composition. Since there is not much costuming in the film, except for the gypsies (with the wagon being real), we see what the people and places of 1910 looked like. Since filming took place outside on a windy day, housing, gardens, fields, waterfalls are all on location and are as they existed then. There is the beautiful Delaware Water Gap falls for a fantastic romantic backdrop which must have feasted the eyes of national movie goers who never saw the likes. And the waving field of wild flowers on a hillside amazed me it did not get trampled to death which tells me Griffith did not do many takes.
Then there is Pickford and Robinson who do not overact their parts as sisters, however Graybill the gypsy did - but that is what was expected of silent actors. This makes Pickford and Robinson all the more accomplished early on in their careers because they were able to get their feelings and longings across without much exaggeration. Griffith for his part shows how tight he can edit his films. View the film as a student of film history.
When I view silents I am seeing the birth of film. Knowing there is not going to be much of a plot I look for scenery, set design, costuming/hairstyles, and cinematography/composition. Since there is not much costuming in the film, except for the gypsies (with the wagon being real), we see what the people and places of 1910 looked like. Since filming took place outside on a windy day, housing, gardens, fields, waterfalls are all on location and are as they existed then. There is the beautiful Delaware Water Gap falls for a fantastic romantic backdrop which must have feasted the eyes of national movie goers who never saw the likes. And the waving field of wild flowers on a hillside amazed me it did not get trampled to death which tells me Griffith did not do many takes.
Then there is Pickford and Robinson who do not overact their parts as sisters, however Graybill the gypsy did - but that is what was expected of silent actors. This makes Pickford and Robinson all the more accomplished early on in their careers because they were able to get their feelings and longings across without much exaggeration. Griffith for his part shows how tight he can edit his films. View the film as a student of film history.
