Director Edwin S Porter doesn't mince words in this backhand to the American Justice System of the 1900's. In under ten minutes and with less than a dozen shots Porter paints a smooth narrative utilizing both interior and actual locale exteriors to dramatize the inequities and hypocrisy inherent within the judicial system that allows money to talk and suckers to walk. Sound familiar?
A lady of substantial means rides her chauffeur driven carriage to Macy's from tawny Park Avenue where she is caught shoplifting some finery. Meanwhile a woman in lower Manhattan is caught stealing food for her starving child. Both criminals are hustled before the caught where one is treated harshly the other coddled.
Porter makes no bones about the double standard at play and he does it with an impressive visual flare. Within seconds he economically establishes the wealthy woman's station and gives the film a realistic feel by doing on location shooting along mansion lined Park avenue and smoothly match cutting it to her arrival at the department store. The Macy's floor scene is energized, busy and purposely distracting to draw the audience in. The courtroom scenes cruel injustice is tempered by comic burlesque where subtle jibes through blocking and action hit their mark. Porter then ends his film with a still of lady liberty and a tilted scale of justice weighted down on one side by a bag of silver. Fight the power Edwin S.
A lady of substantial means rides her chauffeur driven carriage to Macy's from tawny Park Avenue where she is caught shoplifting some finery. Meanwhile a woman in lower Manhattan is caught stealing food for her starving child. Both criminals are hustled before the caught where one is treated harshly the other coddled.
Porter makes no bones about the double standard at play and he does it with an impressive visual flare. Within seconds he economically establishes the wealthy woman's station and gives the film a realistic feel by doing on location shooting along mansion lined Park avenue and smoothly match cutting it to her arrival at the department store. The Macy's floor scene is energized, busy and purposely distracting to draw the audience in. The courtroom scenes cruel injustice is tempered by comic burlesque where subtle jibes through blocking and action hit their mark. Porter then ends his film with a still of lady liberty and a tilted scale of justice weighted down on one side by a bag of silver. Fight the power Edwin S.