Vintage original 8 x 10 in. US lobby card from the early American four-reel silent film drama, JUDITH OF BETHULIA, releaesd in 1914 by the General Film Company, produced by the Biograph Company, and directed by D.W. Griffith.
 
This is the only original-release lobby card from a Biograph film directed by D.W. Griffith that we are aware of. The image depicts a full shot of Blanche Sweet as "Judith" wearing a peacock-feathered hat as she pets a peacock nearby. She is depicted in the costume she wears when she seduces (and ultimately kills) Holofernes, the leader of her people's enemy. Only the fim's title and the studio name are depicted in the bottom border. This example is unrestored in fine+ condition as shown.
 
*"Judith of Bethulia was re-issued in 1917 at six reels under the title Her Condoned Sin with new subtitles and scenes not included in the 1914 version. At that time Biograph took out a second copyright for the new title. Contemporary sources noted that more than fifty prints were released in the U.S. and sixty-one prints were sent to other countries with titles translated into many languages. The original production, made in 1913, cost a reported $36,000. Exteriors were shot in Chatsworth Park, CA and interiors were shot in the Biograph Studios in New York.
 
Modern sources list James Smith as the film editor, William Christy Cabanne as assistant director and credit Frank Wood with titles. Additional cast members listed in modern sources include: W. Christie Miller, Gertrude Robinson, Eddie Dillon, Charles Hill Mailes, Frank Opperman, Adolph Lestina, Jennie Lee, William J. Butler, Alfred Paget, Harry Hyde, Clara T. Bracey, W. C. Robinson, Frank Evans, William Carroll, Gertrude Bambrick, and Kate Toncray. In some sources Grace A. Pierce is credited as the author of the poem "Judith of Holofernes," while in others she is given partial credit for the scenario, but her exact relation to the film or poem is unknown.
 
According to information in both contemporary and modern sources this was D. W. Griffith's last production for Biograph although The Battle of Elderbush Gulch, filmed earlier, was released later. Other films released by Biograph after this time that credit Griffith with supervision probably were not actually supervised by him.
 
The Biograph Company, also known as the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, was a motion picture company founded in 1895 and active until 1916. It was the first company in the United States devoted entirely to film production and exhibition, and for two decades was one of the most prolific, releasing over 3000 short films and 12 feature films. During the height of silent film as a medium, Biograph was America's most prominent film studio and one of the most respected and influential studios worldwide, only rivaled by Germany's UFA, Sweden's Svensk Filmindustri and France's Pathé. The company was home to pioneering director D. W. Griffith and such actors as Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, and Lionel Barrymore."
*(source: Wikipedia)
 
DWG