Wow! Such a good movie.

So much average

It is a performances centric movie

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Watching this movie today, it's one that's more interesting than it is entertaining. In addition to being an early piece of cinema (and one that uses editing to some extent), this is also the earliest surviving movie with Mary Pickford, and maybe natural place to start if you want to explore her career. She plays the damsel in distress, and, well, you can't fault her performance as it leaves little doubt that that's what she is.I'm sure this was a thrilling watch back in the day, and I hope there are some written accounts of how the audience reacted to it. It's obvious that the suspense is there, but only temporary accounts can tell if it worked as intended.

So many director's could learn from this. White-knuckle suspense, an excellent set-up and pay-off, and it keeps things barebones enough so that you know just enough about the characters to care about them (perhaps unconsciously the children are all dressed in white to emphasize the innocence, might seem obvious or not to some but it's visually a wise decision), and how Griffith keeps up the tension between the woman calling up her man to get help, the attackers breaking in to each successive room, it seems as if this is a landmark in a lot of ways. It's directed without an inch of story fat, and the stakes keep getting tighter as the men go from one room to the next and the women can't keep them out. It may be resolved just a little too quickly, but maybe not. It seems to end at just the point it's supposed to. I love it and it's one of the best of the earliest short films out there (and hey, Mary Pickford!)

Three burglars (Owen Moore, Herbert Prior, and Anthony O'Sullivan) lurk outside the Cullison estate. When the family butler and maid leave on a date, the burglars trick master-of-the-house David Miles (as Robert Cullison) into vacating the premises; Mr. Miles doesn't know it, but the lurking trio are planning a robbery. After Miles leaves, the thieves terrorize helpless Marion Lenard (as Mother Cullison) and the three Cullison girls - Mary Pickford, Gladys Egan, and Adele DeGarde. As the burglars bust in, Ms. Leonard's uses her telephone to desperately call for help… For its time, "The Lonely Villa" likely packed an audience pleasing punch; but it's rather ordinary, when compared to director D.W. Griffith's later revisitations of its story/situation. The location footage is a highlight, and the cutting of the Cullisons' telephone cord is a nice touch. Ms. Pickford, with her relatively small stature, makes a convincing little girl. Real little girl Egan shines as the first Cullison who notices something is not quite right… **** The Lonely Villa (6/10/09) D.W. Griffith ~ David Miles, Marion Leonard, Mary Pickford

This is a good example of an idea that Hollywood uses nowadays. Panic Room was an attempt to make this into a full length film, but it dragged too much to be very exciting. But this short silent film shows the same plot, but without all the unimportant excess. What is left is the original, good idea, and that makes up the whole film. Suspense is retained throughout. Quality film making and innovation that is all too rare now, almost 100 years later.