1913: The Year of the Armory Show
February 1–2, 2003

Ninety years ago this month, New York City was confronted with the latest trends in modern art when the Armory at Lexington Avenue and 26 Street played host to an installation of recent art from Europe and America. The shock waves from that show are still felt today. In its own way, 1913 was also a turning point in cinematic history, for it was then that filmmakers all over the world (among them D. W. Griffith and Victor Sjöström) began experimenting in earnest with the feature-length film and its more intricate methods of storytelling. This exhibition, taken from the Museum’s collection, includes works that are among the finest examples of the short dramatic film, as well as works that are illustrative of the birth of the feature film. All programs are silent with piano accompaniment by Stuart Oderman.

Organized by Steven Higgins, Curator, Department of Film and Media.

Ingeborg Holm. 1913. Sweden. Directed by Victor Sjöström. Screenplay by Sjöström. With Hilda Borgström, Aron Lindgren, Erik Lindholm. When her husband dies, Ingeborg Holm’s children are taken away. Learning that her daughter is gravely ill, Ingeborg tries to see her and goes mad with grief when the child dies. A devastating attack on Sweden’s poor laws, this film is Sjöström’s first masterwork. Swedish intertitles; synopsis provided. Approx. 75 min.
Saturday, February 1, 2:00

A Modern Romance. 1913. USA. Directed by William Robert Daly. A one-reeler from the Independent Motion Picture (IMP) Company, in which a young wife helps to reconcile her husband and his father. 15 min.
Ivanhoe. 1913. USA. Directed by Herbert Brenon. With King Baggot, Leah Baird, Brenon. The IMP Company traveled to England to film this feature-length adaptation of Sir Walter Scott’s classic tale. 48 min.
Saturday, February 1, 4:00

All on Account of a Transfer. 1913. USA. Directed by C. Jay Williams. With Frank A. Lyon, Mrs. C. Jay Williams, Edward O’Connor. The Doctor’s Photograph. 1913. USA. Directed by Walter Edwin. With Herbert Prior, Mabel Trunnelle, Charles Ogle. The Ambassador’s Daughter. 1913. USA. Directed by Charles J. Brabin. With Robert Brower, Miriam Nesbitt, Marc MacDermott. At Bear Track Gulch. 1913. USA. Directed by Harold M. Shaw. With William West, Herbert Prior, Edna Flugrath. How They Outwitted Father. 1913. USA. Directed by C. Jay Williams. With Herbert Prior, Gertrude McCoy, Augustus Phillips.
A program of recently restored Edison Company comedies and melodramas.
Program approx. 70 min.
Sunday, February 2, 2:00

Broken Ways. 1913. USA. Directed by D. W. Griffith. With Henry B. Walthall, Blanche Sweet, Harry Carey. Death’s Marathon. 1913. USA. Directed by D. W. Griffith. With Lionel Barrymore, Blanche Sweet, Henry B. Walthall. A Woman in the Ultimate. 1913. USA. Directed by Dell Henderson. With Lillian Gish, Charles Hill Mailes, Henry B. Walthall. The Lady and the Mouse. 1913. USA. Directed by D. W. Griffith. With Lillian Gish, Lionel Barrymore, Dorothy Gish. The Power of the Camera. 1913. USA. Directed by Dell Henderson. With Charles Murray, Henderson.
By 1913, Griffith and his protégés at Biograph had virtually perfected the short dramatic film and were ready to move on to features. Program approx. 75 min.
Sunday, February 2, 4:00

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