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Isn't Life Wonderful

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Isn't Life Wonderful
Lobby card featuring two people in period clothing
Lobby card
Directed byD. W. Griffith
Written byD. W. Griffith
Based on
"Isn't Life Wonderful?"
by Geoffrey Moss
Produced byD. W. Griffith
Starring
Cinematography
Music by
  • Louis Silvers
  • Cesare Sodero
Production
company
D. W. Griffith Productions
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • November 23, 1924 (1924-11-23)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)
Budget$260,000[1]
Box office$400,000[1]
Isn't Life Wonderful (1924)

Isn't Life Wonderful is a 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith for his company D. W. Griffith Productions, and distributed by United Artists. It was based on the short story "Isn't Life Wonderful?" in the 1923 book Defeat by Geoffrey Moss, and it was released under the alternative title Dawn.[2]

Plot

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After World War I, displaced families flood Berlin, including a Polish professor and his relatives. Food is scarce. The family finds housing but can barely afford to eat, sometimes surviving on one potato per person and horse turnips.

Paul and his cousin Inga want to build a life together. Inga finds work collecting household basics. Paul builds a hut and plants a garden, growing enough potatoes for winter.

A group of starving workers, led by one man, follows them during harvest and steals the entire crop. Another worker helps with the theft. Paul and Inga lose everything.

Inga tells Paul that despite the loss, they still have each other, and life still has meaning.[a][3]

Cast

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Production

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Most of the scenes were filmed in Germany and Austria. Only one was filmed in New York at the studio. The film was a failure at the box office, and it led to Griffith leaving United Artists shortly after its run in theaters.[4]

Reception

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The film did receive some positive critical notices at the time, and its stock has risen considerably since its initial release; it has for some decades been considered one of Griffith's great films.[5]

Legacy

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The title of the film was spoofed in the Charley Chase comedy Isn't Life Terrible? (1925).

Preservation

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Prints of Isn't Life Wonderful are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, Cinematek (Brussels, Belgium), Filmoteka Narodowa (Warsaw, Poland), Museum of Modern Art, Arhiva Națională de Filme (Bucharest, Romania), George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, and Danish Film Institute (Copenhagen, Denmark).[6]

Notes

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  1. ↑ The contemporary review in The Moving Picture World refers to the character of Paul as "Hans".

References

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  1. 1 2 "Griffith's 20 Year Record". Variety. September 5, 1928. p. 12. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Progressive Silent Film List: Isn't Life Wonderful". Silent Era. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021.
  3. ↑ Sewell, Charles S. (December 13, 1924). "Isn't Life Wonderful; Powerful in Its Simplicity and Realism, D. W. Griffith's Latest Is Limited in Its Appeal". The Moving Picture World. 71 (7). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 624–625. Retrieved June 25, 2021. Among the thousands of refugees who flocked to Berlin was the family of a Polish professor, and the days following the war show them in a terrific struggle for mere existence. They manage to get a place to live, but their combined resources and the high prices of food result in their only being able to get a potato apiece, and for long periods they have to subsist on horse turnips. Despite this, the love of one son, Hans, for his cousin Inga is so great that they determine to overcome all obstacles. Inga works overtime in another place and collects a pitiful supply of things for their new home, while Hans alone builds a little hut and finds a little allotment where he grows enough potatoes to keep him through the winter. All is rosy and they start out to harvest their little crop, but are followed by workmen who, temporarily made beasts through their hunger and suffering, and the suffering of their families, rob them of all. The world looks black, but Inga rises to the occasion and makes Hans realize that they still have each other, and that after all "Isn't Life Wonderful."
  4. ↑ Drew, William M. "D. W. Griffith (1875–1948)". Gilda's Blue Book of the Screen. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Isn't Life Wonderful". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on June 30, 2026. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Isn't Life Wonderful". Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
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