Raymond s'en va-t-en guerre

Many years ago at a film festival, I saw a beautiful print of Paths to Paradise and recall laughing uproariously. . This film – not so much. Of course seeing an excellent print of a film on a big screen and with an audience is quite a different experience from seeing a poorer quality print on a small television set with no audience. So I should probably make a certain allowance when evaluating Hands Up! Griffith plays a likable rogue type who is a spy for the confederacy trying to hijack a wagon load of gold. This gold could give the South the winning edge in the Civil War. A number of the comedy routines are brilliant - most notably the firing squad scene and the bumblebee in the coach scene But the story line between the comedy routines was slow going – his romance with the two sisters was numbing, although it did lead to an unexpected and amusing ending. His trademark top hat was used effectively throughout the movie especially in the mine scene. A little crisp editing in some of scenes could have helped the movie. That said, Griffith did have a flair and manner about him that was quite engaging. We are just lucky to have this film at all; it's a shame that so little of Griffith's work remains.