True Heart Susie (1919)
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57% of users liked it
(62 ratings)
True Heart Susie is one of D.W. Griffith's "pastoral" films, wherein plot takes second place to characterization and romance. Lillian Gish plays Susie May Trueheart, who so loves local boy William Jenkins (Robert Harron) that she secretly finances his education. Returning to his home… More True Heart Susie is one of D.W. Griffith's "pastoral" films, wherein plot takes second place to characterization and romance. Lillian Gish plays Susie May Trueheart, who so loves local boy William Jenkins (Robert Harron) that she secretly finances his education. Returning to his home town as a minister, Jenkins never catches on that Susie is crazy for him. While Our Heroine pines away, Jenkins marries The Wrong Woman, young temptress Betty Hopkins (Clarine Seymour). Betty begins indulging in affairs with other men, but Susie loyally keeps this information from the reverend Jenkins. Even when Betty dies of pneumonia, Susie refuses to reveal all she's done on Jenkins' behalf. Finally, Susie's Aunt (Kate Bruce) can stand no more: she tells Jenkins the whole story, whereupon he takes Susie in his arms and pledges eternal devotion. In the hands of a lesser director, True Heart Susie might have been impossibly maudlin (and unbelievable; after all, can anyone be as much of a blockhead as Reverend Jenkins seems to be?) As it stands, the film's dramatic and heart-tugging value has not diminished, not even after the passage of nearly eighty years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- D.W. Griffith
- Written By
- Marian Fremont
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Classics, Comedy
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 1, 1919 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Griffith couldn't be more sentimental and moralistic.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Lillian Gish
as Susie May Trueheart
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Loyola O'Connor
as Susie's aunt
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Robert Harron
as William Jenkins
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Wilbur Higby
as William's father
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Clarine Seymour
as Betty Hopkins
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Kate Bruce
as Bettina's aunt
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Raymond Cannon
as Sporty Malone
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Carol Dempster
as Bettina's friend
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George Fawcett
as The Stranger
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Walter Higby
as Jenkins's Father
