The Avenging Conscience

The Avenging Conscience
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Produced by	D. W. Griffith
Written by	D. W. Griffith
Based on	"The Tell-Tale Heart" and "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe
Starring	Henry B. Walthall Blanche Sweet Spottiswoode Aitken
Music by	S. L. Rothapfel
Cinematography	G. W. Bitzer
Edited by	James Smith Rose Smith
Production company	Majestic Motion Picture Company
Distributed by	Mutual Film Corporation
Release dates	March 24, 1914 (1914-03-24)
Running time	78 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent English intertitles

Full film

The Avenging Conscience: or "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (1914) is a drama film directed by D. W. Griffith.^[1] The film is based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" and the poem "Annabel Lee".

Plot

A young man (Henry B. Walthall) falls in love with a beautiful woman (Blanche Sweet), but is prevented by his uncle (Spottiswoode Aitken) from pursuing her. Tormented by visions of death and suffering and deciding that murder is the way of things, the young man kills his uncle and builds a wall to hide the body.

The young man's torment continues, this time caused by guilt over murdering his uncle, and he becomes sensitive to slight noises, like the tapping of a shoe or the crying of a bird. The ghost of his uncle begins appearing to him and, as he gradually loses his grip on reality, the police figure out what he has done and chase him down. In the ending sequence, we learn that the experience was all a dream and that his uncle is really alive.

Cast

Scene from The Avenging Conscience

Henry B. Walthall as The nephew
Blanche Sweet as His sweetheart
Spottiswoode Aitken as The uncle
George Siegmann as The Italian
Ralph Lewis as The detective
Mae Marsh as The maid
Robert Harron as The grocery boy
George Beranger

References

↑ "Progressive Silent Film List: The Avenging Conscience". Silent Era. Retrieved 2008-10-30.

External links

The Avenging Conscience at the Internet Movie Database
The Avenging Conscience is available for free download at the Internet Archive

Films directed by D. W. Griffith

1908–1913	Hundreds – see complete D. W. Griffith filmography

1914–1916	Waifs The Massacre Judith of Bethulia Battle of the Sexes (lost) Brute Force Home, Sweet Home The Escape (lost) The Avenging Conscience: or 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' The Birth of a Nation A Day with Governor Whitman Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages

1917–1919	A Liberty Bond Appeal (lost) Hearts of the World The Great Love (lost) Lillian Gish in a Liberty Loan Appeal (lost) The World of Columbus The Greatest Thing in Life (lost) A Romance of Happy Valley The Girl Who Stayed at Home Broken Blossoms True Heart Susie The Fall of Babylon The Mother and the Law Scarlet Days The Greatest Question

1920–1931	The Idol Dancer Remodeling Her Husband The Love Flower Way Down East Dream Street Orphans of the Storm One Exciting Night Mammy's Boy The White Rose America Isn't Life Wonderful Sally of the Sawdust That Royle Girl The Sorrows of Satan Topsy and Eva Drums of Love The Battle of the Sexes Lady of the Pavements Abraham Lincoln The Struggle

"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe (1843)

Adaptations	The Avenging Conscience (1914 silent) The Tell-Tale Heart (1934) The Tell-Tale Heart (1941) The Tell-Tale Heart (1953) The Tell-Tale Heart (1960) Tell-Tale (2009) Tell (2012) The Tell-Tale Heart (2014)

Related	Manfish The Dark Eye

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