The Struggle

Griffith's title of this movie lives up to what he must have gone through to get the movie made. It's a story that he could've easily made in the midst of the silent era circa 1913. It moves like his Biograph shorts, just with sound. Zita Johann is so 'Alice Joyce-like' in her performance that is the sympathetic-understanding wife type. Why doesn't she just take the daughter and leave Hal Skelly one would ask?

The later parts of the film pick up steam as opposed to the earlier parts. A group of children taunt Kelly in the street after his descent into alcoholism and loss of his job. Griffith meant to show the kids as cruel but they are more cute than malevolent. They are dressed like they are readying for a Little Rascals shoot. If you're acquainted with Griffiths numerous Biograph shorts, especially the preachy ones making moral statements, this film shows his return to this genre.