LILLIAN GISH, ROBERT HARRON | HEARTS OF THE WORLD (1918) Portrait by Stagg

[Los Angeles: D. W. Griffith Productions, 1918]. Vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm.) black-and-white glossy silver gelatin photo. Chip at top right corner. Stagg blind stamp at lower right corner, photo ink stamp & handwritten printing instructions on verso. Near fine.

An epic romance set in France of lovers torn apart by World War I. Director D.W. Griffith filmed some of the battle scenes on the actual French battlefront, endangering himself and his crew, two having been killed while scouting locations. The bulk of scenes, though, were filmed in Hollywood and built on the Babylon set of Intolerance. 

Lillian Gish was Griffith’s star lead and, for some time, Robert Harron his lead juvenile actor. His career and life were cut short just two years after this film’s release, his death — whether accidental or suicide — clouded in mystery to this day.