Lillian Gish on Ice

A film legend's iconic scene in Vermont's White River

Jigsaw: Movie Poster for "Way Down East"

Following last week’s West Hartford post which featured a dramatic flood, I’ve been collaborating on a podcast of pre-Code movies. We began with the Marx Brother’s early films, and this week brought us to a silent classic: “The Wind” and Lillian Gish. I knew her name, and that she famously starred in a scene on the ice in White River or should I say in THE White River, which led on to:

"Way Down East"

“The emotional climax of the film comes in a now-famous sequence: Anna, cast out into a raging blizzard, collapses unconscious on a floating ice floe. David races against time to rescue her from plunging over a waterfall, in what remains one of silent cinema’s most thrilling scenes.” Wikipedia: Way Down East

Way Down East was a massive success, the number one box office hit of 1920.

“Audiences in 1920 howled, cried out, and sometimes fainted during the ice sequence. In its own way, it was the ‘thrill ride’ of the silent era.”

— Kim Thompson, Silent London (silentlondon.co.uk)

Watch her memorable ice rescue scene below:

“While it was Gish’s idea to drape her hair and hand in the river, her director gladly agreed — to the cost of her frostbite‑ravaged fingers.”

— Silent London (How Lillian Gish Suffered for Her Art)

Our Bonus Puzzle is a personal letter Lillian Gish wrote at age 94, replying to a fan about making Way Down East.

We may have to re-visit this rich vein of cinematic and local history.