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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 834

The Mothering Heart

191323 minUnited States

Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs: 23:06
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · D. W. Griffith · Public domain

Synopsis

A young wife works to help support her household while her husband looks for secure employment. His new prosperity introduces him to a more fashionable social world and a woman who draws him away from the marriage. Pregnant and betrayed, the wife returns to her mother's home, where childbirth and illness make reconciliation more complicated than an apology.

Cast

Walter Miller

Lillian Gish

DirectorsD. W. Griffith

Behind the scenes

Lillian Gish's performance moves from restrained domestic gestures to an outburst of grief. The garden that appears early in the story returns as a place where feelings suppressed inside the household become physically visible.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Wikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Lillian Gish — Bain News Service; Uploaded by Calliopejen ; Edited by jjron . · Public domain

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