Important early film, directed by D.W. Griffith. Stephen (Wilfred Lucas) wants to marry his young ward Blanche Sweet and raise a family. She thinks it's a good idea - until she meets young Charles West. Of course, Mr. Lucas wants to kill Mr. West for coming between he and Ms. Sweet. Lucas, however, decides her happiness is more important; he gives the couple his blessing (and home); then, he re-joins the Army. Years pass. Sweet, West, and baby join a Wagon Train. When the Wagon train is attacked by Indians (Native Americans), Lucas arrives to serve as its military escort.<br /><br />Watch for some great shots - like, the distant Wagon Train moving along with a bear in the foreground. The battle scenes are as exciting as you'd expect them to be in a Griffith production. In fact, the battles in "The Massacre" look more realistically fought than in thousands of subsequent westerns.<br /><br />Also noteworthy is Griffith's presentation of the "Indians". Watch some of the Indians' body movements, and the way the camera lingers over some of their dead bodies - characters previously introduced sympathetically. Griffith presents Native American characters in a far more sympathetic manner than is usual for the time (and director). The film loses this characterization as the film progresses. The Indians' point-of-view is dropped. The "love triangle" of characters from the beginning end up only remotely involved in each others' lives; and, "The Massacre" misses out on some obvious dramatic possibilities for Sweet, Lucas, and West. <br /><br />******* The Massacre (2/26/14) D.W. Griffith ~ Blanche Sweet, Wilfred Lucas, Charles West