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This scene is from the version
entitled The Primitive Man. It depicts a Papiermachetosaurus
or somesuch. It is a fullsized, mechanical beastie that opens and closes
its mouth and wiggles around a bit.
Brute Force (1913 or 24 April 1914)
aka
In Prehistoric
Days (1914) or Prehistoric Days
aka
Wars of
the Primal Tribes (1914) or Wars of the Primeval Tribes
aka
The Primitive
Man (Registered 11/14/1913)
1913 / 1914
Dinosaur: Large, unknown
variety created as a mechanical, full-sized prop. We have named it Papiermachetosaurus
rex.
Director and Author:
D.W. Griffith
Camera: G.W. Bitzer
Biograph Pictures.
Runtime: :33 minutes
1,170 ft (as noted in
LoC paper print collection. 2,000 feet as noted in the World Film Index)
Country: USA
Black and White
Silent
Cast:
Edwin August,
Lionel Barrymore,
William J. Butler,
Edwin Curglo,
Robert Harron,
Jennie Lee (I),
Wilfred Lucas,
Charles Hill Mailes,
Mae Marsh,
Alfred Paget,
George Siegmann,
Blanche Sweet |
IMDB
description of Brute Force
The IMDB lists The Primitive
Man twice. Once for 1914 and the other for 1913 with the following cast
and a different production company:
Primitive
Man (1913)
Cast (in credits order)
Robert Harron .... Weakhands
Mae Marsh .... Lillywhite
Wilfred Lucas .... Brute
Force
Edwin Curglot .... Caveman
Alfred Paget ....
Caveman
William J. Butler ....Caveman
Jennie Lee (I) .... Cavewoman
Rest of cast listed alphabetically
Edwin August
Production Company:
Kahan Company.
 American
Silent Film by William K. Everson. Contains
references to The Primitive Man.
Early motion pictures : the
paper print collection in the Library of Congress This
book is out of print 4/2000
 The
Transformation of Cinema 1907-1915 (History of the American Cinema,
Vol 2) by Eileen Bowser
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Resources:
Home Video:
This film is not available
on home video.
It can be purchased on film
in 16mm and 35mm from the Library of Congress.
There is a DVD with some early
landmark silent films called
Landmarks of Early Film
(1997)  Volume
One contains The Girl and Her Trust an early Griffith
film and
 Volume
Two may have others.
 D.
W. Griffith - Father Of Film
List Price: £12.99
Our Price: £11.99
You Save: £1.00
Classification: Exempt 
Starring: Lindsay Anderson
(Pres/Narr), Lillian Gish, et al.
Edition Details:
• PAL format
• Black & White,
Colour, PAL
• ASIN: B00004CONN
• Catalogue Number:
CAV012 |
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Synopsis: (Based
upon a viewing of Brute Force)
"The plot concerns two tribes
of cavemen, one with women and one without. The clan without women attacks
the other and steals them away. One woman gets away and yells for her tribesmen
who come and fight to get them back. It's all very simplistic and low-budget.
Besides a fakey dinosaur there is actually a crocodile that had some kind
of horns tied to it's head!" (Courtesy J. Devine,
April 2000)
Excerpt from Library of
Congress Catalog of Paper Negatives
The Primitive Man
LP1806 11/14/1913
Director and Author: D.W.
Griffith
Cast: Mae Marsh, Robert
Harron, Wilfred Lucas, Alfred Paget, Edwin August, Charles Hill Mailes,
William J. Butler
1,170 ft FLA5914-5915
(print) FRA2786-2787 (neg.)
The first of these three
reels begins at a formal dress party where the hero (Robert Harron) falls
asleep reading a book by Darwin on primitive man. The scene rises out and
dissolves back to a field with primitive men living in caves, and the remainder
of the first reel parallels " Man's Genesis." [An earlier Griffith film.
Editor] The second reel shows "Weakhands" inventing a club. The third reel
shows two tribes at war because a shortage of women, vital for the propagation
of the species has occurred. This time, "Weakhands" invents a bow and arrow
and once more defeats his less intelligent contemporaries.
Wings, forked tails, horns,
etc., were added to live animals and reptiles to give them a prehistoric
appearance. There is a moving dinosaur, approximately forty feet high,
and several insert close-ups. There is also a considerable amount of camera
movement.
{From the book EARLY MOTION
PICTURES: The Paper Print Collection in the Library of Congress, by Kemp
R. Niver,
Library of Congress: Washington,
1985, pp. 260-261]
This film is available from
LoC for purchase, Contact Public Services to find out how much it would
be. Call 202-707-5840.
Information
courtesy of George R. Willeman
Notes:
Clips from this film were,
apparently, shown during the 2000 Academy Awards Show. The film was released
under several different titles, but we have no information on whether they
are identical or have variations.
According to William K.
Everson, It may have been filmed in Chatsworth Park, CA. |
Man's
Genesis listing in IMDB.
The World Film Index
lists the following info
on the Griffith
film:main title: Brute Force
dir D.W. Griffith
y of prod:1913
leading actor: Lionel Barrymore
other actors:Mae Marsh,
Wilfred Lucas, Robert Harron, Charles Hill Mailes, Jennie Lee, William
J. Butler, Walter E. Robinson
film length: 2000 ft
other titles:Wars of the
Primeval Trive, The Primitive Man, Prehistoric Days
Although the sources may
not be correct, a comparison of running times as reported by the LoC and
World Film Index indicate that there may be variations in running time.
This could be caused by portions of the prints being missing, by alternate
versions, or by different assumptions about the frame rate for projection.
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