Best movie of this year hands down!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Don't listen to the negative reviews

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

His Trust (1911) **** (out of 4)A Union soldier goes to fight in the Civil War and asks his black servant George (Wilfred Lucas) to take care of his wife and children. After the soldier dies the servant must do everything he can to keep the family strong. I think this here is one of Griffith's strongest shorts and I'd add that I also think this film shows black in the most positive way of any early film I've seen. The debate on the blacks being in blackface could go on and on but Griffith worked from his own group actors. I think the film is incredibly strong story and action wise. The battle sequences aren't the biggest that the director handled in his career but they are still full of excitement and wonder. I think their greatest aspect is how realistic they are. The story itself is a quite touching one as the servant must do whatever he can to protect the family since he gave his word to do so. Loyalty and love are subjects Griffith would tackle many times but the special detail here really makes this movie stick out among the five-hundred plus that he made.

In this story, Negro servant "George" is asked to look after his master's wife and child when he ("Colonel Frazier") goes off to war. Soon, the master is killed in the Civil War. It's bad enough the man died, but then the heartless Yankees came and looted the house and burned it down. George goes into the fire and retrieves the small child and the Frazier's sword - a sentimental piece offered to his wife after her husband's death. George, the woman and child - all homeless - then find a shack and poor George has to sleep outside. End of story.Wilfred Lucas played "George;" Dell Henderson, "Col. Frazier" and Claire McDonald played Frazier's wife. She had a very square face that reminded me a bit of Demi Moore. For a film made in 1911, I thought the battle scenes were pretty good and were probably considered "big production" at that time.I know the obvious flaw of having all white actors play the black people will turn off a lot of viewers but that's the way it was for the first three decades or so in film-making, and you just accept it as a "product of its time." Otherwise, this was a decent little drama for when it was made and that ending, with George curling up on the front steps to sleep, was very powerful, I thought.

Subtitled "The faithful devotion and self-sacrifice of an old Negro servant", this early film portends the director D.W. Griffith's future "Birth of a Nation". When the Civil War breaks out, Confederate Del Henderson goes into battle, leaving his wife (Claire McDowell) and daughter in the hands of their beloved slaves. Patriarch of the household slaves is George (Wilfred Lucas); among other things, he plays "horsey" with the child by letting her ride on his back. When Yankees try to burn down the Master's house, George must spring into action. However intentioned, "His Trust" is a racist film. The loyal slaves are played by white actors in "black-face" makeup, and they look ridiculous. Didn't Griffith know any real "People of Color"; or, he didn't think they could act? Weren't there any darker skinned people in the USA who could play these roles? ** His Trust (1/16/11) D.W. Griffith ~ Wilfred Lucas, Claire McDowell, Dell Henderson

D.W. Griffith's 1911 film "His Trust" is about colored servant George who takes care of the wife and child after the husband died in battle. Good films. Better than average on most levels, although the black face makeup remained the prime focus of the civil war film. Followed by sequel released a week after this film during its initial run in theaters.