D.W. Griffith at The Biograph Company

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Lillian Gish in The Mothering Heart, 1913

During the middle of the fourth show, two young girls come to Biograph's studio looking for their friend Gladys Smith (also known as Mary Pickford!). Their names are LILLIAN GISH and her sister, DOROTHY GISH.

Griffith soon started developing these two girls into members of his stock company. Their first film was THE UNSEEN ENEMY, with THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY and THE BATTLE OF ELDERBUSH GULCH to follow.

The beginning of the association between Griffith and the Gish sisters was to prove to be the longest association he would have with any of his stock company players. In them he sees a way to set an entirely new standard of moving picture story telling.

In many ways, the arrival of the Gish sisters was a personal reason for him to continue making films, as he had already lost all of his greatest talents previously.

The Mothering Heart, 1913 Lillian Gish confronts the adulterous glances of husband Walter Miller at Peggy Pearce -click video excerpts-

What soon ends Griffith's association with the Biograph Company will be the events surrounding the production of three films: THE BATTLE OF ELDERBUSH GULCH, THE MOTHERING HEART and JUDITH OF BETHULIA. All three are being made at the same time, each one was different and highly involved in scope and production value. They're made with the same cunning he used in his other battles with Marvin and Kennedy.

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch, 1913 Alfred Paget & Charles Hill Mailes -click to view scenes-

They are fighting over a distance of several thousand miles, a distance which Griffith uses to his advantage to build some unprecedented sets, such as a Western town for THE BATTLE OF ELDERBUSH GULCH and a full scale, two-story cabaret for THE MOTHERING HEART.

Griffith's power of concentration had become so great that he could watch a rehearsal, read notes given to him and converse with his staff at the same time. At times, he could look at you without really seeing you.

Construction began in Los Angeles' CHATSWORTH PARK on the sets of JUDITH OF BETHULIA. Griffith designs and builds a street of Bethulia, a replica of the city walls and a tract of land was filled with pitched tents for the campsite of the HOLOFERNS.

A makeup man helped the fifty or so extras into their wigs, beards and costumes with an assist by whatever Griffith regulars weren't acting that day. Each player was advised to remember his or her costume continuity.

J.C. "LITTLE" EPPING, the new company accountant, had the distasteful job of totaling everything to do with daily expenditures and explaining them to the Biograph front office. Mr. Epping is a small, bespectacled man with a perpetually worried expression. He continually disturbs Griffith's shooting with questions and rebukes by the team of Marvin and Kennedy. In later years, he was a financial advisor for Griffith.