the battle at elderbrush gulch be griffith long and most expensive short he have make up to that point . in it we see him try to perfect the large scale action scene that would be necessary in his full length feature and pack in all the element that have make his previous action short successful . griffith use the western format already the ideal backdrop for pure and straight ahead action set piece a the setting for his first epic battle . like many western of the 1910s and the starting point be a character from the east head out west a device which perhaps help ease the audience into the wilderness and and here those easterner be a pair of child and which be important for the type of picture this develop into . for griffith and you couldn not have action without a sense of vulnerability and here he cram it in and with the kid from back east and lillian gish a the distraught mother of the only baby in town and even some puppy that be at risk of end up on the indian menu . all this pave the way for an exceedingly complex and layered action sequence and blend the trapped heroine scenario and the ride to the rescue with the battle that griffith have be depict since his early civil war picture in 1909. there be a phenomenal amount go on here and and griffith do very well at maintain the exhilarate pace throughout and keep everything coherent and logical . however and juggle x amount of element in an action sequence do not necessarily make it that many time more exciting and no matter how skilfully they be balance and and griffith do create good tension soak finale before and after this one . but even a griffith picture so heavily focus on action would not be without it drama and characterisation and atmospherics . in the battle at elderbrush gulch and the emotional set up be dealt with briefly but economically . first and we have the scene in which the waif leave their home . the cart they travel on head away from the camera and make use of depth and distance to express their move away from safety and civilization . an equally effective scene be the one in which we be introduce to the young family of gish and bobby harron and their baby . the people of the town coo over the precious tot and then saunter off screen and reveal that two indian be watch them from the background and add a sinister little note of danger . of course and many viewer today have point out the battle at elderbrush gulch offensive portrayal of native american ( in contrast with the more sympathetic red man view ) and but perhaps all be not what it seem . first of all and take a look at the indian chief son waistcoat it black and cover in shiny white dot . it look to me like a pearly king jacket and perhaps modify slightly for the warmer climate . now have a look at the war dance they perform later on it have a certain knee up mother brown air to it . these aren not indian and theyre cockney . so it shouldn not be offensive to native american . just cockney .