The Godless Girl

My fiance was out at the bar and I had to opportunity to just enjoy a really fabulous gem. The Godless Girl is supposed to be one Cecil B. DeMille's last silent film, but there is some debate about that, since there was some dialouge scenes found and added later. What I found just stunning about this movie was the uninhibited debate the movie has with itself about the role of religion in society. It was just so open and honest about how people's experiences and education shape their faith. There is no way that a modern audience would be able to handle this in such a mature and open fashion. Each main charachter gets the shoe on the other foot if you will and has their viewpoints tested and put into real life. I came away with the message that everything sounds great on paper, but until we are put into life's challenges can we really decide what we believe. Interesting movie. The fire in the jailhouse at the end of the film is really unbelievable. Watching it I was horrified, because I knew that special effects were pretty limited at that point and that was a real fire those people were in. I did a little research and found the the actors actually were injured in the making of the film.
The opening title cards are just fantastic. And I have never seen a film about Atheism before. It was just so refreshing and new to actually see what the atheists were debating and how it was done. I mean how on earth could a movie like this get made now!
Opening Title Card: [first card] It is not generally known that there are Atheist Societies using the schools of the country as their battle-ground - attacking, through the Youth of the Nation, the beliefs that are sacred to most of the people. Opening Title Card: [second card] And no fanatics are so bitter as youthful fanatics.