Judith of Bethulia

Judith of Bethulia (1914) is a film starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall, and produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. The film was the first feature-length film made by pioneering film company Biograph, although the second that Biograph released. Shortly after its completion and a disagreement Griffith had with Biograph executives on making more future feature-length films, Griffith left Biograph, and took the entire stock company with him. Biograph delayed the picture's release until 1914, after Griffith's departure, so that it would not have to pay him in a profit-sharing agreement they had. The film caused controversy with its inclusion of an orgy scene. The story is from the Biblical Book of Judith. During the siege of the Jewish city of Bethulia by the Assyrians, a widow named Judith (Blanche Sweet) has a plan to stop the war as her people suffer starvation and are ready to surrender. The widow disguises herself as a harem girl and goes to the enemy camp, where she...