Her Awakening (1911) User Reviews (4)

Mabel Normand, Dramatic Actress, Meet D.W. Griffith, Comedy Director

[boblipton · 8/10 · 18 January 2006]

Mabel Normand stars in this comedy-drama from D.W. Griffith in the year 1911. She would go to Vitagraph, then return to the fold, working for Mack Sennett at Biograph and Keystone.

In the meantime, here she is under the direction of the Master, and she acquits herself very nicely indeed. She is wonderful in the first couple of scenes, which are played for light comedy -- all too often her roles in Sennett comedies called for her to stand around while the comics fought over her. She is also very good in the middle, where she blames herself for the death of her mother. She projects real anguish and vulnerability. The ending is a little abrupt, but that misstep can be laid at the feet of Griffith.

D.W. Griffith directed over five hundred movies, but all most film buffs know are three or four of the features -- some people seem to think his entire career can be summed up by the rabid racism of BIRTH OF A NATION -- and perhaps half a dozen of the shorts, all melodramas. It is a pleasure to see one of the rarely-viewed dozens of comedies he directed and see his certainty with a lighter touch.

Charisma of Mabel jumps off the screen

[tmeyers · 10/10 · 14 February 2006]

This film showcases a very young Mabel Normand. Mabel's charisma jumps off the screen 95 years later. The streets of Fort Lee are used effectively and as a member of the Fort Lee Film Commission I can safely say we are all great fans of Mabel. Both Mabel, Mack Sennett and Roscoe Arbuckle worked on these streets in Fort Lee and American comedy was born in these long ago days on these dusty streets of Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Mabel went on to make many other films in California but this early film shows a star in the making. Mabel died too young but her legacy can be seen in this film which showcases her spirit and personality.

It is the portrayal of the old mother that is the most noteworthy thing in the picture

[deickemeyer · 23 April 2016]

She worked in a laundry, she was pretty, and didn't chew gum. She dressed as becomingly as a shop girl. Her old mother, on the way to market with a very tattered apron, met her and her "steady," and the girl was ashamed of her mother. A moment later her mother is knocked down by a passing automobile, and taken into the house. She dies in a few minutes. It's a hard awakening for the girl, and the pain is fairly well pictured by the actress. However, it is the portrayal of the old mother that is the most noteworthy thing in the picture. It is a true and human picture, very worthwhile and commendable. - The Moving Picture World, October 14, 1911

The 36 Year Old D.W. Griffith

[Single-Black-Male · 31 October 2003]

This Freudian fairy tale is about the awakening to death of a dying woman (Kate Bruce). Her fatherless daughter (Mabel Normand) attends to her needs, in spite of the fact that she has a suitor (Harry Hyde). Not much in this for me.