Awful, very awful. I think this is the first time cinema was used to create social commentary but sadly this film is far longer than it should be and it's so heavy-handed it's ridiculous, the messege is pushed down your throat in the most moronic, dated way possible. This is my first exposure to Griffith; boy, I just can't wait to get my hands on his 3-hours long protonazi epic now.

Incredible storytelling, beautiful sets and a story so dense that I just crave more and more and... I don't feel like the director got EVERYTHING out of this one, I mean, there was SO much left for the viewer to interpret. But it delivered perfectly, HE is after all the tolerant dude of our ages, inventing cinematic language with every frame.. Maybe I'm just not ambitious enough as a viewer to understand what Homer of modern day paints with celluloid- WAIT!, wrong movie- 'Dis be whack stuff, yo!

They say that one of Griffith's most notable virtues was his ability to tell a story that the audience could understand. But so far, that's my biggest problem with him; everything is overtold (I mean, please, TWO big signs in the bread store?!) to an extent that it becomes boring and I stop paying attention, ultimately resulting in me not getting the story afterall. Ironic, yes, but still friggin' boring.

Yeah yeah yeah, it's heavy-handed. I really like it anyway. The beginning of contemporary cinema?

Deep man, real deep.

An interesting, if somewhat inelegant, piece of social commentary. It makes it it's point but could have done it better and in less running time.

Heavy-handed, but not entirely ineffective despite its blunt melodrama. Still pretty weak and the shot of the rich tycoon literally drowning in a grain elevator is hilarious in its heavy-handedness.

Mediocre short with some hilariously heavy-handed symbolism.

A strong little short that juxtaposes contrastes like no film before. Still pretty interesting both technically and storywise today...

Rich man corners wheat market. Does evil things. People suffer. Some very broad strokes here.

Despite limitations in sound (it's silent) and length (it's a 14 minute short) Griffiths manages to instill in this period piece more wisdom than some directors do in their entire careers. The wheat is symbolic for wealth, it slips through ones fingers, its a constant focus for all (those who want it, and those who ultimately suffocate through greed for it). It is omnipresent and seems to bring more misery than happiness, but alas it is also used as a sign that some things we never learn.

And the moral of the story is: don't try to corner the world wheat market.