Frank Powell, Grace Henderson, James Kirkwood, Linda Arvidson, W. Chrystie Miller, Gladys Egan, Henry B. Walthall, Kate Bruce

Based on the novel The Pit by Frank Norris. Perhaps the earliest in a long, long line of social consciousness films about the exploitation of agricultural workers within the U.S. capital economy. Included are a monopolistic, tyrannical "Wheat King" and others like him seeking full control of the market (hence the title) on the backs of the lower proletariat. Through strategic editing, Griffith adds to the diatribe by establishing a divide between rich and poor and condemning the former for the suffering of the latter.

(by Rebecca L. Epstein)