Way Down East is a 1920 American silent romantic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. It is one of four film adaptations of the melodramatic 19th century play Way Down East by Lottie Blair Parker. There were two earlier silent versions, and one sound version in 1935 starring Henry Fonda.Griffith's version is particularly remembered for its exciting climax in which Lillian Gish's character is rescued from doom on an icy river.