How did cross-cutting create suspense in D.W. Griffith’s films?

D.W. Griffith created suspense through cross-cutting—a technique of editing together scenes from different locations to give the viewer the impression that the actions are happening simultaneously.1

By rapidly alternating between these parallel lines of action, Griffith built tension as the separate events converged toward a climax. A hallmark of this method was the "last-minute rescue," famously demonstrated in his film The Lonely Villa (1909), where he cut back and forth between robbers breaking into a home, a mother and children barricaded inside, and a husband rushing to their aid.2

To further heighten the suspense, Griffith employed a rhythmic approach to editing: as the parallel actions neared their resolution, he held the individual shots for increasingly shorter durations. This acceleration of tempo created a "controlled torrent of images" that effectively engaged the audience and left them breathless, a structural principle he later utilized in major works such as The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance.21