D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark "D. W." Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American movie director and white supremacist.[1] He is best known as the director of the Ku Klux Klan 1915 movie The Birth of a Nation and the 1916 follow-up movie Intolerance.[2] The Birth of a Nation made early use of advanced camera and storytelling techniques. It was a very popular movie. It was also a very controversial movie. The movie showed African Americans and White anti-racists in a bad way. It also showed slavery and the Ku Klux Klan as good things. The movie was praised by President Woodrow Wilson. He said it was "history written in lightning". The NAACP boycotted the movie. Griffith responded to all the criticism with another movie, Intolerance. This movie showed the dangers of prejudice. The movie did not make as much money as The Birth of a Nation, but the critics liked it. Many of Griffith's later movies were critical successes. They did not make a lot of money. Even so, he is one of the most important figures of early movies. Other famous movies by Griffith include Orphans of the Storm and Broken Blossoms.
D. W. Griffith | |
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| Born | David Llewelyn Wark Griffith January 22, 1875 LaGrange, Kentucky, United States |
| Died | July 23, 1948 (aged 73) Hollywood, California, United States |
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| Years active | 1908–1931 |
| Spouse(s) | Linda On (1906–1936) Evelyn Baldwin (1936–1947) |
D. W. Griffith Media
Griffith on the set of The Birth of a Nation (1915) with actor Henry B. Walthall and others
Left to right: Griffith, cameraman Billy Bitzer (behind Pathé camera), Dorothy Gish (watching from behind Bitzer), Karl Brown (keeping script) and Miriam Cooper (in profile) in a production still for Intolerance (1916)
Play The Birth of a Nation (1915), perhaps the most famous silent movie directed by Griffith and considered a landmark by film historians; runtime 03:00:22
The first million-dollar partners: Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin and Griffith
Play Intolerance (1916), the second most famous silent movie directed by Griffith, who was also one of six writers of the screenplay; runtime 02:56:26
"Belshazzar's feast", one of the massive film sets in Intolerance (1916)
Souvenir program from D.W. Griffith presentation of "The Birth of a Nation"
United Artists founders Griffith, Pickford, Chaplin and Fairbanks sign their contract for the cameras in 1919.
Stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in 1975 to commemorate the centennial of Griffith's birth
References
- ↑ Obituary Variety, July 28, 1948, page 97.
- ↑ "David W. Griffith, Film Pioneer, Dies; Producer Of 'Birth Of Nation,' 'Intolerance' And 'America' Made Nearly 500 Pictures Set, Screen Standards Co-Founder Of United Artists Gave Mary Pickford And Fairbanks Their Starts.". New York Times. July 24, 1948.