Who is D. W. Griffith? D.W. Griffith’s full name was David Wark Griffith. He was born on January 22nd, 1875. He was raised in his family’s farm, Lofty Green, which was located near what is now the city of Crestwood, Kentucky. Griffith was the son of Mary Oglesby and Jacob Wark Griffith. He also had six siblings. Jacob Griffith was a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. It is said that he served under General John Breckinridge (Steinle). During the war, Jacob Griffith had received several wounds, including one in the stomach which Griffith claimed was the cause of his father’s death twenty years later.
Griffith, as a child, read many classic literary works, such as the works of Shakespeare, Poe and Dickens, as well as the Bible. During the hard times of the Reconstruction, Griffith’s father would drink, gamble and recount his old war stories. Griffith’s mother and sister, Mattie, were the ones who had to hold the family up. Despite this, Griffith looked up to his father. He was quoted in his unpublished biography saying, “I think the one person I really loved the most in my life was my father.” (Steinle) Griffith’s father died in 1885 and the family had to move because the father left them in debt. The family moved to Louisville, where Mary ran some local boarding houses.
Griffith sister, Mattie, had a love for the arts, which soon affected him. Griffith later performed on stage under the pseudonym Lawrence Griffith (Brain-Juice.com). While in the theater, Griffith learned the mechanics of drama by studying the audience’s reactions. Griffith and his company would soon develop a more natural style of acting by using subtlety in their performances. Later, in 1904, Griffith met Linda Arvidson, a member of his theater group. Griffith and Arvidson would later marry.
Griffith tried to make his way as a writer after his marriage, but it proved unsuccessful. To make end’s meat, Griffith applied to be a writer a Thomas Edison’s film company. He was denied, but was later hired as an actor (Brian-Juice.com). Soon, Griffith joined the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, known today as the Biograph. He worked at the company as a film actor until he was hired as the director of a short film called The Adventures of Dolly, because the original director had fallen ill (Steinle).
Griffith’s most famous, or infamous, film is The Birth of a Nation. Birth was based on the melodrama “The Clansman” by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Dixon was a former Baptist minister from North Carolina and had an anti-black view (Dirk). Birth is about white Southerners and their romanticized plight during the Civil War and Reconstruction (Brain-Juice.com). The original budget for the film was original at around $40 to $60 thousand dollars. But this quickly expanded to $110 thousand dollars with the help of investors (Dirk). With such a large budget, Griffith was able to make detailed reenactments of several major Civil War battles.
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| A screenshot of a battle scene from The Birth of a Nation. |
Birth of a Nation premiered in California on January of 1915 under the original title The Clansman, but was changed three months later for its world premiere in New York. The film is considered to be the first “blockbuster” and that its first run alone made around $18 million (Dirk). This was most likely due to the charge of $2 for admission. Birthquickly because the highest-grossing film of all time, until it was beaten two decades later by Disney’s animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Dirk).
The film was the longest film ever made at that time (Dirk). A reviewer from The Evening Globe wrote, “…without question, the most extraordinary picture that has been made – or seen – in America so far” (Steinle). Birth of a Nation was also shown in the White House, being the first film to have that honor. President Woodrow Wilson famously said, “It’s like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all terribly true” (Dirk).
Not all reception for the film was positive. The subject matter of Birth of a Nation was criticized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The film faced a censorship battle over its extremist portrayal of African Americans. Coincidently, the Ku Klux Klan experienced a revival around the same time Birth of a Nation came out and the film is used today as recruitment tool for membership (Dirk). Riots broke out in several major cities. In one instance, in Boston, there was a fight between police, Pinkerton agents and a protest group of 200 African American at a theater showing the film (Dirk). These riots led to the film being banned in no less than eight states (Dirk). It is believed today that the hatred for African Americans expressed in this film was not Griffith’s intention. Though he had lived in the South during Reconstruction, his family had a friendly relationship with their newly freed slaves (Steinle). Griffith did claim that the film was historically accurate. He was confident that he had offered $10 thousand dollars to anyone who would find a historical error (Steinle).
The film was the longest film ever made at that time (Dirk). A reviewer from The Evening Globe wrote, “…without question, the most extraordinary picture that has been made – or seen – in America so far” (Steinle). Birth of a Nation was also shown in the White House, being the first film to have that honor. President Woodrow Wilson famously said, “It’s like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all terribly true” (Dirk).
Not all reception for the film was positive. The subject matter of Birth of a Nation was criticized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The film faced a censorship battle over its extremist portrayal of African Americans. Coincidently, the Ku Klux Klan experienced a revival around the same time Birth of a Nation came out and the film is used today as recruitment tool for membership (Dirk). Riots broke out in several major cities. In one instance, in Boston, there was a fight between police, Pinkerton agents and a protest group of 200 African American at a theater showing the film (Dirk). These riots led to the film being banned in no less than eight states (Dirk). It is believed today that the hatred for African Americans expressed in this film was not Griffith’s intention. Though he had lived in the South during Reconstruction, his family had a friendly relationship with their newly freed slaves (Steinle). Griffith did claim that the film was historically accurate. He was confident that he had offered $10 thousand dollars to anyone who would find a historical error (Steinle).
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| The enormous set of Intolerance. |
Before Birth was even finished, Griffith was already at work at another film entitled,The Mother and the Law. The story was though too small scale to be a follow-up to Birth. He decided to expand the story and it was renamed Intolerance. Intolerance featured four interweaving stories united by a common theme of intolerance. The ambitious film had several stories taking place in ancient Babylon, in Jerusalem during the Crucifixion, in medieval France during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre and a contemporary modern story. Intolerance made use of some of the largest film sets in history (Brain-Juice.com). Intolerance was not as successful as Birth of a Nation at the box office. Viewers may have been confused by the film’s story that jumps from one to the other when their common theme unfolds.
In 1919, Griffith directed Broken Blossoms, which is considered “another plea for intolerance and understanding” (Steinle). The movie follows a Buddhist from China (who, through the film is called the un-politically correct term “The Yellow Man”) comes to London to spread the word of Buddha, to no avail. The film as follows a downtrodden young girl who lives with an abusive boxer for a father. The Chinese man attempts to protect her from her father.
Broken Blossoms received universal acclaim, becoming a success at the box office. The success of Broken Blossoms had confirmed Griffith’s master status. Griffith later bought the film rights to the American melodrama Way Down East. Way Down East is about a woman who is taken in by a family after her illegitimate child dies (Brian-Juice.com). Way Down East was another critical and commercial success for Griffith.
Griffith would later adapt the play The Two Orphans into his film Orphans of the Storm. Orphans of the Storm deals with two sisters, one blind, who travel to Paris to find a cure for blindness (Steinle). Orphans was moderately successful, but not as successful asWay Down East was at the box office.
With Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, Griffith formed the United Artists Distributing Company, which is still in use today (Steinle). Due to his success, Griffith began to drink and have extramarital affairs (Brain-Juice.com). These affairs ruined his marriage to Linda, to a point they later divorced. Griffith’s popularity soon declined and his works were overshadowed by the films of other directors, such as Lang, Eisenstein and Chaplin (Brain-Juice.com). Griffith made several bad business decisions. One decision was moving back to New York, even though the center of movie making was back in California (Brain-Juice.com). These decisions left him with a considerable amount of debt. Griffith made the transition to sound in the 1930s, but made his last film in 1931.
Even though he was not at the height of his popularity anymore, he was given an honorary Oscar by the Academy in 1935 (Brain-Juice.com). Griffith did remarry, to a younger woman named Evelyn Baldwin, only to separate about a decade later (Brain-Juice.com). The Screen Director’s Guild once named their lifetime achievement award after Griffith, but it was later removed (Steinle). On July 23rd, 1948, D.W. Griffith died of a brain hemorrhage (Brain-Juice.com).
Griffith is said to be the first director to recognize film as a new art medium (Steinle). Griffith is credited with the invention of the narrative film. In his films, Griffith would use a “close-up” to convey the emotions of the characters. Birth of a Nationcontains many cinematic innovations that would influence later films. Birth included multiple angled shots, parallel action and editing, the use of fade-outs, high angle shots and moving shots and pans (Dirk). The release of Birth of a Nation prompted many black filmmakers to make movies that counter the message of Birth such as Oscar Micheaux (Dirk).
Many of the assistant director who help Griffith with Intolerance were inspired to do their own works and became prominent Hollywood directors themselves; directors such as Erich von Stroheim (Steinle). Intolerance supposedly helped inspire Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein to create the theory of montage (Steinle).
Birth of a Nation was voted one of the Top 100 Great American films by the American Film Institute in 1998 (Dirk) and Intolerance replaced Birth on the list in 2007.
Griffith influence in creating the techniques mentioned above may make him one of the most important directors of all time. His films were the first Hollywood feature films that everyone tried to emulate. Their use of a long, linear storyline has also been passed on to this day. They may feature political incorrectness that we today could find offensive, but those films were made in a different time period and we can’t deny their influence in general. Famous director of westerns, John Ford, is quoted to have said, “D.W. Griffith influenced all of us…Griffith was the one who made it an art.” (Brain-Juice.com)
"D.W. Griffith." Brain-Juice. Brain-Juice.Com, Inc., n.d. Web. 18 Jan 2012. <http://www.brain-juice.com/cgi-bin/show_bio.cgi?p_id=109>.
Dirk, Tim. "The Birth of a Nation (1915)." filmsite.org. American Movie Classics Company LLC., n.d. Web. 18 Jan 2012. <http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html>.
Steinle, John. "D.W. Griffith." Senses of Cinema. Senses of Cinema Inc, 31 Jul 2006. Web. 18 Jan 2012. <http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/griffith/>.
Welles, Orson, dir. The Other Side of the Wind: Orson Welles. RandomPosts, 2006. Film. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0kdTPd5XJM>.
In 1919, Griffith directed Broken Blossoms, which is considered “another plea for intolerance and understanding” (Steinle). The movie follows a Buddhist from China (who, through the film is called the un-politically correct term “The Yellow Man”) comes to London to spread the word of Buddha, to no avail. The film as follows a downtrodden young girl who lives with an abusive boxer for a father. The Chinese man attempts to protect her from her father.
Broken Blossoms received universal acclaim, becoming a success at the box office. The success of Broken Blossoms had confirmed Griffith’s master status. Griffith later bought the film rights to the American melodrama Way Down East. Way Down East is about a woman who is taken in by a family after her illegitimate child dies (Brian-Juice.com). Way Down East was another critical and commercial success for Griffith.
Griffith would later adapt the play The Two Orphans into his film Orphans of the Storm. Orphans of the Storm deals with two sisters, one blind, who travel to Paris to find a cure for blindness (Steinle). Orphans was moderately successful, but not as successful asWay Down East was at the box office.
With Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, Griffith formed the United Artists Distributing Company, which is still in use today (Steinle). Due to his success, Griffith began to drink and have extramarital affairs (Brain-Juice.com). These affairs ruined his marriage to Linda, to a point they later divorced. Griffith’s popularity soon declined and his works were overshadowed by the films of other directors, such as Lang, Eisenstein and Chaplin (Brain-Juice.com). Griffith made several bad business decisions. One decision was moving back to New York, even though the center of movie making was back in California (Brain-Juice.com). These decisions left him with a considerable amount of debt. Griffith made the transition to sound in the 1930s, but made his last film in 1931.
Even though he was not at the height of his popularity anymore, he was given an honorary Oscar by the Academy in 1935 (Brain-Juice.com). Griffith did remarry, to a younger woman named Evelyn Baldwin, only to separate about a decade later (Brain-Juice.com). The Screen Director’s Guild once named their lifetime achievement award after Griffith, but it was later removed (Steinle). On July 23rd, 1948, D.W. Griffith died of a brain hemorrhage (Brain-Juice.com).
Griffith is said to be the first director to recognize film as a new art medium (Steinle). Griffith is credited with the invention of the narrative film. In his films, Griffith would use a “close-up” to convey the emotions of the characters. Birth of a Nationcontains many cinematic innovations that would influence later films. Birth included multiple angled shots, parallel action and editing, the use of fade-outs, high angle shots and moving shots and pans (Dirk). The release of Birth of a Nation prompted many black filmmakers to make movies that counter the message of Birth such as Oscar Micheaux (Dirk).
Many of the assistant director who help Griffith with Intolerance were inspired to do their own works and became prominent Hollywood directors themselves; directors such as Erich von Stroheim (Steinle). Intolerance supposedly helped inspire Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein to create the theory of montage (Steinle).
Birth of a Nation was voted one of the Top 100 Great American films by the American Film Institute in 1998 (Dirk) and Intolerance replaced Birth on the list in 2007.
Griffith influence in creating the techniques mentioned above may make him one of the most important directors of all time. His films were the first Hollywood feature films that everyone tried to emulate. Their use of a long, linear storyline has also been passed on to this day. They may feature political incorrectness that we today could find offensive, but those films were made in a different time period and we can’t deny their influence in general. Famous director of westerns, John Ford, is quoted to have said, “D.W. Griffith influenced all of us…Griffith was the one who made it an art.” (Brain-Juice.com)
Works Cited
Dirk, Tim. "The Birth of a Nation (1915)." filmsite.org. American Movie Classics Company LLC., n.d. Web. 18 Jan 2012. <http://www.filmsite.org/birt.html>.
Steinle, John. "D.W. Griffith." Senses of Cinema. Senses of Cinema Inc, 31 Jul 2006. Web. 18 Jan 2012. <http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/griffith/>.
Welles, Orson, dir. The Other Side of the Wind: Orson Welles. RandomPosts, 2006. Film. <www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0kdTPd5XJM>.
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