The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Director:

D.W. Griffith

Writers:

Thomas F. Dixon Jr. (novel)
Thomas F. Dixon Jr. (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

3 March 1915 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War | Western

Tagline:

Mighty Spectacle

Plot:

The Civil War divides friends and destroys families, but that's nothing compared to the anarchy in the black-ruled South after the war.

Plot Keywords:

Civil War | Lincoln Assassination | Ku Klux Klan | Assassination | Cabin

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lillian Gish	...	Elsie Stoneman
Mae Marsh	...	Flora Cameron
Henry B. Walthall	...	Col. Ben Cameron (as Henry Walthall)
Miriam Cooper	...	Margaret Cameron
Mary Alden	...	Lydia Brown
Ralph Lewis	...	Austin Stoneman
George Siegmann	...	Silas Lynch (as George Seigmann)
Walter Long	...	Gus
Robert Harron	...	Tod Stoneman
Wallace Reid	...	Jeff (blacksmith) (as Wallace Reed)
Joseph Henabery	...	Abraham Lincoln / 13 other bits (as Jos. Henabery)
Elmer Clifton	...	Phil Stoneman
Josephine Crowell	...	Mrs. Cameron
Spottiswoode Aitken	...	Dr. Cameron
George Beranger	...	Wade Cameron (as J.A. Beringer)
Maxfield Stanley	...	Duke Cameron
Jennie Lee	...	Mammy
Donald Crisp	...	Gen. Ulysses S. Grant
Howard Gaye	...	Gen. Robert E. Lee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tom Wilson	...	Stoneman's servant (as Thomas Wilson)
Monte Blue	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Bobby Burns	...	Klan leader (uncredited)
Edmund Burns	...	Klansman (uncredited)
Edward Burns	...	Klansman (uncredited)
Fred Burns	...	Klansman (uncredited)
David Butler	...	Northern soldier / Confederate soldier (uncredited)
Peggy Cartwright	...	Young girl (uncredited)
William E. Cassidy	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Dark Cloud	...	A general (uncredited)
Lenore Cooper	...	Elsie's maid (uncredited)
Sam De Grasse	...	Sen. Sumner (uncredited)
William De Vaull	...	Jake (uncredited)
Charles Eagle Eye	...	Man who falls from roof (uncredited)
John Ford	...	Klansman on horse holding up hood with hand (uncredited)
Alberta Franklin	...	(uncredited)
William Freeman	...	The sentry (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	Bit Role (uncredited)
Olga Grey	...	Laura Keene (uncredited)
D.W. Griffith	...	Himself (1931 reissue version) (uncredited)
Fred Hamer	...	(uncredited)
Russell Hicks	...	(uncredited)
Walter Huston	...	Himself (1931 reissue version) (uncredited)
Charles King	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Alberta Lee	...	Mrs. Lincoln (uncredited)
Elmo Lincoln	...	Blacksmith (uncredited)
Donna Montran	...	Belles of 1861 (uncredited)
Eugene Pallette	...	Union soldier (uncredited)
Vester Pegg	...	(uncredited)
Alma Rubens	...	Belles of 1861 (uncredited)
Allan Sears	...	Klansman (uncredited)
Charles Stevens	...	Volunteer (uncredited)
Madame Sul-Te-Wan	...	Black woman (Dr. Cameron's taunter) (uncredited)
Raoul Walsh	...	John Wilkes Booth (uncredited)
Jules White	...	(uncredited)
Violet Wilkey	...	Flora as a child (uncredited)
Mary Wynn	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
D.W. Griffith

Writing credits
Thomas F. Dixon Jr.		(novel "The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan")
Thomas F. Dixon Jr.		play "The Clansman" and
Thomas F. Dixon Jr.		novel "The Leopard's Spots"
D.W. Griffith		(writer) &
Frank E. Woods		(writer)

Produced by
D.W. Griffith	....	producer
H.E. Aitken	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Joseph Carl Breil
D.W. Griffith

Cinematography by
G.W. Bitzer

Film Editing by
D.W. Griffith
Joseph Henabery
James Smith
Rose Smith
Raoul Walsh

Costume Design by
Robert Goldstein		(uncredited)
Clare West		(uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Christy Cabanne	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Elmer Clifton	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jack Conway	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Donald Crisp	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Howard Gaye	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Fred Hamer	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Robert Harron	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Joseph Henabery	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Thomas E. O'Brien	....	assistant director (uncredited)
George Siegmann	....	chief assistant director (uncredited)
Herbert Sutch	....	assistant director (uncredited)
W.S. Van Dyke	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Raoul Walsh	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Henry B. Walthall	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ralph M. DeLacy	....	property master (uncredited)
Shorty English	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Jim Newman	....	assistant carpenter (uncredited)
Cash Shockey	....	set painter (uncredited)
Joseph Stringer	....	set builder (uncredited)
Hal Sullivan	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Frank Wortman	....	set designer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Walter Hoffman	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)
'Fireworks' Wilson	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Monte Blue	....	stunts (uncredited)
Charles Eagle Eye	....	stunts (uncredited)
Leo Nomis	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Karl Brown	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Frank B. Good	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert Goldstein	....	costumer (uncredited)

Music Department
Harry Berken	....	musician: trumpeter
Carli Elinor	....	conductor (uncredited)

Other crew
Jim Kidd	....	security officer (uncredited)
Abe Scholtz	....	laboratory technician (uncredited)

Production Companies

• David W. Griffith Corp.
• Epoch Producing Corporation

Distributors

• Epoch Producing Corporation (1915) (USA) (theatrical) (original release)
• Joseph Brenner Associates (1970) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Lumivision (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (1994) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Hollywood Classics (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Specialty Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Eureka Entertainment (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• SlingShot Entertainment (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Divisa Home Video (2002) (Spain) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2002) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Delta Expedition (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Ermitage Cinema (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2006) (Italy) (DVD)
• SBP (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Suomi-Filmi (1964) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Titania (1922) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Allied Artists Classic Library (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Critics' Choice Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Facets Multimedia Distribution (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Goldstein and Company  costumes
• Western Costume Company  wardrobe

Also Known As:

In the Clutches of the Ku Klux Klan (USA) (cut version)
The Birth of the Nation; Or The Clansman (second copyright title)
The Clansman (USA) (Los Angeles première title)

Runtime:

190 min (16 fps) | USA:125 min (video version) | USA:187 min (DVD) | Argentina:165 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:15 (2002) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | UK:15 (video rating) | UK:U (original rating) | Sweden:15 | Canada:G (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, California, USA

Company:

David W. Griffith Corp.

Trivia:

Some of the black characters are played by white actors with make-up, particularly those characters who were required to come in contact with a white actress. The person playing the Cameron's maid is not only clearly white, but is also obviously male.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the window in the small cabin changes.

Quotes:

Elsie Stoneman: [Ben is to be hanged. Elsie has an idea] We will ask mercy from the Great Heart.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "SexTV: Shafted: The Story of Blaxploitation Cinema (#8.18)" (2006)

What does it mean to say something is 'Politically Correct'?

I don't think there's ever been a more maligned phrase than "politically correct" out there; the words immediately evoke a kind of liberal pseudo-fascism that some would have you believe is dominating freedom of speech and thought around universities and media outlets everywhere. I'm not so sure about that, but I am concerned at the counter-trend, of things that are labeled politically incorrect now proudly sporting that label as if they were a rebel, a David fighting these psedo-fascist Goliaths. That is hardly the case. D.W. Griffith's movie, far from being a politically incorrect movie unfairly condemned by the liberal elite, was a movie that perpetuated and, to a certain extent, created a Southern Myth that was damning to black people all throughout the country. The scary bit about this movie is not that it is one voice amoung many giving a personal recount of reconstruction. The movie is not presented that way, nor was it received that way. Until the 1960s, this movie WAS the commonplace, everyday understanding of reconstruction, understood by both Northerners and Southerners (aside: notice how the movie intentionately put as much distance between Northerners and Southerners as possible? The enemy is blacks and "radicals" (who were nothing of the sort), not Lincoln or the union soldiers. The movie was trying to appeal to a Northern audience).

Anyone who ever complains about the political correctness or historical "revisionism" of today's academics, see this movie. And understand, that it is the work of historical "revisionists" that are responsible for teaching the facts about our nation's history, grasped out of the hands of fictions like Griffith's horrific Birth of a Nation. And don't be so smug about complaining of political correctness in the future.

And don't try to seperate this film as an artistic work with the historical perspective of the film. Keep in mind, this film was not only a portrayl of history, it was also a *part* of history. It served to defend racial segregation, lychings, and the Klan at a time when all three of those were very real political issues. It is not a coincidence that the greatest period of lychings and Jim Crow laws came shortly after this movie. In short, this film oppressed people. So don't treat it like it existed in an entertainment vacuum, unaffected by and unaffecting everything else around it.