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

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 | Ku Klux Klan | Assassination | Battle | 1860s

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lillian Gish	...	Elsie - Stoneman's Daughter
Mae Marsh	...	Flora Cameron - The Pet Sister
Henry B. Walthall	...	Col. Ben Cameron (as Henry Walthall)
Miriam Cooper	...	Margaret Cameron - Elder Sister
Mary Alden	...	Lydia - Stoneman's Mulatto Housekeeper
Ralph Lewis	...	Hon. Austin Stoneman - Leader of the House
George Siegmann	...	Silas Lynch - Mulatto Lieut. Governor (as George Seigmann)
Walter Long	...	Gus - a Renegade Negro
Robert Harron	...	Tod - Stoneman's Younger Son
Wallace Reid	...	Jeff - the Blacksmith (as Wallace Reed)
Joseph Henabery	...	Abraham Lincoln (as Jos. Henabery)
Elmer Clifton	...	Phil - Stoneman's Elder Son
Josephine Crowell	...	Mrs. Cameron
Spottiswoode Aitken	...	Dr. Cameron
George Beranger	...	Wade Cameron - Second Son (as J.A. Beringer)
Maxfield Stanley	...	Duke Cameron - Youngest Son
Jennie Lee	...	Mammy - Tthe Faitful Servant
Donald Crisp	...	Gen. U.S. Grant
Howard Gaye	...	Gen. Robert E. Lee
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Monte Blue	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Harry Braham	...	Cameron's Male Servant (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 in Cabin (uncredited)
William E. Cassidy	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Dark Cloud	...	General (uncredited)
Lenore Cooper	...	Elsie's Maid (uncredited)
Sam De Grasse	...	Sen. Charles Sumner (uncredited)
William De Vaull	...	Nelse (uncredited)
Charles Eagle Eye	...	Man Who Falls from Roof (uncredited)
John Ford	...	Klansman on Horse Holding Up Hood with Hand (uncredited)
Alberta Franklin	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
William Freeman	...	Jake / Sentry at Hospital (uncredited)
Gibson Gowland	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Olga Grey	...	Laura Keene (uncredited)
D.W. Griffith	...	Himself (1931 reissue version) (uncredited)
Fred Hamer	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Russell Hicks	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Walter Huston	...	Himself (1931 reissue version) (uncredited)
Charles King	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Alberta Lee	...	Mrs. Lincoln (uncredited)
Elmo Lincoln	...	Blacksmith (uncredited)
Betty Marsh	...	Child with Dr. Cameron (uncredited)
Donna Montran	...	Belle of 1861 (uncredited)
Eugene Pallette	...	Union Soldier (uncredited)
Vester Pegg	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Alma Rubens	...	Belle of 1861 (uncredited)
Allan Sears	...	Klansman (uncredited)
Charles Stevens	...	Volunteer (uncredited)
Madame Sul-Te-Wan	...	Black Woman - Dr. Cameron's Taunter (uncredited)
Erich von Stroheim	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
George Walsh	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Raoul Walsh	...	John Wilkes Booth (uncredited)
Jules White	...	Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Violet Wilkey	...	Flora Cameron as a Child (uncredited)
Tom Wilson	...	Stoneman's Servant (uncredited)
Mary Wynn	...	Minor Role (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		&
Frank E. Woods

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

Original Music by
Joseph Carl Breil		(music)
D.W. Griffith		(music)

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
Monte Blue	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Christy Cabanne	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Elmer Clifton	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Jack Conway	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Donald Crisp	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Allan Dwan	....	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)
Erich von Stroheim	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Baron von Winther	....	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)

Editorial Department
Karl Malkames	....	negative: Killiam Shows

Music Department
Fraser Macdonald	....	score arranger: Killiam Shows
William Axt	....	music arranger: 1921 revival (New York ) (uncredited)
Harry Berken	....	musician: trumpeter (uncredited)
Carli Elinor	....	conductor (uncredited)
Louis F. Gottschalk	....	music adaptor: 1930 synchronized version (uncredited)
Herman Hand	....	music arranger: 1921 revival (New York ) (uncredited)
Joseph Nurnberger	....	composer: overture (Los Angeles premiere ) (uncredited)
Erno Rapee	....	music arranger: 1921 revival (New York ) (uncredited)

Other crew
D.W. Griffith	....	presents
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 (JBA) (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)
• FilmAnnex (2006) (worldwide) (all media)
• Killiam Shows (????) (USA) (TV)
• MediaOutlet.com (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Movies Unlimited (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Republic Pictures Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• absolut MEDIEN (2008) (Germany) (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" - USA (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:

UK:15 (video rating) | UK:U (original rating) | Sweden:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Argentina:Atp | South Korea:15 (2002) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Australia:M (2009) | USA:Not Rated | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Big Bear Lake, Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino National Forest, California, USA

Company:

David W. Griffith Corp.

Trivia:

The battlefield sequences were shot on the property on which now stands Universal Studios.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The South Carolina coastline does not have bluffs overlooking the ocean.

Quotes:

Mammy:[to a servant from the North, who attempts to make her carry his bags] You' northern lown down black trash, don't try no airs on me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Girth of a Nation (1994)

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.