The Birth of a Nation
A landmark film, both technically innovative and deeply controversial.
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No American film before it had twelve reels and was not a serial, and it also became the first US-made motion picture to feature an orchestral musical score.[1][2]
Making and release
Griffith began filming on July 4, 1914 and was finished by October 1914.[3] The film was originally shown in two parts separated by an intermission.[2] The first public showing, then called The Clansman, was on January 1 and 2, 1915, at the Loring Opera House in Riverside, California.[4] Griffith's initial budget of $40,000 ultimately grew to exceed $100,000.[5]
After filming, Griffith had about 150,000 feet of footage, which he then trimmed to 13,000 feet.[6] On February 18, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson viewed the film during a screening at the White House.[2][7] The picture achieved enormous financial success, earning more than any earlier motion picture.[8] When accounting for inflation, it continues to rank among the most profitable films ever produced.[8]
What the cited sources add
The Niderost account states that The Birth of a Nation was pure Griffith, and every frame of celluloid bore his stamp.[7] The same source notes that the film played in New York for 10 months, during which an estimated 825,000 viewed the film.[7] The Armstrong article describes the film as "the longest film ever at the time of its release at over three hours"[9] Armstrong also states that Griffith invented an impressive array of shooting, editing and narrative techniques that gave birth to cinema as we know it today.[9]
The Lynskey article quotes producer Roy E. Aitken describing The Birth of a Nation as "the most controversial film in America"[10] Lynskey also reports that the film was inextricably linked with the return of the Ku Klux Klan, relaunched by Alabama teacher William J. Simmons in 1915.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Birth of a Nation", Encyclopædia Britannica; "The Birth of a Nation (1915)", filmsite.org; Niderost, "'The Birth of a Nation': When Hollywood Glorified the KKK", HistoryNet, October 2005; Hubbert, "Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History", University of California Press, 2011, p. 12 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Norton, "A People and a Nation, Volume II: Since 1865, Brief Edition", Cengage Learning, 2015, p. 487; "Souvenir. The Birth of a Nation", 1915 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eagan, "America's film legacy: the authoritative guide to the landmark movies in the National Film Registry", Continuum, 2010, p. 42–44; Franklin, "The Birth of a Nation: Propaganda as History", Massachusetts Review, Autumn 1979, p. 417–434; Stokes 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lennig, "Myth and Fact: The Reception of The Birth of a Nation", Film History, April 2004, p. 117–141; "A Riot", Los Angeles Times, January 12, 1915, p. 24; Warnack, "Trouble over The Clansman", Los Angeles Times, February 9, 1915, p. 16; Campbell 1981, p. 50 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stokes, "D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of "the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time"", Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 105, 122, 124, 178; Hall, "Epics, spectacles, and blockbusters: a Hollywood history", Wayne State University Press, 2010, p. 270 (note 2.78) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eagan, "America's film legacy: the authoritative guide to the landmark movies in the National Film Registry", Continuum, 2010, p. 42–44 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Niderost, "'The Birth of a Nation': When Hollywood Glorified the KKK", HistoryNet, October 2005. facts only, no text reused. historynet.com
- Wikipedia, "The Birth of a Nation" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Complete National Film Registry Listing", Library of Congress; "'The Birth of a Nation' Documents History", The Los Angeles Times, 1993-01-04 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Armstrong, "Revered and Reviled: D.W. Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation'", The Moving Arts Film Journal, February 26, 2010. facts only, no text reused. themovingarts.com
- Lynskey, "Still lying about history", Slate, March 31, 2015. facts only, no text reused. slate.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article The Birth of a Nation (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Birth of a Nation (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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