The Birth of a Nation (1915)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

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 | Public Domain

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)
• 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)
El nacimiento de una nación (Argentina) (International: Spanish title) (Spain) [es]
O Nascimento de Uma Nação (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
El Naixement d'una nació (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
En nations fødsel (Denmark) [da]
Geburt einer Nation (Germany) [de]
I gennisi enos ethnous (Greece) (DVD title) [el]
Kansakunnan synty (Finland) [fi]
La nascita di una nazione (Italy) [it]
Naissance d'une nation (France) [fr]
Narodziny narodu (Poland) [pl]
Nationens födelse (Sweden) [sv]

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) | 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:

Joseph Henabery, who was one of D.W. Griffith's chief assistant directors as well as contributing research, played 13 roles in the film in addition to his main role as Abraham Lincoln.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Car tire tracks are visible in the KKK segment.

Quotes:

Flora Cameron: [letter to Ben] - and you have really grown a moustache - oh my! I'm just dying, dying to see you. Well, I'm growing up too - they say I'm such a big girl now you wouldn't know me. XXXXXX Kisses Your little
[crossed out]
Flora Cameron: big Sis

Movie Connections:

Featured in Ethnic Notions (1986)

Bad History

Anyone who thinks that this film depicts real history is seriously deluded. One commenter noted that the KKK was fighting for a good cause during Reconstruction, but not now. I guess to him good causes include killing and intimidating freed slaves who were merely attempting to exercise their rights to vote and make a living.

Griffith's portrayal of Reconstruction black politicians is not only racist, but blatantly untrue. Only in rare instances and for a short time did black representatives control any Southern legislatures, and this at a time when they were the majority of voters in many Southern states! For years teachers of Reconstruction have emphasized carpetbaggers, but have ommitted the fact that the post-Reconstruction governments were founded with the explicit purpose of disenfranchising blacks and violently enforcing their underclass status. For this reason and others, Birth of a Nation's claims to historical accuracy would be comical, if not for the horrific implications of the film.

That said, this film should be seen, mainly because it provides a document of a poisonous way of thinking that is by no means dead. It also represents the pop cultural moment when Northern and Southern whites reconciled over the memory of the Civil War, mainly to the detriment of blacks. Lastly, those who want this film burned only give ammunition to the idiots who still praise the KKK. It's better to let these jerks hang themselves with their own rhetorical ropes than to let them claim victim status.