D.W. Griffith

Born: 1875-01-22

David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance (1916). Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera and narrative techniques, and its immense popularity set the stage for the dominance of the feature-length film. It also proved extremely controversial at the time and ever since for its negative depiction of Black Americans and their supporters, and its positive portrayal of slavery and the Ku Klux Klan. Griffith responded to his critics with his next film, Intolerance, intended to show the dangers of prejudiced thought and behavior. The film was not the financial success that its predecessor had been, but was received warmly by critics. Several of his later films were also successful, but high production, promotional, and roadshow costs often made his ventures commercial failures. Even so, he is generally considered one of the most important figures of early cinema.


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San Francisco

as Orchestra Conductor (uncredited)
Released: 1936-06-26

A beautiful singer and a battling priest try to reform a Barbary Coast saloon owner in the days...

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Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2007-05-23

Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was,...

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Enoch Arden

as Mr. Ray
Released: 1915-04-08

Seamen Enoch Arden returns home after a long absence marooned on a desert island. At home he...

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Rescued from an Eagle's Nest

as Father
Released: 1908-01-16

A woodsman leaves a hut followed by a woman with their baby. Nearby some men chop down a tree....

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The Tramp and the Dictator

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Released: 2002-02-14

A look at the parallel lives of Charlie Chaplin and Adolf Hitler and how they crossed with the...

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1776, or The Hessian Renegades

as uncredited
Released: 1909-09-06

During the American Revolution, a young soldier carrying a crucial message to General Washington...

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At the Crossroads of Life

as Suitor
Released: 1908-07-02

At the Crossroads of Life is a typically Victorian-style melodrama in which a girl's wishes to...

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Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)

as Himself
Released: 1921-02-22

Intimate views of the movie stars of the Silent Era, at work and play; featuring Sessue...

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Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1998-01-01

The careers of D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin are...

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Two Daughters of Eve

as At Stage Door
Released: 1912-09-19

Calumny is one of the most despicable crimes against our neighbor, and while the wife in this...

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The Legend of Rudolph Valentino

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 1961-05-24

A documentary of Hollywood's first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life,...

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Falsely Accused!

as Cop in Court
Released: 1908-01-18

A wealthy old alchemist and inventor has just perfected a motion picture camera with which he...

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Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2008-08-29

This documentary traces the life and work of the legendary "America's Sweetheart" Mary Pickford,...

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The Adventures of Billy

as On Bench
Released: 1911-10-18

Billy witnesses two tramps accidentally kill someone during a robbery. The tramps lock him up...

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A Calamitous Elopement

as Policeman
Released: 1908-08-06

A young couple are enjoying a romantic interlude in the young woman's home, when her father...

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Balked at the Altar

as uncredited
Released: 1908-08-25

A woman who is filled with romantic ideas is making no secret of her eagerness to find a...

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The Music Master

as uncredited
Released: 1908-05-05

What is more miserable than love-blighted life? For the heart that truly loves can never forget....

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The Politician's Love Story

as Man - First Couple
Released: 1909-02-21

A haughty politician, on seeing a satirical cartoon in a newspaper, rushes to the paper's...

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The Sculptor's Nightmare

as uncredited
Released: 1908-05-06

At a political club, the members debate whose bust will replace that of Theodore Roosevelt....

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At the Altar

as uncredited
Released: 1909-02-25

At the Italian boarding house the male boarders were all smitten with the charms of Minnie, the...

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Cupid’s Pranks

as uncredited
Released: 1908-02-19

After receiving a scolding for falling asleep on the job, Cupid is sent out in search of...

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The Invisible Fluid

as Mailman
Released: 1908-06-16

Had the poor melancholy Dane, Hamlet, lived in this, the twentieth century, he would never have...

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Flashback: The First World War

as Self (archive footage)
Released: 2014-01-01

A collection of 2 minute documentaries that tell not only the historical facts of WW1, but also...

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The Black Viper

as Rescuer
Released: 1908-07-21

A thug accosts a girl as she leaves her workplace but a man rescues her. The thug vows revenge...

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Her First Adventure

as Father
Released: 1908-03-18

A father arrives home, greets his wife and daughter, and then goes inside with his wife. Though...

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Mary Pickford a Blessing and a Curse

as Self
Released: 2023-11-19

Mary Pickford's name remains inseparable from the legend of American cinema. She invented the...

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Filmed Prologue to Birth of a Nation

as uncredited
Released: 1930-10-24

A dialogue between director D. W. Griffith and actor Walter Huston on the subject of Griffith...

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When Knights Were Bold

as uncredited
Released: 1908-05-20

Two noblemen fight over a lady.

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American Experience

as Self
First aired: 1988-10-04

TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform...

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