"The Birth of A Nation" 1915 Movie Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

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"The Birth of A Nation"
1915 Silent Movie

Synopsis

The plot follows two families in South Carolina on opposite sides in the U.S. Civil War; later events include recreations of historic Civil War battles, the assassination of President Lincoln, the post-war Reconstruction, and the founding of the Ku Klux Klan.

TCM synopsis

History of The Film            American baptist Minister Thomas F. Dixon, Jr. published the novel "The Clansman: An Historical Romance of The Ku Klux Klan" in 1905. It was the middle book of his 'Ku Klux Klan trilogy', which included "The Leopard's Spots: A Romance of The White Man's Burden, 1865-1900" [1902] and "The Traitor: A Story of The Fall of The Invisible Empire" [1907]. All three books were bestsellers, and "The Clansman" became a successful stageplay. While Dixon was opposed to slavery, his works promoted racial segregation; he felt that the K.K.K. was necessary at the time to enforce that policy.
           D.W. Griffith's father, who served as a colonel in the Confederate Army, made a deal to purchase the rights to Dixon's book and play, but he was able to come up with only a fourth of that amount. Dixon reluctantly accepted a one-fourth interest in the planned film instead of cash up front – the film's amazing success made Dixon a millionaire.
           The film was originally released as "The Clansman", and premiered at Clune's Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles on 8 February 1915; it was shortly retitled "The Birth of A Nation". The film reflects the racist nature of the Dixon book, and of the Reconstruction Era. The inflammatory nature of parts of the film are blamed for riots that broke out in Boston, Philadelphia, and other major cities; because of that violence, the film was not allowed to open in Chicago, Denver, Kansas City (Missouri), Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis. The film was protested by the N.A.A.C.P. & others, and even Dixon's friend President Woodrow Wilson was drawn into the fray.
           The film was screened inside the White House (the first feature film to do so) in February 1915, but the tale that Wilson stated that it was "history written with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true" is entirely false. Griffith was quoted in an interview several days later as saying that government officials were amazed how the film 'teaches history by lightning'. Several versions of the quote were passed around by Dixon and by the filmmakers, but an exchange of letters told them to stop, otherwise the falsely-quoted officials would issue press statements deploring the film's content.

The film was re-released in 1922, and is said to be a major cause for a resurgence in Klan membership in the Twenties – the K.K.K. did in fact screen the film as a recruiting tool.

Thomas Dixon, Jr. [1864-1946]

"The Birth of A Nation"
[D.W.G./Epoch silent classic Feb 1915]

The full-length version is 190 minutes. Co-written & directed by D.W. Griffith; based on the 1905 novel & play "The Clansman" by Thomas F. Dixon Jr. [1864-1946]; starring Ralph Lewis, Elmer Clifton, Robert Harron, Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Henry B. Walthall, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Walter Long, George Siegmann, Wallace Reid, Joseph Henabery {as Abraham Lincoln}, Josephine Crowell, Spottiswoode Aitken, George Beranger, Maxfield Stanley, Jennie Lee, Raoul Walsh {as John Wilkes Booth}, Donald Crisp (as Gen. Grant} & Howard Gaye {as Gen. Lee}; listed on National Film Registry (1992)

Kino Video 187-minute b&w silent DVD [12/2002] 2 disks - out of prodn/used
this DVD set includes a "Making of ..." documentary [1998] and 7 short films by D.W. Griffith: "In The Border States" [1910],
"The House With The Closed Shutters" [1910], "The Fugitive" [1910], "His Trust" [1911], "His Trust Fulfilled" [1911],
"Swords and Hearts" [1911] and "The Battle" [1911]

"The Making of The Birth of A Nation"
[Film Preservation Assocs. video release Nov 1998]
Directed by Robert G. Beecher; written by Russell Merritt; narrated by David H. Shepard
available on DVDs above • full credits from IMDb

· ·

	"The Birth of A Nation Story" [1965] by Roy E. Aitken, as told to Al P. Nelson Denlinger hardcover [1965] out of print/scarce
	"The Birth of A Nation: D.W. Griffith, Director" [1994] critical text by Robert Lang Rutgers Univ Press 9x6 pb [2/94] for $22.95 Rutgers Univ Press 9¾x6½ pb [2/94] out of print/used
	"D.W. Griffith's Film The Birth of A Nation: The Film That Transformed America" [2006] by Michael R. Hurwitz BookSurge Publng 7¾x5¼ pb [9/2006] for $13.99
	"D.W. Griffith's The Birth of A Nation: A History of The Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time" [2007] by Melvyn Stokes Oxford Univ Press 9¼x6 pb [12/2007] for $24.95 Oxford Univ Press 9x6 hardcover [12/2007] for $99.00
	"The Birth of A Nation: How A Legendary Filmmaker and A Crusading Editor Reignited America's Civil War" [2014] by Dick Lehr The fiery story of Monroe Trotter’s titanic crusade to have Griffith's pro-K.K.K. film censored; Trotter's methods of peaceful protest became a model for dissent during the 1950s and 1960s civil rights movement. Kindle Edition from PublicAffairs [11/2014] for $17.99 PublicAffairs 9½x6½ hardcover [11/2014] for $20.33

'Birth of A Nation' Posters
(AllPosters.com shut down their affiliates program in June 2015)

"The Birth of A Nation" 1915 Movie Page at Magic Lantern Video & Book Store

Online sales in association with

	"The Clansman: An Historical Romance of The Ku Klux Klan" [1905] by Thomas Dixon, Jr. NuVision Publns 9x6 pb [7/2005] for $15.59 Univ Press of KY 7¾x5¼ pb [12/70] for $22.00 M.E. Sharpe edited & abridged pb [10/2000] for $32.95 M.E. Sharpe 9¼x6¼ library hardcover [12/2000] for $82.95 book entry at Wikipedia
	prequel "The Leopard's Spots" [Doubleday 1902] by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Pelican Publng 8x5 pb [10/2001] for $19.95 Smyth Press 8½x5½ hardcover [8/2008] for $32.95 sequel "The Traitor" [1907] by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Firebird Press 9x6 pb [8/2001] for $18.95 Kessinger Publng 9x6 pb [8/2004] for $25.24 "The Reconstruction Trilogy" (in one volume) Preface by Sam Dickson Noontide Press 9x6 pb [1/2001] out of print/used
	"American Racist: The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon" [2004] by Anthony Slide Univ Press of KY 9x6 pb [9/2004] for $35.00
	"Thomas Dixon, Jr. and The Birth of Modern America" [2006] Edited by Michele K. Gillespie & Randal L. Hall LSU Press 8½x5½ hardcover [4/2006] for $35.22

11"x17" poster from Amazon for $19.99	11"x17" poster from Amazon for $14.99	11"x17" poster from Amazon for $14.99 27"x40" poster from Amazon for $19.99	retail source not found
retail source not found	11"x17" poster from Amazon for $14.99	18"x28" poster from Amazon for $19.95	retail source not found

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store"The Birth of A Nation"1915 Silent Movie

Magic Lantern Video & Book Store
"The Birth of A Nation"
1915 Silent Movie