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The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation
Birth of a Nation theatrical poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by D. W. Griffith
Produced by D. W. Griffith
Harry Aitken
Screenplay by D. W. Griffith
Frank E. Woods
Based on The Clansman
by T. F. Dixon Jr.
Starring Lillian Gish
Mae Marsh
Henry B. Walthall
Miriam Cooper
Ralph Lewis
George Siegmann
Walter Long
Music by Joseph Carl Breil
Cinematography G. W. Bitzer
Edited by D. W. Griffith
Production
company
David W. Griffith Corp.
Distributed by Epoch Producing Co.
Release date
  • February 8, 1915 (1915-02-08)
Running time
12 reels
133–193 minutes
Country United States
Language Silent film
English intertitles
Budget >$100,000
Box office unknown; estimated $50–100 million

The Birth of a Nation (originally called The Clansman) is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed and co-produced by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon Jr. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay (with Frank E. Woods), and co-produced the film (with Harry Aitken). It was released on February 8, 1915.

Three hours long, the film was originally presented in two parts separated by an intermission; it was the first 12-reel film in America. The film chronicles the relationship of two families in the American Civil War and Reconstruction era over the course of several years: the pro-Union Northern Stonemans and the pro-Confederacy Southern Camerons. The assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth is dramatized.

The film was a commercial success, though it was highly controversial for its portrayal of black men (some played by white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women, and the portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) (whose original founding is dramatized) as a heroic force. There were widespread African-American protests against The Birth of a Nation, such as in Boston, while thousands of white Bostonians flocked to see the film. The NAACP spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign to ban the film. Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year.


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