The Birth of a Nation (1915)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently The Birth of a Nation is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: FlixFling, Kino Now, Kanopy, Public Domain Movies, Popflick
Streaming in:🇺🇸 United States
This Movie Is About.
Cast & Crew.
Lillian Gish
Elsie - Stoneman's Daughter
Mae Marsh
Flora Cameron - The Pet Sister
Henry B. Walthall
Col. Ben Cameron aka The Little Colonel
Miriam Cooper
Margaret Cameron - The Elder Sister
Mary Alden
Lydia Brown - Stoneman's Mulatto Housekeeper
Ralph Lewis
Hon. Austin Stoneman - Leader of the House
George Siegmann
Silas Lynch - Mulatto Lieut. Governor
Walter Long
Gus - A Renegade Negro
Robert Harron
Tod - Stoneman's Younger Son
Elmer Clifton
Stoneman's Elder Son Phil / Assistant Director
Wallace Reid
Jeff - The Blacksmith
D.W. Griffith
Director
Josephine Crowell
Mrs. Cameron
Spottiswoode Aitken
Dr. Cameron
Thomas F. Dixon Jr.
Writer
George Beranger
Wade Cameron
Maxfield Stanley
Duke Cameron
Frank E. Woods
Writer
Jennie Lee
Mammy
Donald Crisp
Gen. U.S. Grant / Assistant Director
Joseph Carl Breil
Composer
Howard Gaye
Gen. Robert E. Lee / Assistant Director
Billy Bitzer
Cinematographer
Sam De Grasse
Charles Sumner
William De Vaull
Nelse
Willam Freeman
Jake / Sentry at Hospital
Joseph Henabery
Editor
Tom Wilson
Stoneman's Servant / Assistant Director
James Smith
Editor
Fred Burns
Klansman
Rose Smith
Editor
Allan Sears
Klansman
Elmo Lincoln
Blacksmith
Madame Sul-Te-Wan
Black Woman
Raoul Walsh
John Wilkes Booth / Editor / Assistant Director
Harry Braham
Cameron's Male Servant
Bob Burns
Klan Leader
Edmund Burns
Klansman
Edward Burns
Klansman
Peggy Cartwright
Young Girl in Cabin
Dark Cloud
General
Leonore Cooper
Elsie's Maid
Charles Eagle Eye
Man Who Falls from Roof / Stunts
John Ford
Klansman
Olga Grey
Laura Keene
Alberta Lee
Mrs. Lincoln
Betty Marsh
Child with Dr. Cameron
Donna Montran
Belle of 1861
Eugene Pallette
Union Soldier
Alma Rubens
Belle of 1861
Charles Stevens
Volunteer
Jules White
Confederate Soldier
Violet Wilkey
Young Flora Cameron
David Butler
Northern Soldier / Confederate Soldier
Jon Mirsalis
Original Music Composer
Clare West
Costume Design
Walter Hoffman
Special Effects / Special Effects Supervisor
H.E. Aitken
Executive Producer
Robert Goldstein
Costume Design
Jack Conway
Assistant Director
Erich von Stroheim
Assistant Director
Ralph M. DeLacy
Property Master
Joseph Nurnberger
Music
Baron von Winther
Assistant Director
Cash Shockey
Painter
Herbert Sutch
Assistant Director
Shorty English
Carpenter
Carli Elinor
Conductor
Fireworks Wilson
Special Effects
Karl Brown
Camera Operator
Fred Hamer
Assistant Director
Thomas E. O'Brien
Assistant Director
Media.
Details.
Release DateFebruary 8, 1915
StatusReleased
Running Time3h 13m
Content RatingPG
Budget$100,000
Box Office$11,000,000
Genres
Wiki.
The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman, is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play The Clansman. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay with Frank E. Woods and produced the film with Harry Aitken.
The Birth of a Nation is a landmark of film history, lauded for its technical virtuosity. It was the first non-serial American 12-reel film ever made. Its plot, part fiction and part history, chronicles the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth and the relationship of two families in the Civil War and Reconstruction eras over the course of several years—the pro-Union (Northern) Stonemans and the pro-Confederacy (Southern) Camerons. It was originally shown in two parts separated by an intermission, and it was the first American-made film to have a musical score for an orchestra. It pioneered closeups and fadeouts, and it includes a carefully staged battle sequence with hundreds of extras (another first) made to look like thousands. It came with a 13-page Souvenir Program. It was the first motion picture to be screened inside the White House, viewed there by President Woodrow Wilson, his family, and members of his cabinet.
The film was controversial even before its release, and it has remained so ever since; it has been called "the most controversial film ever made in the United States": 198 and "the most reprehensibly racist film in Hollywood history". The film has been denounced for its racist depiction of African Americans. The film portrays its black characters (many of whom are played by white actors in blackface) as unintelligent and sexually aggressive toward white women. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is portrayed as a heroic force, necessary to preserve American values, protect white women, and maintain white supremacy.Popular among white audiences nationwide upon its release, the film's success was both a consequence of and a contributor to racial segregation throughout the U.S. In response to the film's depictions of black people and Civil War history, African Americans across the U.S. organized and protested. In Boston and other localities, black leaders and the NAACP spearheaded an unsuccessful campaign to have it banned on the basis that it inflamed racial tensions and could incite violence. It was also denied release in Chicago, Ohio, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him to produce Intolerance the following year.In spite of its divisiveness, The Birth of a Nation was a massive commercial success across the nation—grossing far more than any previous motion picture—and it profoundly influenced both the film industry and American culture. Adjusted for inflation, the film remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. It has been acknowledged as an inspiration for the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan, which took place only a few months after its release. In 1992, the Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.