Personal Info
Known For
Directing
Birthdate
1875-01-22
Day of Death
1948-07-23
Place of Birth
LaGrange, Kentucky, USA
D.W. Griffith
Biography
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.
Filmography (50)
Mary Pickford a Blessing and a Curse
2023
Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty
2020
Flashback: The First World War
2014
Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies
2008
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
The Tramp and the Dictator
2002
Star Power: The Creation Of United Artists
1998
The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation'
1993
The Legend of Rudolph Valentino
1961
San Francisco
1936
1930 Prelude to "The Birth of a Nation"
1930
Screen Snapshots (Series 1, No. 20)
1921
Enoch Arden
1915
Two Daughters of Eve
1912
