Birth of a Nation

UPC: 090328301132

Studio: Vidtape

Summary: The most successful and artistically advanced film of its time, The Birth of a Nation has also sparked protests, riots, and divisiveness since its first release. The film tells the story of the Civil War and its aftermath, as seen through the eyes of two families. The Stonemans hail from the North, the Camerons from the South. When war breaks out, the Stonemans cast their lot with the Union, while the Camerons are loyal to Dixie. After the war, Ben Cameron (Henry B. Walthall), distressed that his beloved south is now under the rule of blacks and carpetbaggers, organizes several like-minded Southerners into a secret vigilante group called the Ku Klux Klan. When Cameron's beloved younger sister Flora (Mae Marsh) leaps to her death rather than surrender to the lustful advances of renegade slave Gus (Walter Long), the Klan wages war on the new Northern-inspired government and ultimately restores "order" to the South. In the original prints, Griffith suggested that the black population be shipped to Liberia, citing Abraham Lincoln as the inspiration for this ethnic cleansing. Showings of Birth of a Nation were picketed and boycotted from the start, and as recently as 1995, Turner Classic Movies cancelled a showing of a restored print in the wake of the racial tensions around the O.J. Simpson trial verdict. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Epic

Awards: U.S. National Film Registry – Library of Congress 100 Greatest American Movies – American Film Institute

Features: Interactive menu
Scene selection

Birth of a Nation

Format: DVD

Release Date: 06/29/2004

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: 0 Silent

Runtime: 175 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Region: Universal Compatability

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Birth of a Nation
2. Chapter 1 [28:19]
3. Chapter 2 [28:25]
4. Chapter 3 [33:55]
5. Chapter 4 [19:43]
6. Chapter 5 [29:03]
7. Chapter 6 [8:16]

Lucia Bozzola

The conflicted legacy of this first American blockbuster epic rests on the combination of Southern-bred D.W. Griffith's landmark technical achievements and his racism, as his version of the Civil War and Reconstruction highlighted fears of miscegenation and the heroism of the Ku Klux Klan. Aiming to make the greatest film ever, Griffith deployed all the technical experiments of his previous movies for maximum visceral effect, along with a prepared score mixing classical music and folk tunes. With expressive close-ups and long shots, irises and superimpositions, Griffith communicated not only the monumental scale of Civil War battles but also the intimate psychology of his central characters. The climactic ride of the Klan to save white girlhood from black defilement marked Griffith's most extraordinary and influential use of parallel editing to galvanize emotional excitement. The longest and most expensive American film made as of 1915, Birth opened to raves for its artistry and record-breaking box office returns, helping to legitimize movies as "respectable" entertainment. Its force was hardly all positive, however, as the NAACP organized a public campaign against the film and demanded that Griffith make cuts; the film was banned in several states for its racism, race riots broke out after its Boston premiere, and it directly influenced the 20th century reemergence of the Klan. As paradoxical proof of its cinematic power, Birth of a Nation still arouses protests decades after it was made. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Sam de Grasse  Actor 
Joseph Henaberry  Actor 
Eugene Pallette  Actor 
Tom Wilson  Actor 
Olga Grey  Actor 
Bessie Love  Actor 
George Andre Beranger  Actor 
William Freeman  Actor 
Jennifer Lee  Actor 
Donald Crisp  Actor 
Mary Alden  Actor 
Elmo Lincoln  Actor 
Charles Stevens  Actor 
Raoul Walsh  Actor 
William de Vaull  Actor 
Alberta Lee  Actor 
Elmer Clifton  Actor 
Josephine Crowell  Actor 
Violet Wilkey  Actor 
Spottiswood Aitken  Actor 
Howard Gaye  Actor 
Maxfield Stanley  Actor 
John Ford  Actor 
Monte Blue  Actor 
Gibson Gowland  Actor 
Walter Long  Actor 
Mme. Sul Te Wan  Actor 
Erich Von Stroheim  Actor 
D.W. Griffith  Director 
D.W. Griffith  Composer (Music Score) 
D.W. Griffith  Producer 
D.W. Griffith  Screenwriter 
Frank E. Woods  Screenwriter 
Thomas F. Dixen  Screenwriter 
The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra  Composer (Music Score) 
Henry B. Walthall  Actor 
Miriam Cooper  Actor 
Mae Marsh  Actor 
Lillian Gish  Actor 
Robert Harron  Actor 
Ralph Lewis  Actor 
Wallace Reid  Actor 
George Siegmann  Actor 

Country: USA