The Birth of a Nation

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The Birth of a Nation (also known as The Clansman) is one of the most influential and controversial films in the history of American cinema. Set during and after the American Civil War and directed by D.W. Griffith, the film was released on February 8, 1915. It is important in film history for its innovative technical achievements and also for its controversial promotion of white supremacism and glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. The Birth of a Nation is based on Thomas Dixon's The Clansman, a novel and play.

[edit] Synopsis

This silent film was originally presented in two parts separated by an intermission. Part 1 depicted pre-Civil War America, introducing two juxtaposed families: the Northern Stonemans, consisting of abolitionist Congressman Austin Stoneman (based on real-life Reconstruction-era Congressman Thaddeus Stevens), his two sons, and his daughter, Elsie, and the Southern Camerons, a family including two daughters (Margaret and Flora) and three sons, most notably Ben.

The Stoneman boys visit the Camerons at their South Carolina estate, representing the Old South. The eldest Stoneman boy falls in love with Margaret Cameron, and Ben Cameron idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman. When the Civil War begins, all the young men join their respective armies. A black militia (with a white leader) ransacks the Cameron house, attempting to rape all the Cameron women, who are rescued when Confederate soldiers rout the militia. Meanwhile, the youngest Stoneman and two Cameron boys are killed in the war. Ben Cameron is wounded after a heroic battle in which he gains the nickname, "the Little Colonel," by which he is referred to for the rest of the film. The Little Colonel is taken to a Northern hospital where he meets Elsie, who is working there as a nurse. The war ends and Abraham Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theater, allowing Austin Stoneman and other radical congressmen to "punish" the South for secession with Reconstruction.

Part 2 depicts Reconstruction. Stoneman and his mulatto protegé, Silas Lynch, go to South Carolina to observe their agenda of empowering Southern blacks via election fraud. Meanwhile, Ben, inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare off black children, devises a plan to reverse perceived powerlessness of Southern whites by forming the Ku Klux Klan, although his membership in the group angers Elsie.

Then Gus, a murderous former slave with designs on white women, crudely proposes to marry Flora. She flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora leaps to her death to avoid letting herself be raped. In response, the Klan hunts Gus, lynches him, and leaves his corpse on Lieutenant Governor Silas Lynch's doorstep. In retaliation, Lynch orders a crackdown on the Klan. The Camerons flee from the black militia and hide out in a small hut, home to two former Union soldiers, who agree to assist their former Southern foes in defending their "Aryan birthright," according to the caption.

Meanwhile, with Austin Stoneman gone, Lynch tries to force Elsie to marry him. Disguised Klansmen discover her situation and leave to get reinforcements. The Klan, now at full strength, rides to her rescue and takes the opportunity to evict all of the blacks. Simultaneously, Lynch's militia surrounds and attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding, but the Klan saves them just in time. Victorious, the Klansmen celebrate in the streets, and the film cuts to the next election where the Klan successfully disenfranchises black voters. The film concludes with a double honeymoon of Phil Stoneman with Margaret Cameron and Ben Cameron with Elsie Stoneman. The final frame shows masses oppressed by a mythical god of war suddenly finding themselves at peace under the image of Christ. The final title rhetorically asks: "Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more. But instead-the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace."

[edit] Adaptation of source material

The film was based on Thomas Dixon's novels The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots. At its Los Angeles premiere in February at Clune's Auditorium, it was entitled The Clansman.

The title was changed to The Birth of a Nation to reflect Griffith's belief that before the American Civil War, the United States was a loose coalition of states antagonistic toward each other. He thought that the Northern victory over the breakaway Southern states finally bound the states under one national authority.^[1] Because the KKK describes itself, even today, as "the invisible empire" and "the invisible nation" protecting "white womanhood", some have interpreted the film's title as referring to "The Birth of the Invisible Nation."^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Production

Griffith, whose father had been a reputed Confederate Army hero, agreed to pay Thomas Dixon $10,000 for the rights to his play The Clansman. Since he ran out of money and could afford only $2,500 of the original option, Griffith offered Dixon 25% interest in the picture. Dixon reluctantly agreed. The film's unprecedented success made him rich. Dixon's proceeds were the largest sum any author had received for a motion picture story and amounted to several million dollars.

Griffith's budget started at US$40,000, but the film finally cost $112,000^[2] (the equivalent of $2.2 million in 2007^[3]). As a result, Griffith had to seek new sources of capital for his film. A ticket to the film cost a record $2 (the equivalent of $40 in 2007^[3]). It remained the most profitable film of all time until it was dethroned by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.

West Point engineers provided technical advice on the Civil War battle scenes. They provided Griffith with the masses of artillery used in the film.^[4]

The film premiered on February 8, 1915, at Clune's Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles.

[edit] Racism

[edit] Political ideology

The film is controversial due to its interpretation of history. University of Houston historian Steven Mintz summarises its message as follows: Reconstruction was a disaster, blacks could never be integrated into white society as equals, and the violent actions of the Ku Klux Klan were justified to reestablish honest government.^[5] The film suggested that the Ku Klux Klan restored order to the post-war South, which was depicted as endangered by the opponents of the South (abolitionists, mulattos and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North) controlling the blacks against the whites of the South. This was an exaggeration of the dominant view among white American historians of the day, chief among them the Dunning School.

This version was vigorously disputed by W.E.B. Du Bois and other black historians, who pointed out African Americans' loyalty and contributions during Reconstruction, but their well-documented work did not initially get much notice. Some historians maintained the Dunning School view after World War II, such as E. Merton Coulter's in his The South Under Reconstruction (1947).

The moral leadership of the civil rights movement and other social changes created a new generation of historians, such as Eric Foner, who led a major reassessment of Reconstruction. Building on Du Bois's work but also adding new sources, they focused on achievements of the African American and white Republican coalition, such as establishment of public education and charitable institutions in the South, and extension of suffrage to all men.^[6] Historians also revealed the way the Democratic Party and its affiliated white militias used extensive terrorism, intimidation and assassinations to suppress African American leaders and voting in the 1870s and regain power.^[7]

Many elements of the film appear racist to contemporary audiences. Black men are shown leering at white women. Black legislators were shown eating chicken and taking off their shoes in session. Although the film made use of some black actors in minor roles, most of the black and mixed race characters were played by Caucasian actors in blackface. This was the prevailing Hollywood custom.

[edit] Responses

Though lucrative and popular among some white movie critics and white moviegoers, the film drew significant protest from blacks upon its release. Premieres of the film were protested in numerous cities by chapters of the newly founded National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It also published articles in newspapers protesting the film. [1]

The film's politics made Birth of a Nation divisive when it was released. Riots broke out in Boston, Philadelphia and other major cities. Chicago, Ohio, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Minneapolis refused to allow the film to open. The film created an atmosphere that encouraged gangs of whites to attack blacks. In Lafayette, Indiana, a white man killed a black teenager after seeing the movie.^[8]

Thomas Dixon, author of the source play The Clansman, was a former classmate of President Wilson at Princeton. Dixon arranged a screening at the White House, for the President, members of his cabinet, and their families. Wilson was reported to have commented of the film that "it is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." In Wilson: The New Freedom, Arthur Link quotes Wilson's aide, Joseph Tumulty, who denied Wilson said this and also claims that "the President was entirely unaware of the nature of the play before it was presented and at no time has expressed his approbation of it."^[9]

Relentless in publicizing the film, Dixon himself was apparently the source for the false quote, which has been repeated so often in print that it has taken on a separate life. Dixon went so far as to promote the film as "federally endorsed". After controversy over the film had grown, Wilson wrote that he disapproved of the "unfortunate production."^[10].

In 1918 Emmett J. Scott helped produce and John W. Noble directed The Birth of a Race in response to The Birth of a Nation. The film portrayed a positive image of blacks. Although the film was panned by white critics, it was well-received by black critics and moviegoers attending segregated theaters.^{[citation needed]} Also in 1919, director/producer/writer Oscar Micheaux released Within Our Gates in response to The Birth of a Nation. He reversed a key scene of Griffith's film by representing a black woman assaulted by a white man, a situation of much historical accuracy.

The Birth of a Nation has been seen as a catalyst to the second emergence of the Ku Klux Klan, revived following the film's release.^{[citation needed]} The Klan's growth, however, related much more to Americans' fear of social and economic changes. The Klan grew the most in those cities which grew rapidly between 1910 and 1930, such as Detroit, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Dallas. There new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, and/or rural white and African American migrants, put pressure on housing, neighborhoods and jobs.^[11] The Klan's strength fell rapidly after 1925 and more so during scandals of the 1930s.

As late as the 1970s, the Klan continued to use the film as a recruitment tool. Nearly a century later, the film remains controversial. On February 22, 2000, in an article entitled "A Painful Present as Historians Confront a Nation's Bloody Past", staff writer Claudia Kolker wrote in the Los Angeles Times:

The end of World War I brought both economic crisis, and an anti-Red fever that extended to minority groups and trade unions. Just three years earlier, a defunct Ku Klux Klan leaped back to life with help from the film Birth of a Nation.^[12]

[edit] Significance in film history

Released in 1915, the film has been credited with securing the future of feature-length films (any film over 60 minutes in length), as well as solidifying the language of cinema.

In its day, it was the highest grossing film, taking in more than $10 million,according to the box cover of the Shepard version of the DVD currently available (equivalent to $200 million in 2007).^[3]

In 1992 the United States Library of Congress deemed it "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Despite its controversial story, the film has been praised by film critics such as Roger Ebert, who said: "'The Birth of a Nation' is not a bad film because it argues for evil. Like Riefenstahl’s 'The Triumph of the Will,' it is a great film that argues for evil. To understand how it does so is to learn a great deal about film, and even something about evil. ".[2]

In contrast, film historian Jonathan Lapper contends that it should no longer be considered a great film. In his article "The Myth of a Nation" he writes that "[M]ost critics (have) developed a pattern of response to the film that continues to this day: Praise the film's techniques, deplore the film's content, let technique trump content, declare the film a masterpiece." He argues that it is disingenuous to separate the film's content from its technique.

The website for Oldham County, Kentucky lists D.W. Griffith as a notable citizen and this film as his greatest achievement.

[edit] Cast

• Mary Alden
• Elmer Clifton
• Robert Cheek
• Miriam Cooper
• Josephine Crowell
• Kevin Flavin
• Walter Long
• Sam De Grasse
• Dorothy Gish
• Lillian Gish
• Robert Harron
• Mae Marsh
• Wallace Reid
• Robert Harron
• Spottiswoode Aitken
• Jennie Lee
• Alma Rubens
• Madame Sul-Te-Wan
• Henry B. Walthall
• Joseph Henabery
• Monte Blue
• Raoul Walsh
• Donald Crisp
• Gibson Gowland
• Eugene Pallette
• Elmo Lincoln
• John Ford
• Violet Wilkey

[edit] Sequel

A sequel was released to theaters one year later, in 1916, called The Fall of a Nation. The film was directed by Thomas Dixon, who adapted it from the novel of the same name. The film has three acts and a prologue.[3] It is now considered a lost film.

[edit] See also

• D. W. Griffith filmography
• Lillian Gish filmography

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Addams, Jane, in Crisis: A Record of Darker Races, X (May 1915), 19, 41, and (June 1915), 88.
• John Hope Franklin, "Propaganda as History" pp. 10-23 in Race and History: Selected Essays 1938-1988 (Louisiana State University Press: 1989); first published in The Massachusetts Review 1979. Describes the history of the novel, The Clansman and this film.
• Brodie, Fawn M. Thaddeus Stevens, Scourge of the South (New York, 1959) p. 86-93. Corrects the historical record as to Dixon's false representation of Stevens in this film with regard to his racial views and relations with his housekeeper.
• Chalmers, David M. Hooded Americanism: The History of the Ku Klux Klan (New York: 1965) p. 30
• Cook, Raymond Allen. Fire from the Flint: The Amazing Careers of Thomas Dixon (Winston-Salem, N.C., 1968).
• Franklin, John Hope, "Propaganda as History" pp. 10-23 in Race and History: Selected Essays 1938-1988 (Louisiana State University Press: 1989); first published in The Massachusetts Review 1979. Describes the history of the novel, The Clan and this film.
• Franklin, John Hope, Reconstruction After the Civil War, (Chicago, 1961) p. 5-7
• Korngold, Ralph, Thaddeus Stevens. A Being Darkly Wise and Rudely Great (New York: 1955) pp. 72-76. corrects Dixon's false characterization of Stevens' racial views and of his dealings with his housekeeper.
• Leab, Daniel J., From Sambo to Superspade, (Boston, 1975) p. 23-39
• New York Times, roundup of reviews of this film, March 7, 1915.
• The New Republica, II (March 20, 1915), 185
• Simkins, Francis B., "New Viewpoints of Southern Reconstruction," Journal of Southern History, V (February, 1939), pp. 49-61.
• Williamson, Joel, After Slavery: The Negro in South Carolina During Reconstruction (Chapel Hill, 1965). This book corrects Dixon's false reporting of Reconstruction, as shown in his novel, his play and this film.

[edit] External links

• The Birth of a Nation at the Internet Movie Database.
• The Birth of a Nation at the TCM Movie Database.
• Rebirth of a Nation - a remix by D.J. Spooky (Flash required).
• Detailed account of the movie.
• "Art (and History) by Lightning Flash": The Birth of a Nation and Black Protest.
• The Birth of a Nation on Roger Ebert's list of great movies.
• The Birth of a Nation on filmsite.org, a site offering comprehensive summaries of classic films.
• Watch the full movie at Google Video.
• Souvenir Guide for The Birth of a Nation, hosted by the Portal to Texas History

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