Editing D. W. Griffith

{{short description|American filmmaker (1875–1948)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = D. W. Griffith
| image         = David Wark Griffith portrait.jpg
| caption       = Griffith in 1922
| birth_name    = David Wark Griffith
| birth_date    = {{birth date|mf=yes|1875|01|22}}
| birth_place   = [[Oldham County, Kentucky]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1948|07|23|1875|01|22}}
| death_place   = [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood, California]], U.S.
| resting_place = Mount Tabor Methodist Church Graveyard,<br />[[Centerfield, Kentucky]], U.S.
| occupation    = {{hlist|Film director|screenwriter|producer}}
| years_active  = 1895–1931
| spouse        = {{plainlist|* {{marriage|[[Linda Arvidson]]|1906|1936|end=divorced}}<ref name="UPI" >UPI (July 23, 1948) [https://www.upi.com/Archives/1948/07/23/DW-Griffith-73-film-pioneer-dies/1121532273956/ "D.W. Griffith, 73, film pioneer, dies".] United Press. Retrieved January 11, 2021.</ref>
* {{marriage|Evelyn Baldwin|1936|1947|end=divorced}}<ref name="UPI" />}}
| signature     = Autograph D. W. Griffith.svg
}}

'''David Wark Griffith''' (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture,<ref>{{cite book |title=D.W. Griffith |url=https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/D/D.-W.-Griffith}}</ref> he pioneered many aspects of [[film editing]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Changes in Film Style in the 1910s {{!}} wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu |url=https://wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu/exhibits/harry-roy-aitken-papers/changes-film-style-1910s |access-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-date=November 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121191219/https://wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu/exhibits/harry-roy-aitken-papers/changes-film-style-1910s |url-status=dead }}</ref> and expanded the art of the [[narrative film]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Beginnings of Film Narrative |url=https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/10054001.ch01.pdf |access-date=25 January 2023 |website=[[University of California Press]]}}</ref>

To modern audiences, Griffith is known primarily for directing the 1915 film ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]''. One of the most financially successful films of all time and considered a landmark by film historians, it has attracted much controversy for its degrading portrayals of African Americans, its glorification of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], and support for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. The film led to riots in several major cities all over the United States and the [[NAACP]] attempted to have it banned. Griffith made his next film ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916) as an answer to critics, who he felt unfairly maligned his work.

Together with [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Mary Pickford]], and [[Douglas Fairbanks]], Griffith founded the studio [[United Artists]] in 1919 with the goal of enabling actors and directors to make films on their own terms, as opposed to the terms of commercial studios. Several of Griffith's later films were successful, including ''[[Broken Blossoms]]'' (1919), ''[[Way Down East]]'' (1920), and ''[[Orphans of the Storm]]'' (1921), but the high costs he incurred for production and promotion often led to commercial failure. He had made roughly 500 films by the time of ''[[The Struggle (1931 film)|The Struggle]]'' (1931), his final feature, and all but three were completely silent.

==Early life==
[[File:GriffithDW.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|Griffith circa 1907]]
Griffith was born on January 22, 1875,<ref name=dennisbio /> on a farm in [[Oldham County, Kentucky]], the son of Jacob Wark "Roaring Jake" Griffith,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gildasattic.com/dwgriffith.html|title=D.W. Griffith (1875–1948)|access-date=December 3, 2016}}</ref> a [[Confederate States Army|Confederate Army]] colonel in the [[American Civil War]] who was elected as a Kentucky state legislator, and Mary Perkins (née Oglesby).<ref name=dennisbio>{{cite book|first=Dennis|last=Kenneth|chapter=Griffith, David Wark|title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville|editor-last=Kleber|editor-first=John E.|location=Lexington, Ky.|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|date=2001|isbn=9780813121000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7EeBgAAQBAJ|page=359}}</ref> Griffith was raised as a [[Methodist]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Blizek|first=William L.|title=The Continuum Companion to Religion and Film|date=2009|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-9991-2|page=126}}</ref> and he attended a one-room schoolhouse, where he was taught by his older sister Mattie. His father died when he was 10, and the family struggled with poverty.

When Griffith was 14, his mother abandoned the farm and moved the family to [[Louisville, Kentucky]]; there she opened a boarding house, which was unsuccessful. Griffith then left high school to help support the family, taking a job in a dry goods store and later in a bookstore. He began his creative career as an actor in touring companies. Meanwhile, he was learning how to become a playwright, but he had little success. Only one of his plays was accepted for a performance.<ref name="DWPlay">{{cite web|url=https://spartacus-educational.com/USAgriffith.htm|title=D.W. Griffith|publisher=Spartacus-Educational.com|access-date=February 27, 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605080400/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAgriffith.htm|archive-date=June 5, 2011|df=mdy}}</ref> He traveled to [[New York City]] in 1907 in an attempt to sell a script to [[Edison Studios]] producer [[Edwin Porter]];<ref name="DWPlay"/> although Porter rejected the script, he gave Griffith an acting part in ''[[Rescued from an Eagle's Nest]]'' instead.<ref name="DWPlay"/> As a result of this experience, Griffith decided to try his luck as an actor, and he appeared in many films as an extra.<ref name="DWG">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/pickford/peopleevents/p_griffith.html|title=American Experience &#124; Mary Pickford|publisher=[[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service]]|access-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref>
{{clear left}}

== Early film career ==
[[File:Walthall with DW Griiffith2.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Griffith on the set of ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915) with actor [[Henry B. Walthall]] and others]]
In 1908, Griffith accepted a role as a stage extra in ''Professional Jealousy'' for the American Mutoscope and [[Biograph Company]], where he met cameraman [[Billy Bitzer]].<ref name="Starpulse">{{cite web |title=D.W. Griffith Biography |url=http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Griffith,_D.W./Biography/ |website=Starpulse.com |date=July 23, 1948 |access-date=June 5, 2011 |archive-date=August 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830011941/http://www.starpulse.com/Actors/Griffith,_D.W./Biography/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1908, Biograph's main director [[Wallace McCutcheon Sr.]] fell ill, and his son Wallace McCutcheon Jr. took his place.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who's Who of Victorian Cinema |url=http://www.victorian-cinema.net/mccutcheon.htm |publisher=Victorian-cinema.net |access-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> McCutcheon Jr. did not bring the studio success;<ref name="Starpulse"/> Biograph co-founder Harry Marvin then gave Griffith the position,<ref name="Starpulse"/> and he made the short ''[[The Adventures of Dollie]]''. He directed a total of 48 shorts for the company that year.

Among the films he directed in 1909 was ''[[The Cricket on the Hearth (1909 film)|The Cricket on the Hearth]]'', an adaptation of [[Charles Dickens]]'s novel. Showing the influence of Dickens on his own film narrative, Griffith employed the technique of [[cross-cutting]]—where two stories run alongside each other, as seen in Dickens's novels such as ''[[Oliver Twist]]''.<ref name="Dickens"/> When criticized by a cameraman for doing this technique in a later film, Griffith was said to have replied "Well, doesn't Dickens write that way?".<ref name="Dickens">{{cite news |title=Dickens on screen: the highs and the lows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/dec/23/dickens-on-screen-highs-lows |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=December 23, 2011 |access-date=April 21, 2020}}</ref>

His short ''[[In Old California (1910 film)|In Old California]]'' (1910) was the first film shot in Hollywood, California. Four years later, he produced and directed his first feature film ''[[Judith of Bethulia]]'' (1914), one of the early films to be produced in the U.S. Biograph believed that longer features were not viable at this point. According to [[Lillian Gish]], the company thought that "a movie that long would hurt [the audience's] eyes".<ref>{{cite book |last=Kirsner |first=Scott |title=Inventing the movies: Hollywood's epic battle between innovation and the status quo, from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs |publisher=CinemaTech Books |location=[s.l.] |edition=1st |date=2008 |page=13 |isbn=978-1-4382-0999-9}}</ref>

[[File:Intolerance production 1916.jpg|thumb|left|Left to right: Griffith, cameraman Billy Bitzer (behind [[Pathé]] camera), [[Dorothy Gish]] (watching from behind Bitzer), [[Karl Brown (cinematographer)|Karl Brown]] (keeping script) and [[Miriam Cooper]] (in profile) in a production still for ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916)]]

Griffith left Biograph because of company resistance to his goals and his cost overruns on the film. He took his company of actors with him and joined the [[Mutual Film Corporation]]. There he co-produced ''[[The Life of General Villa]]'', a silent biographical-action movie starring [[Pancho Villa]] as himself, shot on location in Mexico during a civil war. He formed a studio with [[Majestic Studios]] manager [[Harry Aitken]],<ref name="Aitken">{{cite web|url=http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/dwgriffith.htm|title=D.W. Griffith: Hollywood Independent|publisher=Cobbles.com|date=June 26, 1917|access-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> which became known as [[Reliance-Majestic Studios]] and later was renamed Fine Arts Studios.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry/finearts.htm|title=Fine Arts Studio|publisher=Employees.oxy.edu|date=June 9, 1917|access-date=June 5, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514153743/http://employees.oxy.edu/jerry/finearts.htm|archive-date=May 14, 2011|df=mdy}}</ref> His new production company became an autonomous production unit partner in the [[Triangle Film Corporation]] along with [[Thomas H. Ince]] and [[Keystone Studios]]' [[Mack Sennett]]. The Triangle Film Corporation was headed by Aitken, who was released from the Mutual Film Corporation,<ref name="Aitken" /> and his brother Roy.

[[File:Birth of a Nation (1915).webm|thumb|upright=1|''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' (1915), by Griffith]]

Griffith directed and produced ''The Clansman'' through [[Reliance-Majestic Studios]] in 1915. The film later became known as ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]''. It is one of the early [[feature length]] American films.<ref>Devore, Dan. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070610083045/http://moviejustice.com/vault/index.php?p=getitem&db_id=4&item_id=27 "Birth of a Nation, The (1915)"], Movie Justice Movie Review, January 23, 2003. [[Internet Archive]] [[Wayback Machine]]. Retrieved August 4, 2020.</ref> The film was a success, but its depiction of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], the [[Ku Klux Klan]], [[race relations]] in the American Civil War, and the [[Reconstruction era]] of the United States aroused much controversy. It was based on [[Thomas Dixon Jr.]]'s 1905 novel ''[[The Clansman: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan]]'', which casts Southern slavery as benign, the enfranchisement of [[freedmen]] as a corrupt plot by the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], and the Ku Klux Klan as a band of heroes restoring the rightful order. This view of the era was popular at the time and was endorsed for decades by historians of the [[Dunning School]], but it met with strong criticism from the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] (NAACP) and other groups.<ref>{{cite web |title='The Birth of a Nation': When Hollywood Glorified the KKK |url=http://www.historynet.com/the-birth-of-a-nation-when-hollywood-glorified-the-kkk.htm |website=HistoryNet |date=June 12, 2006 |access-date=February 27, 2016 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Brooks |first=Xan |title=The Birth of a Nation: a gripping masterpiece … and a stain on history |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/jul/29/birth-of-a-nation-dw-griffith-masterpiece |newspaper=The Guardian |date=July 29, 2013 |access-date=February 27, 2016 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

The NAACP attempted to stop showings of the film. This ban was successful in some cities, but nonetheless it was shown widely and became the most successful box-office attraction of its time. It is considered among the first "blockbuster" motion pictures, and it broke all box-office records that had been established until then. "They lost track of the money it made", Lillian Gish remarked in a [[Kevin Brownlow]] interview.<ref>Interview with Lillian Gish in the "Pioneers" episode of the series ''Hollywood'', directed by [[Kevin Brownlow]] and [[David Gill (film historian)|David Gill]], [[Thames Television]], 1980</ref>

[[File:Fairbanks - Pickford - Chaplin - Griffith.jpg|thumb|left|The first million-dollar partners: Fairbanks, Pickford, Chaplin and Griffith]]

[[File:Intolerance (D. W. Griffith, 1916).webm|thumb|right|upright=1|thumbtime=1:20|''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916), by Griffith]]

Audiences in some major northern cities rioted over the film's racial content and the violence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_birth.html|title=The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow|publisher=PBS|date=March 21, 1915|access-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> Griffith's indignation at efforts to censor or ban the film motivated him the following year to produce ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'', in which he portrayed the effects of intolerance in four different historical periods: the [[Battle of Opis|Fall of Babylon]]; the [[Crucifixion of Jesus]]; the events surrounding the [[St. Bartholomew's Day massacre]] (during religious persecution of French [[Huguenot]]s); and a modern story. ''Intolerance'' was not a financial success; it did not bring in enough profits to cover the lavish road show that accompanied it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/bookshelf/7_dwg_2.htm|title=Griffith's 20 Year Record|work=Cinemaweb.com|date=September 5, 1928|access-date=June 5, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110712184505/http://www.cinemaweb.com/silentfilm/bookshelf/7_dwg_2.htm|archive-date=July 12, 2011|df=mdy}}</ref> Griffith put a huge budget into the film's production that could not be recovered in its box office.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/new/film.nsf/reviews/intolerance|title=Intolerance Movie Review|magazine=[[Contactmusic.com]]|date=May 29, 2011|access-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> He mostly financed ''Intolerance'' himself, which contributed to his financial ruin for the rest of his life.<ref name="Sadoul">[[Georges Sadoul]] (1972 [1965]). ''Dictionary of Films'', P. Morris, ed. & trans., [https://archive.org/details/dictionaryoffilm00sado_1/page/158 p. 158.] [[University of California Press|UCP]].</ref>

[[File:Griffith intolerance.jpg|thumb|"Belshazzar's feast", one of the massive film sets in ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]'' (1916)]]

Griffith's production partnership was dissolved in 1917, and he went to Artcraft, part of [[Paramount Pictures]], and then to [[First National Pictures]] (1919–1920). At the same time, he founded [[United Artists]] together with [[Charlie Chaplin]], [[Mary Pickford]], and [[Douglas Fairbanks]]; the studio was based on allowing actors to control their own interests rather than being dependent upon commercial studios.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |id={{ProQuest|108102777}} |title=DAVID W. GRIFFITH, FILM PIONEER, DIES; Producer of 'Birth of Nation,' 'Intolerance' and 'America' Made Nearly 500 Pictures SET, SCREEN STANDARDS Co-Founder of United Artists Gave Mary Pickford and Fairbanks Their Starts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/07/24/archives/david-w-griffith-film-pioneer-dies-producer-of-birth-of-nation.html |work=The New York Times |date=24 July 1948 }}</ref><ref name="LATimes-Woo-2011-09-29">{{cite news|first=Elaine|last=Woo|title=Mo Rothman dies at 92; found new audience for Chaplin|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-0929-mo-rothman-20110929,0,5684307.story|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 29, 2011|access-date=October 1, 2011}}</ref>
[[File:D.W. Griffith's The birth of a nation - DPLA - 8d463238428590fe12a544f586b1afc6.pdf|thumb|upright|Souvenir program from D.W. Griffith presentation of "The Birth of a Nation"]]
He continued to make films, but he never again achieved box-office grosses as high as either ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' or ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/griffith_d.html|title=American Masters. D.W. Griffith|publisher=PBS|date=December 29, 1998|access-date=June 5, 2011|archive-date=October 31, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031095720/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/griffith_d.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Later film career ==
Although United Artists survived as a company, Griffith's association with it was short-lived. While some of his later films did well at the box office, commercial success often eluded him. Griffith features from this period include ''[[Broken Blossoms]]'' (1919), ''[[Way Down East]]'' (1920), ''[[Orphans of the Storm]]'' (1921), ''[[Dream Street (film)|Dream Street]]'' (1921), ''[[One Exciting Night (1922 film)|One Exciting Night]]'' (1922), ''[[The White Rose (1923 film)|The White Rose]]'' (1923), ''[[America (1924 film)|America]]'' (1924) and ''[[Isn't Life Wonderful]]'' (1924). Of these, the first three were successes at the box office.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Last Dissolve|date=August 2, 1948|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,888442,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204230733/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,888442,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 4, 2008|access-date=August 14, 2008}}</ref> Griffith was forced to leave United Artists after ''Isn't Life Wonderful'' (1924) failed at the box office.

[[File:United Artists contract signature 1919 alt.jpg | thumb|left|upright=1.2|United Artists founders Griffith, Pickford, Chaplin and Fairbanks sign their contract for the cameras in 1919.]]

He made ''[[Lady of the Pavements]]'' (1929), a part sound film, and only two full-sound films: ''[[Abraham Lincoln (1930 film)|Abraham Lincoln]]'' (1930) and ''[[The Struggle (1931 film)|The Struggle]]'' (1931). Neither was successful, and after ''The Struggle'', he never made another film.

In 1936, director [[Woody Van Dyke]], who had worked as Griffith's apprentice on ''Intolerance'', asked Griffith to help him shoot the famous earthquake sequence for ''[[San Francisco (1936 film)|San Francisco]]'', but Griffith was not given any film credit. Starring [[Clark Gable]], [[Jeanette MacDonald]] and [[Spencer Tracy]], it was the top-grossing film of the year.<ref>{{cite web|title=Biggest Box Office Hits of 1936|url=http://www.ultimatemovierankings.com/biggest-box-office-hits-of-1936/|website=Ultimate movie rankings|date=August 28, 2017|access-date=14 November 2017}}</ref>

In 1939, the producer [[Hal Roach]] hired Griffith to produce ''[[Of Mice and Men (1939 film)|Of Mice and Men]]'' (1939) and ''[[One Million B.C.]]'' (1940). He wrote to Griffith: "I need help from the production side to select the proper writers, cast, et cetera, and to help me generally in the supervision of these pictures."<ref>Richard Lewis Ward, ''A History of the Hal Roach Studios'', pp. 109–110. Southern Illinois University, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8093-2637-X}}. In his tie at Biograph, Griffith had directed two films with prehistoric settings: ''Man's Genesis'' (1912) and ''[[Brute Force (1914 film)|Brute Force]]'' (1914).</ref>

Although Griffith eventually disagreed with Roach over the production and departed, Roach later insisted that some of the scenes in the completed film were directed by Griffith. This movie was the final production in which Griffith was involved. However, cast members' accounts recall Griffith directing only the screen tests and costume tests. When Roach advertised the film in late 1939 with Griffith listed as producer, Griffith asked that his name be removed.<ref>Ward, p. 110.</ref>

Griffith was for decades held in awe by many members of the film industry. He was presented with an honorary [[Academy Award|Oscar]] by the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] in 1936.<ref>{{cite book|title=501 Movie Directors|editor-first=Steven Jay|editor-last=Schneider|publisher=Cassell Illustrated|location=London|year=2007|pages=16–18|isbn=9781844035731|oclc=1347156402}}</ref> In 1946, he made an impromptu visit to the film location of [[David O. Selznick]]'s epic western ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]'', where some of his veteran actors—[[Lillian Gish]], [[Lionel Barrymore]] and [[Harry Carey (actor)|Harry Carey]]—were cast members. Gish and Barrymore found their mentor's presence distracting, and they became self-conscious; in response, Griffith hid behind the scenery when the two were filming their scenes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Paul |title=Jennifer Jones: The Life and Films |publisher=McFarland & Company |date=2011 |page=69 |isbn=978-0-7864-8583-3}}</ref>

== Death ==
On the morning of July 23, 1948, Griffith was discovered unconscious in the lobby at the [[Knickerbocker Hotel (Los Angeles)|Knickerbocker Hotel]] in Los Angeles, where he had been living alone. He died of a [[Intracerebral hemorrhage|cerebral hemorrhage]] on the way to a Hollywood hospital.<ref name=obit/> A public memorial service was held in his honor at the [[Hollywood Masonic Temple]]. He is buried at Mount Tabor Methodist Church Graveyard in Centerfield, Kentucky.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schickel |first=Richard |title=D.W. Griffith: An American Life |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |date=1996 |page=31 |isbn=0-87910-080-X}}</ref> In 1950, The [[Directors Guild of America]] provided a stone and bronze monument for his grave site.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schickel |first=Richard |title=D.W. Griffith: An American Life |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |date=1996 |page=605 |isbn=0-87910-080-X}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Stamp US 1975 10c Griffith.jpg|thumb|Stamp issued by the [[United States Postal Service]] in 1975 to commemorate the centennial of Griffith's birth<ref name="NYT75">"D.W. Griffith Honored by Issue of 10c Stamp", ''The New York Times'', 29 May 1975, p. 29.</ref>]]

Griffith has a controversial legacy. Despite criticism, he was a widely celebrated and respected public figure during his life, and modern film historians continue to recognize him for his contributions to the craft of filmmaking. Nevertheless, many critics during his lifetime, as well as in the decades since his death, have characterized him and his work (most notably ''The Birth of a Nation'') as upholding white supremacist ideals. Historians frequently cite ''The Birth of a Nation'' as a major factor in [[Ku Klux Klan#Second Klan|the KKK's revival in the 20th century]], and it remains controversial to this day.

Performer and director Charlie Chaplin called Griffith "The Teacher of Us All". Filmmakers such as [[Alfred Hitchcock]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leitch |first1=Thomas |last2=Poague |first2=Leland |title=A Companion to Alfred Hitchcock |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=2011 |page=50 |isbn=978-1-4443-9731-4}}</ref> [[Lev Kuleshov]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flickeralley.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=43|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423120949/http://www.flickeralley.biz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25&Itemid=43|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 23, 2012 |title=Landmarks of Early Soviet Film|access-date=October 18, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Jean Renoir]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://biography.yourdictionary.com/jean-renoir|title=Jean Renoir Biography|publisher=biography.yourdictionary.com|access-date=October 18, 2012}}</ref> [[Cecil B. DeMille]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-07-06-ca-39-story.html|title=Movie Review: Restored 'Intolerance' Launches Festival of Preservation|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=October 18, 2012|date=July 6, 1990}}</ref> [[King Vidor]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/198681%7C94180/King-Vidor/|title=Overview for King Vidor|publisher=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=October 18, 2012}}</ref> [[Victor Fleming]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cineaste.com/articles/emvictor-fleming-an-american-movie-masterem|title=Victor Fleming: An American Movie Master|access-date=April 24, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914012745/http://www.cineaste.com/articles/emvictor-fleming-an-american-movie-masterem|archive-date=September 14, 2013|df=mdy}}</ref> [[Raoul Walsh]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Moss |first=Marilyn |title=Raoul Walsh: The True Adventures of Hollywood's Legendary Director |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |date=2011 |pages=181, 242 |isbn=978-0-8131-3394-2}}</ref> [[Carl Theodor Dreyer]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://matineeclassics.com/celebrities/directors/carl_dreyer/details|title=Matinee Classics – Carl Dreyer Biography & Filmography|publisher=matineeclassics.com|access-date=October 9, 2012|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215020339/http://matineeclassics.com/celebrities/directors/carl_dreyer/details|archive-date=December 15, 2013|df=mdy}}</ref> and [[Stanley Kubrick]] have praised Griffith.<ref name="britannica.com">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/246084/DW-Griffith|title=D.W. Griffith|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=March 30, 2015}}</ref> [[Sergei Eisenstein]] expressed his admiration for Griffith as an "outstanding master", but criticized ''Birth of a Nation'', calling it "disgraceful propaganda of racial hatred towards the colored people".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Neuberger |first=Joan |author-link=Joan Neuberger |title=Sergei Eisenstein on "The Birth of a Nation" |date=27 February 2017 |url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/b7bcee9b-9ab9-4290-9e85-a72dffd0e44c/content |magazine=Not Even Past |access-date=14 July 2024}}</ref>

[[File:DW Griffith star HWF.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Griffith's star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]]]

Griffith seems to have been one of the first to understand how certain film techniques could be used to create an expressive language; it gained popular recognition with the release of ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915). His early shorts —such as Biograph's ''[[The Musketeers of Pig Alley]]'' (1912), show that Griffith's attention to camera placement and lighting heightened mood and tension. In making ''Intolerance'', Griffith opened new possibilities for the medium, creating a form that seems to owe more to music than to traditional narrative.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/great-directors/griffith/|title=D.W. Griffith|website=Senses of Cinema|date=February 13, 2001 |language=en-US|access-date=February 27, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sabotagetimes.com/tv-film/up-close-and-personal-the-history-of-the-close-up-in-film|title=History of the Close Up in Film|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171009170113/https://sabotagetimes.com/tv-film/up-close-and-personal-the-history-of-the-close-up-in-film|archive-date=October 9, 2017|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

* In the 1951 ''[[The Philco Television Playhouse|Philco Television Playhouse]]'' episode "[[The Birth of the Movies]]", events from Griffith's film career were depicted. Griffith was played by [[John Newland]].
* In 1953 the [[Directors Guild of America]] (DGA) instituted the D.&nbsp;W.&nbsp;Griffith Award, its highest honor. However, on December 15, 1999, then DGA President [[Jack Shea (director)|Jack Shea]] and the DGA National Board announced that the award would be renamed as the "DGA Lifetime Achievement Award". They stated that, although Griffith was extremely talented, they felt his film ''The Birth of a Nation'' had "helped foster intolerable racial stereotypes", and that it was thus better not to have the top award in his name.
* On February 8, 1960, Griffith was posthumously awarded a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]], which is located at 6535 Hollywood Boulevard.<ref name="HWOF">{{cite web |title=D. W. Griffith |date=October 25, 2019 |url=https://walkoffame.com/d-w-griffith/ |publisher=[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref>
* In 1975, Griffith was honored on a 10-cent postage stamp by the United States.<ref name="NYT75"/>
* The 1976 American comedy film ''[[Nickelodeon (film)|Nickelodeon]]'' in part pays homage to silent film makers, and includes footage from ''The Birth of a Nation''.
* D.W. Griffith Middle School in Los Angeles is named after Griffith.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://griffithms-lausd-ca.schoolloop.com|title=Griffith Middle School: Home Page|access-date=December 3, 2016}}</ref> 
* In 2008 the [[Hollywood Heritage Museum]] hosted a screening of Griffith's early films to commemorate the centennial of his start in film.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hollywood Heritage |url=http://hollywoodheritage.org/events.html |url-status=dead |publisher=Hollywood Heritage |access-date=June 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726153110/http://hollywoodheritage.org/events.html |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref>
* On January 22, 2009, the Oldham History Center in La Grange, Kentucky, opened a 15-seat theatre in Griffith's honor. The theatre features a library of available Griffith films.
* In 2024, [[East West Players]] in Los Angeles produced Unbroken Blossoms, a world premier play by [[Philip W. Chung]] about the making of [[Broken Blossoms]]. Griffith was portrayed by actor [[Arye Gross]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Ashley |title=A Play Portrays the Making of D.W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2024-07-03/d-w-griffith-racism-broken-blossoms-play-east-west-players |access-date=16 November 2024 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=November 3, 2024}}</ref>

== Film preservation ==
Griffith has six films preserved on the United States [[National Film Registry]] deemed as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant": ''[[Lady Helen's Escapade]]'', ''[[A Corner in Wheat]]'' (both 1909), ''[[The Musketeers of Pig Alley]]'' (1912), ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915), ''Intolerance'' (1916) and ''Broken Blossoms'' (1919).

== See also ==
{{portal|Biography|Film|United States}}
* [[D. W. Griffith filmography]]
* [[D. W. Griffith House]]
* [[Griffith Ranch]] (in San Fernando, California)
* [[List of film directors who studied under D. W. Griffith]]
* [[List of Freemasons]]
* [[List of people from the Louisville metropolitan area]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* [[David Robinson (film critic)|David Robinson]], ''Hollywood in the Twenties'' (New York: A.S. Barnes & Co, Inc., 1968)
* {{cite web |last=Drew |first=William M. |title=D.W. Griffith (1875–1948) |url=http://www.gildasattic.com/dwgriffith.html |access-date=July 31, 2007}}
* Edward Wagenknecht and Anthony Slide, ''The Films of D.W. Griffith'' (New York: Crown, 1975)
* Iris Barry and Eileen Bowser, ''D.W. Griffith: American Film Master'' (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1965)
* {{cite journal |last=Jay |first=Gregory S. |title='White Man's Book No Good': D.W. Griffith and the American Indian |journal=Cinema Journal |date=2000 |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=3–26 |doi=10.1353/cj.2000.0016 |jstor=1225883|s2cid=145361470 }}
* [[Karl Brown (cinematographer)|Karl Brown]], ''Adventures with D.W. Griffith'' (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973)
* [[Karzan Kardozi]], ''100 Years of Cinema, 100 Directors, Vol 2: D. W. Griffith''. (Sulaymaniyah: Xazalnus Publication, 2019)
* {{cite journal |last=Kirby |first=Jack Temple |title=D.W. Griffith's Racial Portraiture |journal=Phylon |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=118–127 |date=1978 |jstor=274506 |doi=10.2307/274506}}
* [[Kevin Brownlow]], ''The Parade's Gone By'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1968)
* Lillian Gish, ''The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me'' (Englewood, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1969)
* [[Vlada Petrić|Petrić, Vlada]], ''D.W. Griffith's A Corner in Wheat: A Critical Analysis'' (Cambridge, MA: University Film Study Center, 1975)
* [[Richard Schickel]], ''D.W. Griffith: An American Life'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984)
* Robert M. Henderson, ''D.W. Griffith: His Life and Work'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972)
* {{cite journal |last=Robinson |first=Cedric J. |title=In the Year 1915: D.W. Griffith and the Whitening of America |journal=Social Identities |date=June 1997 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=161–192 |doi=10.1080/13504639752041}}
* Seymour Stern, ''An Index to the Creative Work of D.W. Griffith'' (London: The British Film Institute, 1944–47)
* William K. Everson, ''American Silent Film'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978)
* {{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Matthew |title=American Valkyries: Richard Wagner, D.W. Griffith, and the Birth of Classical Cinema |journal=[[Modernism/modernity]] |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=221–242 |date=April 2008 |s2cid=144141443 |doi=10.1353/mod.2008.0040}}
* Tom Gunning, ''D.W. Griffith and the Origin of the American Narrative: The Early Years at Biograph'' (Urbana, Illinois: Illinois University Press, 1994)
* William M. Drew, ''D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance:" Its Genesis and Its Vision'' (Jefferson, NJ: McFarland & Company, 1986)

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource author}}
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/GriffithBib.html Bibliography of books and articles about Griffith] via University of California, Berkeley Media Resources Center
*{{IMDb name|428}}
* [https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Emq2iUBtLH8/V2u8G-J7PII/AAAAAAAAMuw/1ai-lSSOGroOIzpCinpsE5i_g_iwebRqgCLcB/s1600/d%2Bw%2Bgriffith%2Blate%2B1890s.jpg Photo of Griffith as a young man in the 1890s or early 1900s]
* [http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/article-summary/silent-film_director_dw_griffith#.XsApAWhKizl D.W. Griffith in the ''Vanity Fair Hall of Fame'' (1918)]
* [http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/article-summary/dw-griffith-quotes#.Xs6IHWhKizk A magazine article by the famous director printed in ''Illustrated World'' (1921)]
*{{IMSLP|id=Griffith, David Wark}}
*{{Internet Archive author|sname=D. W. Griffith}}
*{{Librivox author|id=10314}}
*{{Find a Grave|1744}}

{{D. W. Griffith}}
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:D. W. Griffith| ]]
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