D.W. Griffith (1874 - 1948)
David Wark Griffith is often referred to
as the father of film and it is an apt description. He didn't invent
everything to do with filmmaking but he did bring it all together
through imaginative use of existing techniques. Griffith's shadow falls
over many pioneering filmmakers because basically he was a master
storyteller who knew the stories the public would be interested in. He
was also the first director whose work led the cinema to be considered
an art form in its own right, The Birth of a Nation (1915) whatever
else may be said about it was a milestone in the history of the
industry and made the upper classes take the new medium seriously.
Griffith began his film career as an actor at the Biograph studio in
1908, he took the name Lawrence Griffith to conceal his identity
because of the stigma which then existed about working in the flickers.
Replacing the set director he made his first film The Adventures of
Dollie over the next four years he laid the ground work for the
American silent drama. His biggest innovation was probably his use of
cutting between different events which increased tension. His actresses
were to become some of the biggest stars of the silent era Mary
Pickford, Lillian and Dorothy Gish.
It was Blanche Sweet though who took the title role in his most
ambitious production for Biograph, Judith of Bethulia (1913) an attempt
to match the Italians who had made American films look like poor
relations with their pre-World War I epics. Biograph were against such
extravagance though and believed audiences wouldn't sit through longer
films so Griffith left the company and it never amounted to anything
again.
The Birth of a Nation (1915) is a stunning but disturbing landmark in
film history largely because of Griffith's mastery of story-telling
techniques. He attempted to atone for its overt racism with Intolerance
(1916) an incredible multi-story epic which lacked the dramatic unity
of the Birth but is probably the greatest silent film in terms of
technique.
Griffith lost a lot of money through the expensive floor shows that
accompanied Intolerance (1916) and he was never able to make anything
on that scale again. Hearts of the World (1918) was basically a remake
of The Birth set in the Great War with anti-German propaganda. Better
was the poetic romantic drama Broken Blossoms (1919) in which Lillian
Gish gave one of her greatest fragile waif portrayals. Way Down East
(1920) had another great Gish performance and an incredible final
sequence in which Richard Barthelmess saved her from getting swept over
the falls. Sadly it was Griffith's last great success.
Orphans of the Storm (1921) is another impressive film with the Gish
sisters but Griffith had by now abdicated his position as most
influential director in the industry. As the Twenties went on his films
began to look more and more old fashioned, he never really adapted to
the Jazz Age and Carol Dempster was no substitute for Lillian Gish.
Eventually he lost his independence and became a contract director at
Paramount, it didn't really work.
After just two sound films Griffith retired, the industry had no place
for its founding father for the last 17 years of his life. It was a sad
end to the career of the man who was as Chaplin said "the teacher of us
all".
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
Copyright © The Fedora Chronicles
D.W.Griffith image from
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