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D.W. Griffith: An American Life ReviewThis is a lavishly detailed biography of the pioneering film director David Wark Griffith (following the prevailing custom of the time, Griffith typically was referred to by his initials and his last name, hence D. W. Griffith). Griffith is a controversial figure on account of his groundbreaking feature film success, "The Birth of a Nation." The film was set during the Civil War and Reconstruction and revolutionized movie making.
Griffith was the son of a last ditch Confederate veteran who served until Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox. As a small child, Griffith idealized his father, a gentle ne'er do well, for whom the War for the Confederacy was the singular highlight of his entire existence. When his father died, Griffith was still a child of tender years and this separation only served to romanticize Griffith's memory of his beloved father to a greater degree. The significance of these vivid memories of his parent's storytelling are to be found in Griffith's landmark film "The Birth of a Nation."
Key battle sequences in the film are precise recreations of events that Griffith's own father experienced firsthand such as subsisting on parched corn when the Confederates were unable to supply their dwindling army with daily rations. Likewise, Colonel Griffith participated in a heroic battlefield charge quite like the one shown in the film.
Ostensibly an adaptation of Thomas Dixon's sensational bestselling novel and the subsequent stage play, "The Clansman," Griffith kept the billing for publicity purposes, but freely reworked the scenario to suit his own preferences. One testimonial to the effectiveness of the drama, to my mind at least, is to see how much of Margaret Mitchell's "Gone With the Wind" simply built upon the structure of Griffith's film. The original was an overwhelming financial success and fixed innumerable cliches about the Civil War in the consciousness of a generation who had only read about the fighting.
The movie radically changed the nascent film industry and soon the public demanded more feature length films and exhibitors needed to erect large theaters as the flickers were no longer a novelty to be watched solely in nickle and dime arcades. Theater owner Louis B. Mayer, the future leader of the powerful Metro Goldwyn Mayer studio, financed his entry into Hollywood by underreporting the total box office receipts from "The Birth of a Nation" and shortchanging Griffith of his rightful share of the profits.
Griffith was such a seminal figure during the development of the film industry that many of his assistants became celebrated directors after apprenticing under the master. Raoul Walsh, John Ford, Tod Browning, Erich von Stroheim, W. S. Van Dyke and William Beaudine all worked for Griffith. Following the success of "The Birth of a Nation," Griffith staged a lavish four part film entitled "Intolerance" in partial response to efforts to boycott, censor or enjoin the showing of his previous film. The film was not profitable, but Griffith became increasingly interested in staging epic spectacles and lost his way when he was unable to bring pictures in on time and on budget. Frequently, he courted financial disaster. Studio executives wanted immediate profits while Griffith was engrossed in the art of cinema. Soon he was deemed to be unreliable.
Changing public tastes also were a factor in his decline. Griffith produced melodramas that could have been staged in the limelight era. Once audiences had become more sophisticated and other movie makers had mastered his techniques, there was a greater demand for more modern and realistic stories than Griffith's homespun rural romances. After the production of the biopic "Abraham Lincoln," in 1930, Griffith was effectively finished in Hollywood. Although he had filmed the crime drama "The Musketeers of Pig Alley" on the streets of New York, employing actual gang members, no less, Griffith was considered politely old fashioned not twenty years later.
There is one major fault that must be mentioned with respect to this biography. Schickel's seems utterly nable to come to terms with Griffith's racial attitudes and his oftentimes patronizing depictions of Negroes in his films (African Americans was not the accepted term in Griffith's era). As such, the book becomes Exhibit "A" as a definitive example of the historical error of "presentism." Presentism occurs when historical figures are judged not according to the prevailing attitudes and standards of their own era, but according to contemporary and, oftentimes, politically correct standards. Using these criteria, many past persons are found guilty of having failed to conform to the societal expectations of an enlightened future era in which they did not live.
In fairness, men such as Griffith are entitled to be judged based upon their own generations, not ours. While it is valid to compare and contrast differences in opinions and standards by way of explanation, it is unjust to condemn Griffith for failing to join the civil rights movement decades before such a movement came into existence.
The racist sentiments contained in Griffith's films are an accurate reflection of the biased opinions that were widespread in 1915. It should be remembered that President Woodrow Wilson was instrumental in segregating the District of Columbia at the same approximate time that "The Birth of a Nation" was being filmed. The newly established NAACP attempted to have the film suppressed and numerous lawsuits were filed seeking to enjoin its exhibition. In certain cities, their efforts were successful.
To Schickel's credit, he summarizes virtually all of Griffith's many films, including many short subjects and feature films that no longer exist. Griffith was a largely forgotten man when he died in a nondescript Los Angeles hotel. Hollywood's leading hypocrites belatedly staged a fitting memorial service to honor Griffith after neglecting him for more than a decade and a half. Not quite thirty years earlier, Griffith had founded United Artist Studios.
There is a wealth of information to be found in this book, but the biographer's liberal biases detracted from my overall enjoyment of the book.
D.W. Griffith: An American Life Overview"This magnificent and important biography...is the best ever written on the man." -The New Republic "Mr. Schickel's excellent and important biography makes it clear that when the movers of our century are tallied, D.W. Griffith, flawed genius that he was, can never lose his eminent position." -Peter Bogdanovich, The New York Times Book Review
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