D.W. Griffith: An American LifeHe transformed a nickelodeon novelty into a new art form and a powerful, glamorous American industry. He codified the rules and techniques of screen story-telling, and pioneered the conventions that brought films to life, from surging spectacle to soul-baring close-ups. A poor farm boy from the South, Griffith rose to fame with The Birth of a Nation, a cinematic masterpiece stained by the racism that infected his heritage. Though he went on to direct some of the most legendary films of the silent era, Griffith was doomed by his over-reaching drives, and he died an embittered man, shunned by the community he had largely created. His story is told here with unsparing truth and compelling narrative sweep. |
Contents
Contents | 11 |
History with Lightning | 267 |
The Impossible Thing | 303 |
Copyright | |
7 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
actor actress Aitken American Angeles appears audience Banzhaf Barthelmess Biograph Birth Bitzer Blanche Sweet Bobby Harron box office Bravermann Broken Blossoms called camera career Carol Dempster claimed comedy contract course critics D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith director Dixon Dorothy Gish drama Dream Street East fact Famous Players film's finally finance fith girl Gish's Grif Harron Hollywood interest interview Intolerance later leading Lillian Gish Linda Louisville Mae Marsh Mary Pickford melodrama Miss mother motion picture movie NAACP never night Oglesby Owen Moore perhaps Pickford play premiere production recalled reels release Robert Harron role romantic scenario scene Schenck screen seems Sennett sense sequence shooting shot stage star story Street studio success surely theater theatrical thing thought tion took turn United Artists week woman York young Zukor