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D.W. Griffith, 1875-1948
The son of a Kentucky slave-owner, D. W. Griffith is best remembered for Birth of a Nation (1915), which depicted the Reconstruction-era South as terrorized by carpetbaggers and freed slaves, with the Ku Klux Klan as the savior of womanhood. Griffith used quotes from Woodrow Wilson's 1903 History of the American People to support his story. Wilson screened the film at the White House -- the first time a full-length movie was thus honored. Notwithstanding protests led by a nascent NAACP and bans in several cities because of fears about white on black riots and lynchings, Birth of a Nation was immensely popular, reflecting the dismal state of race relations in America. To this day it is praised for its technical virtuosity and epic quality, along with its intensely personal stories of individuals caught up in historic events. Griffith enhanced many of the era's new film techniques and integrated them within powerful spectacle and narrative, making him one of the pioneers of modern film.
Frank Diem, 1921 |