Talk:D. W. Griffith

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[edit] mother

Any information available on his mother? If not, it seems awkward to say that he was "born to" his father alone. Southleft 05:22, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] comments

Ebert states that "As slavery is the great sin of America, so "The Birth of a Nation" is Griffith's sin, for which he tried to atone all the rest of his life. So instinctive were the prejudices he was raised with as a 19th century Southerner that the offenses in his film actually had to be explained to him." Griffith, just like Riefenstahl, was an outstanding director and a racist of the most genuine kind. Interestingly, DW is remembered for the former and Leni for the latter. This should also be stated in the article. Cheers.

Shouldn't this be at D. W. Griffith? I don't think I've ever heard him called "David" before. What's the reasoning in putting the page here? --Camembert 20:34 Nov 10, 2002 (UTC)

Eclecticology removed this Q, with the comment it was "no longer applicable" in the edit summary. Why is it no longer applicable, pray tell? I still think the page should be at "D. W." rather than "David Wark". I know it's not a very big deal so long as there is a redirect, but if we're going to have naming conventions (use the most common name), we ought to follow them, surely? I'll wait a week, and then move the page myself if there are no objections. --Camembert 13:04 Nov 30, 2002 (UTC)


Ec also went about turning D. W. Griffith into an orphan redirect. Now the only links to D. W. Griffith are on talk pages. In fact if we failed to bring-up this point then D. W. Griffith would be invisible to external search engines! I don't see how using the full name for the page title is at all useful to either our writers or readers. The only "correct" name for something in English is what most English speakers who are aware of the subject use. David Wark Griffith is not as widely used as D. W. Griffith. --mav

Per the above talk I have moved this page. --mav

I have January 3 as his b-day. Does anyone have more information on this? Danny

[edit] Raised by blacks?

An unusual claim on the IMDB is that DW Griffith was raised by African Americans. Is this true? And if so, how did it affect his later views about them?

I'm unsure whether the phrase is a reference to being in a white household with black servants, or actually raised in a black family... a curious story, and if true, it should be included in this biography.

It just means that he was nursed by a black servant during his childhood. That was normal for the Southern gentry at the time and they would form close bonds with their nurses (look at Scarlett O'Hara and her nurse in Gone With the Wind). It didn't necessarily mean they would grow up without any racism (indeed, it might have made them see blacks as natural servants). That's my two cents, ayway. :) The Singing Badger 12:52, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Does his film "Intolerance" provide evidence that he changed as a person?

Does his film "Intolerance" provide evidence that he changed as a person?

No not really, he wasn't trying to make up for the racsim in Birth of a Nation as often claimed. MechBrowman 00:35, August 2, 2005 (UTC)
You are correct sir. It's a myth that Intolerance was some sort of atonement for Birth of a Nation. Intolerance was Griffith's defense of his right to have made Birth — the intolerant people, from his point of view, were those people who protested Birth of a Nation. I don't have a source handy, but that's the way I learned it in film school. --Kevin Myers | on Wheels! 15:33, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] NPOV notice

I inserted the NPOV notice as a result of some of the comments on his achievements. I also removed the following:

  • "On December 15, 1999, declaring that Griffith "helped foster intolerable racial stereotypes," The Directors Guild of America's National Board announced it would rename the D.W. Griffith Award, the Guild's highest honor."

At the DGA website, I only found the May 2000 President's Report: Focus on Diversity that is about the Award's name change. If someone finds the source for this quote they can reinsert it. - Ted Wilkes 00:06, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

This article seems to be to be quite encyclopedic, unbiased and fact based. Where are the 'comments on his achievements' (except on this page)? Thane Eichenauer 08:04, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Added Totally Disputed tag, really ought to check the applicable section. --Scienceman123 01:42, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] No Point of Veiw Shots?

Griffith did use point of veiw shots in The Birth of a Nation, they occur with the use of masking when the girl is looking at the squirrel and the also occur when the black soldier is watching her from the bushes.

[edit] Unsourced

I've added this tag because the article cites no scholarly source for its strong assertions. It may be true that D.W. Griffith was a racist. If so, then it should be easy to cite at least one film historian or other reputable source that says so. The contention that films such as Intolerance were attempts at atonement for Birth of a Nation deserves discussion with arguments from both sides. Durova 04:47, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] NOTICE!!

Griffith Park in L.A. was NOT named for D.W. Griffith, but for Col. Griffith (who owned the land originally). Source: Check the Wikipedia entry for Griffith Park!

I have deleted the false lines in this article pertaining to "Intolerance being a flop" which it certianly was not.

I have also delted the portion making the ridiculous statement that the film "Birth of a Nation" was responsible for the "resurgence of the KKK". This is totally fabricated and shows someone's idiotic imagination at work.

My sources are from the book that is the authoritative master work on this subject. The book is titled: "D.W. GRIFFITH - An American Life" by Richard Schickel (Limelight Editions Publishing 1996).

I suggest you read it objectively before fabricating trivial falsehoods about this subject.

      According to Levitt and Dubner's Freakonomics, the film "helped spark [the KKK's] rebirth".

NOTICE: "Birth of a Nation" did spark the rebirth of racism of the KKK as well as other whites, which also caused a massive amount of lynchings in the U.S. (From a Scholar)

[edit] "The Struggle" link

Where it talks about D.W. Griffith's 1931 film, "The Srugggle," it is linked to an album of the same name. Since this has nothing to do with the movie, I am taking away the brackets from it.

[edit] Léonce Perret

Hi! For those who like cinema and understand french, there is a very good article in french about Léonce Perret, a french director who made a part of his career in US. (here is the page in french: fr:Léonce Perret). If somebody feel like translating it... Ajor 16:58, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Republican?

In the article, it says that D.W. Griffith was a Republican. Is this backed up anywhere? I have no idea what his political leanings were, but he does cite President Wilson in the beginning of Birth of a Nation, and Wilson was a Democrat. If Griffith was a Republican, I haven't been able to find a source confirming that fact. I'm curious if someone has a source on that. 71.203.141.254 17:19, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Last Wife survived until 2004

Not sure what the policy on mention wives is at wikipedia -- I always find that sort of thing interesting, both wives and children although wikipedia tends not to say much about them unless they themselves are famous. In Griffith's case, his last wife was born in 1910 and survived it seems to 2004.--Jrm2007 (talk) 15:47, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Removed unreferenced section

The follow section is controversial by description, unreferenced and in a BIO. I removed it. Jeepday (talk) 13:23, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Controversy

Griffith was a highly controversial figure. Immensely popular at the time of its release, his film The Birth of a Nation (1915), based on the novel and play The Clansman by Thomas W. Dixon, was a white supremacist interpretation of history, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People attempted to have it banned. After that effort failed, they attempted to have some of the film's more disagreeable scenes censored. The scenes in question depict derogatory stereotypes of blacks, and white members of the Ku Klux Klan killing blacks to protect white women, which is portrayed as favorable toward the Ku Klux Klan members. Griffith did also say that he made the film with the intention to show how the Scalawags and Carpetbaggers began to rule as tyrants with President Lincoln out of the picture. Griffith did also try to denounce prejudice in his next film Intolerance by showing how slavery was wrong because the Babylonians tried to make some slaves out of their people who didn't believe in some of the main traditional gods. According to Lillian Gish in her autobiography, The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me, Griffith towards the end of his life expressed an interest in making a film that would be a tribute to African-Americans, but he never got the chance to make that film.

The last line is sourced. However I'm not sure if it's sworth including on its own. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 18:15, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] WP:WikiProject Actors and Filmmakers priority assessment

Per debate and discussion re: assessment of the approximate 100 top priority articles of the project, this article has been included as a top priority article. Wildhartlivie (talk) 12:10, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Opening Lines

Are those opening lines vandalism? I know the guy had some politically incorrect and probably outright wrong things in his films (havent seen any), but to not only use "bigot" to describe him in the opening sentence or two, but to say he was a "premier bigot" whatever that means, seems rediculous, unless this was just a joke. In which case, good one, ass-SF —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.230.168.37 (talk) 06:44, 4 June 2008 (UTC)