D.W. Griffith's the Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time

If you are interested in the The Birth of a Nation, how it came to be made, its place in movie history, and the reaction to it, this is the book for you. For the casual movie fan, the level of detail is probably overkill. Melvyn Stokes, a British academic, appears to have read the entire voluminous scholarly literature on the movie; he also did significant archival work, particularly in the papers of the NAACP. As can be seen from the picture of an NAACP protest on the cover of the book, that group's decades long attempt to suppress the movie is a key focus of the book. In addition, though, Stokes provides useful and interesting background on the life of Thomas Dixon, the now (thankfully!) forgotten author of the books The Birth of A Nation is based on, as well as on Griffith's pre-Birth movie career. I found the discussion of how the film was marketed to be particularly interesting. Stokes also is quite good on the contrast between the actual history of the Reconstruction era and the history of this period contained in the film. Griffith apparently offered $10,000 to anyone who could show that there was a significant historical inaccuracy in the film. It's amazing that no one took him up on it! Stokes's discussion of the film's impact seems evenhanded. Although there are those who blame it for significantly helping to bring about a revival of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s, Stokes doubts that the film's influence was that extensive.I have a few small quibbles: I was surprised that there wasn't more discussion of the actual filming. I don't know how much is known about this, but it would have been interesting to have had a longer discussion of how Griffith decided what to include in the film, what changes he may have made during the months of filming, and whether he always intended to make the Ku Klux Klan the heroes of the film. The film is often described as having various running times, so it would also have been useful to have had a discussion of the different versions of the film and some indication of which of the existing versions comes closest to what audiences in 1915 are likely to have seen.The book inspired me to finally watch The Birth of a Nation all the way through, and there was quite a lot in it that I found surprising. Although it was apparently a technical leap forward for the time, not being a silent movie buff, I will have to take the opinion of Stokes and other scholars for this. To my mind, the picture is technically quite primitive. The makeup on many of the actors seems crudely applied, the acting is often overwrought, and -- most surprisingly -- it doesn't seem well photographed. Even the famous battle scenes are difficult to make out and trees often block the action. The Cameron's home in Piedmont is apparently supposed to be a plantation house, and some scenes are set in the cotton fields, yet the house is plainly shown as being on a street in the town, with houses on either side, which seems odd because you would expect a plantation house to be on its own land outside of town. As Stokes points out, Griffith -- apparently, for racist reasons -- insisted on using white actors in burnt cork makeup to play the key African-American parts, which reduces whatever scant realism the film might otherwise have had. I can accept that movie audiences in 1915, used to very short films with minimal stories and no production values, might have found The Birth of a Nation to be quite a spectacle, but it's surprising that the film was still being shown in theaters as late as the 1940s; the protest shown on the cover dates from 1947!

If you are at all interested in the making, marketing and incredibly long-lived social impact of D.W. Griffith's racist masterpiece of filmmaking, this is the definitive work.

This is a good book and explains a lot about the movie and Griffith himself. The only complaint I have is the last third of the book goes into details that are not that important. He explains every attempt by the NAACP to get the movie censored decades after its first release. A summary would have been better.He does document very well the initial battles the NAACP wages and its consequences. That is very interesting.A good explanation is given about the fight Griffith had to wage to produce the movie, it's low budget, and the conditions the actors endured. It's amazing it ever got made.However, it's the first movie ever made employing all the techniques we take for granted today.It's a good read.

Wonderfully in-depth look at the making of The Birth of a Nation and its effects on the American populace. At first I thought this was going to be a very biased look at the movie as Stokes seems to be so enamored with the film. But as read deeper into the book, it is clear that Stokes' goal was to create an in-depth look at the film, warts and all. He discusses the amazing technical advances the film made but also looks at the backgrounds of the men responsible for the film (Dixon and Griffith).There is a good deal of depth in the book and I felt satisfied that I read a well-rounded history of the film. I have a new appreciation for the film and a better understanding of how its portrayal of the Southern Reconstruction was completely and blatantly false.

If you want to understand the expansion of Jim Crow from the south to infect the entire country, get this book. Melvyn Stokes explains how the Plessy v Ferguson decision, coupled with the advent of the early film industry, helped propel the Lost Cause myth nationwide through resegregation, culture, and media.

Great scholarship and very well written. A window into American mores and society in the early 20th century. Worth readiing whether you’re a film history buff or not.

Very interesting history, excellent reading!

This is an incredible work. It not only forensically analyses the film but details the background to its making and how it became the biggest grossing film for the next 25 years. More importantly it chronicles the campaign against the film and dissects the completely false and racist narrative of Griffiths and the films distributors. Given the rise of white supremacy in the US, this is a very relevant book today.