A pictorial history of the silent screen (1953)

■ ■■■' V' I /> ^ %L > /* M*P£ 'jtyii >*~& 1 I LILLIAN GISH JOSEPHINE CROWELL, HENRY B. WALTHALL, LILLIAN GISH ^ The outstanding event of the year was D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of A Nation," probably the world's greatest silent motion picture, if greatness is measured by fame. The story was taken from a four act play "The Clansman" which ran for 51 performances on the stage of the Liberty Theatre, New York, in 1906, and which the Rev. Thomas Dixon had fashioned from his own novel of the same name. It had its world premiere at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles, February 8, 1915, under the title of "The Clansman," but Thomas Dixon, the author, thought the title was too tame, and at his suggestion, it opened at the same Liberty Theatre, New York, where it had been performed as a play, on March 3, 1915, as "The Birth of A Nation." In twelve reels it was released by the Epoch Film Corporation, an outfit newly formed by Mr. Griffith himself to exploit it independently as a road show. Following its New York success, twelve road showings of the film swept the country at two-dollar top prices and broke all theatre records, not only in the United States, but in all the world capitals where it was eventually shown. The cast, with names that were to become world famous, included Lillian Gish, Henry B. Walthall, Mae Marsh, Wallace Reid, Miriam Cooper, Robert Harron, Mary Alden, Elmer Clifton, Ralph Lewis, Donald Crisp, Josephine Crowell, Spottiswoode Aiken, Walter Long, George Seigmann, Jennie Lee, J. A. Beringer, John French, Joseph Henabery, Howard Gave and Raoul Walsh, who later became a well-known director. • jrl nm. HENRY B. WALTHALL Top: MAE MARSH, HENRY B. WALTHALL MAE MARSH MAE MARSH in "THE BIRTH OF A NATION' ELMER CLIFTON, MIRIAM COOPER, ROBERT HARRON 67