The Birth of a Nation (United Artists) (1915)

Complete Press Stories for Exhibitor’s Newspaper Campaign for D. “The W. GRIFFITH’S Birth of a Nation” Released by United Artists Corporation ‘ The Birth of a Nation ” Original Production Here David W. Griffith's epoch-making spectacle “The Birth of a Nation,” a United Artists release, following its record-breaking return to New York, will be seen in one of its original pro¬ ductions at the .. The¬ atre next ... This work from the nature of the new art it established has excited keener curiosity than any other offer¬ ing of a decade and after being away for several years it was recently pre¬ sented for a special engagement at the enormous Capitol Theatre and played to over 150,000 people in two weeks. “The Birth of a Nation” tells by film and music the story of a nation ' re-born through the storm and stress of internecine strife. Instead of the four to six scenes of the conventional plays, its technique permits of filming literally thousands of scenes and cov¬ ering a wide range of history and characters. Slavery, the primal cause of the War; Lincoln's call for troops to subdue the Southern States; the ball on the eve of Bull Run, and the first triumph of Confederate arms; the devastation wrought by Sherman’s march and the awful ordeal of the Siege of Petersburg; Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appottamox; the assassin¬ ation of the Great President; the harsh radical policy toward the stricken South; the uprising of the Ku Klux Klan and the overthrow of the carpet¬ bagger regime — these great factors and events pass in review before the thrilled spectator. The love interest of the play is based on the friendships between the Cam¬ erons of South Carolina and the Stone- man’s of Pennsylvania, two families involved in the struggle. Ben Cam¬ eron, the gallant clansman of the Dixon stories, appears again in the role of romantic hero; the piquant Northern girl, Elsie Stoneman, as the heroine. Mr. Griffith took most of the scenes in the great out-of-doors, where Na¬ ture painted the backgrounds and army men directed the battle campaigns. The notable indoor scenes, like Ford’s the¬ atre on the night of the Lincoln tra¬ gedy, the peace at Appomattox, and the South Carolina Legislature of 1870, are exact fac-similcs of the originals. Altogether, it is the first time in art-production that History in the large has been presented in living pic¬ tures. To do this many times the amount of the time, energy and ex¬ pense usually devoted to amusement enterprises had to be used. Eighteen thousand people and 3,000 horses ap¬ pear in the picture, which cost ap¬ proximately $500,000 to produce. Of equal importance to the scenes is the music that interprets them. It consists of an elaborate symphonic score arranged after Griffith’s sugges¬ tions of the musical motifs for the leading characters. Now grave, now gay; now sounding the loud diapason of War, again sweetly harmonizing love's sighs and rhapsodies; anon bringing back the old plantation mel¬ odies, or the crash of riot and rapine, or the welcome Ku Klux Klan call that fell so gratefully on the ear of Southern whites sorely oppressed by the “servants in the Master’s hall”—it fits the changing scenes of the story like a flowing, beautiful garment. The marriage of this music to the film best of all entitled the producer to his well-earned laurels of having created a new art. Among the principals in the cast are Henry B. Walthall, the distinguished Alabama actor whose family is his¬ torically connected with the story, in the role of the Clansman; Lillian Gish as Elsie Stoneman; Mae Marsh and Miriam Cooper as Flora and Mar¬ garet ; Ralph Lewis as Congressman Stoneman; Joseph Henabery, Howard Gaye and Donald Crips as Lincoln, Lee and Grant, respectively; George Seigmann as the mulatto Lieutenant- Colonel of South Carolina; Walter Long as the renegade negro, Gus; Raoul Walsh as John Wilkes Booth; Mary Alden as the octoroon house¬ keeper, Lydia; John McGlynn and Earnest Campbell as the good negroes, Nelse and Jake; Elmer Clifton and Robert Harron as the young soldiers; Spottiswoode Aitken and Josephine Crowell as Dr. and Mrs. Cameron, and many others. GREAT PICTORIALIZED GRIFFITH SPECTACLE “The Birth of a Nation” Has Remarkable Record at Coun¬ try’s Biggest Theatre •‘The Birth of a Nation,” bringing forward David W. Griffith’s wonderful art of pictorialized spectacle with mu¬ sic will play the . Theatre next ... This is the great offering that recently established the remarkable record of playing to over 150,000 people in a two weeks’ revival at the famous Capitol Theatre in New York City. Nothing like it was ever known before and it is another mark in this extraordinary production which holds the record in so many American -and foreign cities. The first half of the spectacle, which was suggested by Thomas Dixon s -The Clansman” exhibits the salient events of the war between the States. The formation of the Confederacy, Lincoln’s call for troops, Sherman’s march to the sea, the Battle of Peters¬ burg, Lee’s surrender to Grant, and the awful tragedy of Lincoln’s assas¬ sination at Ford’s Theatre, April 14, 1865, live before the spectator of the Griffith drama. In the second half of the South’s “second uprising”—this time against the carpetbagger regime—is shown m a thrilling story of Reconstruction days The romance of the little Con¬ federate Colonel,” Ben Cameron, with the Northerner, Elsie Stoneman, and that of the Unionist Captain, Phil Stoneman, with Margaret Cameron, the South Carolina lassie, maintains two threads of continuous love-inter- est throughout the story. But the great out-of-doors is Mr. Griffith’s special field. Tremendous battle scenes and the wild rides of the Ku Klux Klan are staged with thou¬ sands of participants. Eighteen thou¬ sand human actors and 3,000 horses were employed in the making of the picture, which cost half a million dol¬ lars and took eight months to produce Some idea of its immensity is gained from the fact that there arc no less than 5,000 distinct and individual 18,000 PEOPLE IN GREAT GRIFFITH FILM “The Birth of a Nation” Covers Essential Details of Civil War History D. W. Griffith’s master production, “The Birth of a Nation,” a United Artists release, will be the attraction .. Theatre, com- l engagement of It will be brought here in exact re¬ production of the greatest attraction which in New York recently set a rec¬ ord by playing to more people in two weeks’ time than had ever before gath¬ ered in a playhouse. This was massive Capitol Theatre where 150,000 persons witnessed the spectacle in a fortnight. The merest statement regarding “The Birth of a Nation” leaps to su- pcrlatives because there is no other form in which it can be written. Sim¬ ple facts in relationship to its develop¬ ments sound extravagant until you have seen the production and realized a tithe of its sweep and power. It covers the essential details of American history ranging through three centuries. Actual battles arc shown with tens of thousands of sol¬ diers in the conflict. 18,000 people participated in the telling of the story. Three thousand horses were used to give the cavalry and other thrilling effects of the wil'd dashes over miles of territory. Cities were built up only to be destroyed by fire. The total cost of the entire production was in the neighborhood of $500,000. Five hun¬ dred costumers and seamstresses worked for three months to make the costumes worn by the people. Ten thousand yards of cloth were worked into the costumes worn by the men while 25,000 yards of white t lin were used up in the regalia of the Ku Klux Klansmen. The narrative is filled with tears and smiles. A brilliant cast lends anima¬ tion to the story. The list of present stars and film favorites includes such well known screen artists as: Henry’ B. Walthall, Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Jose¬ phine Crowell, Ralph Lewis, Joseph Henabery, Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp, Howard Gaye, George Seig¬ mann, Walter Long and Elmer Clif- ALL ELEMENTS IN BIG GRIFFITH SPECTACLE ‘The Birth of a Nation” Com¬ bines Spectacle, Drama, Comedy and Tragedy “The Birth of a Nation,” D. W. Griffith’s epochal film sensation, will be the offering at the . The atre next.under a United Artists Corporation release. For many years American drama¬ tists wrote able plays of particular States, cities or localities, ranging from “Alabama” to “The Henrietta” and from “Way Down East” to “The Great Divide.” But no one seemed to grasp the whole spirit and genius of America until David Wark Griffith picked a suggestion for his theme out of Dixon's "The Leopard Spots” and “The Clansman” anc started to develop it. A remarkable thing about Mr. Grif¬ fith’s plan is that words (except for leaders and titles) did not enter into it. Perhaps words had cramped rather than aided previous fictionists and dra¬ matists. At any rate, he replaced peech by music, and the old fashioned stage action and scenery by the pic¬ torialized action of thousands of play¬ ers in the great out-of-doors. In brief, he staged the great battles, struggles and critical events of 1861-70 under natural conditions as nearly as pos¬ sible similar to the original. The result of Mr. Griffith's efforts is a new and stupendous art for which no adequate means has yet been found. “The Birth of a Nation” combines spectacle, romance, domestic drama, comedy, tragedy, music, and mechan¬ ical effects into a harmonious ensem¬ ble that captivates equally the eye and the ear. In a presentation lasting two hours and forty-five minutes it epit¬ omizes the life of a nation. This is something the old art could never do. The obsolete so-called “stage unities” thrown to the winds, and Griffith carries the magnificent story from the introduction of African slavery right down through Civil War and Recon¬ struction days to the final real union of South and North in the bonds of love and peace. Among the distinguished actors in the cast are Henry B. Walthall, Lil¬ lian Gish, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Josephine Crowell, Ralph Lewis, Joseph Henabery, Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp, Howard Gaye, George Seigmann, Walter Long and Elmer Clifton. Eighteen thousand peo¬ ple, 3,000 horses and no less than 5,000 scenes went to the making of the big spectacle. D. W. GRIFFITH “THE BIRTH OF A NATION” CAST OF CHARACTERS I. Ben Cameron.Henry Walthall irgaret Cameron, elder sister, Miriam Cooper Flora, the pet sister.Mae Marsh Mrs. Cameron.Josephine Marsh Dr. Cameron.Spottiswoode Aiken Wade Cameron, second son, J. A. Beringer Duke Cameron, youngest son, Maxfield Stanley imy, the faithful servant, Jennie Lee Austin Stoneman, Leader of the Juse .Ralph Lewis Elsie, his daughter.Lillian Gish Phil, his elder son.Elmer Clifton Tod, the younger son. . . Robert Harron Jeff, the blacksmith.Wallace Reed Lydia, Stoneman's mulatto housekeeper, Mary Alden Lynch, mulatto lieutenant-governor, George Seigmann -a renegade negro.Walter Long Abraham Lincoln.Joseph Henabery Gen. U. S. Grant.Donald Crisp Gen. Robert E. Lee.Howard Gaye Founded on Thomas Dixon’s story, “The Clansman.” (Released by United Artists Corp.) SYNOPSIS The Stoneman boys of Pennsylvania are house guests at Piedmont, So. Car., their school chums, the Cameron ,s. Phil Stoneman and Margaret Cameron had met and loved. Ben Cam¬ eron had never met Elsie Stoneman, but the tintype he had pilfered of her seemed the sweetest of his possessions. Flora, youngest daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Cameron, was most lovable. The Civil War opens and Phil and Tod Stoneman enlist under the Stars -1 Stripes; Ben Cameron and his two younger brothers under the Stars and ~ irs. The war years drag along. Ruin and ivastation sweep Piedmont; there comes raid by mixed white and negro gueril- The trend of events favor the Union luse. Southern-wealth and resources e burned or commandered by Sherman in his march to the sea. Two of the eron boys have died in battle, one face to face with his dying chum Tod. Grant presses the Confederacy at Peters- Rebel supplies are running low; r -ision trains are cut off. Gen. Lee calls upon Col. Ben Cameron to lead a iving the supplies. The panorama of a battlefield flung rer many miles of mountain and valley; .^posing intrenchments and artillery fire; Col. Cameron and his men forming for advance; their charge and the grim rest of death that swept most of them y; bayonet attacks; the hand-to- hand clutch with the enemy—with Col. of the federal works to fall wounded into arms of Captain Stoneman, his m friend—all are pictured realisti¬ cally. Prisoner in a Washington hospital, Ben Cameron recovers from his wound. Love claims them both. Elsie and Ben's mother visit Lincoln, “The Great Heart” who clears “the little Colonel” of odious charges and hands Mrs. Cameron Austin Stoneman, leader of C( thinks Lincoln’s policy toward tl trate South is too mild. Stone half-breed protege ;ople. war ends—there comes the assassination of Lincoln. The South feels tl Lincoln’s death it has lost its best Years later there comes the aftermath. Stoneman, now supreme in power, goes south to put through his “equality” pro¬ gramme. Elsie and Phil accompany him. At Piedmont they take a house next to the Camerons. The various love I Meanwhile the carpet-baggers spring up. Lynoh, the mulatto, is chosen_ t-govt legislature loots the mixed white law- iwed, over-awed, despoiled. Ben Cameron then leads the white men of the community in the organization the Ku Klux Klan, the "invisible empii Behind locked doors women sew ghost-like costumes. Stoneman b with rage over this step. Lynch’s s| bring evidence that the garments being made by the Camerons; that I Cameron is "night-riding.” At Sto man’s bidding Elsie breaks her enga ment to Cameron. Little Flora Cameron, joy and pridt the household, is sought by Gus, the renegade family servant, who a- - — :I itiaman has joined Lynch’s cret.. - sued one day, she plunges to death off "Lover’s Leap” Gus escapes but lat« is caught, tried and convicted. Di Cameron is arrested for having harbored Klansmen. Phil Stoneman, now a sym¬ pathizer with the Southerners, with others organizes a rescue party. They beat down the militia. Dr. Ca wife, Margaret, Phil and th. ter. Ston man, the > henchm ressma “equali s daugh- finds all his theories upset. Ragi he will he sees no opening. Then the Klansmen, riding in force toward Pied¬ mont, defeat the mUitia; take the Lynch mansion; free the Stoneman’s Ben takes the overjoyed Elsie in his arms. Camerons are rescued from their in a fortified cottage by the Klan. to Ben and Elsie and Phil and Margaret there comes a double honeymoon. GRIFFITH SPECTACLE IS SHOWN TONIGHT ‘The Birth of a Nation” Has First Showing Here After Remarkable Record D. W. Griffith’s spectacle, “The Birth of a Nation,” a United Artists release, begins its engagement at the Theatre tonight. GRIFFITH INVENTS A NEW THEATRIC ART Enables Him to Surpass Any Stage Spectacle in “The Birth of a Nation” The new theatric art invented by David \V. Griffith in producing “The Birth of a Nation,” a United Artists release, coming to the . Theatre next . has en¬ abled him to surpass by far any stage spectacle. "Ben Hur" and “The Blue Bird" were supposed to be the high- water mark of such production. They sink into insignificance beside this epic of American history with its 5,000 scenes, 18,000 characters, 3,000 riders and 200,000 details, the result of eight months of tireless labor and the ex¬ penditure of half a million dollars. The war plays of the stage such as Shenandoah,” "Held by the Enemy” nd “Barbara Fritchie” seem tame after seeing the splendors of “The Birth of a Nation.” In the Griffith spectacle the scenes of sheer beauty and strength are of Homeric grandeur, the night riding of the Ku Klux Klan looks like a company of avenging spec¬ tres sweeping along the moonlit roads. There is a pictorial punch in every scene. This realistic picture of history in the making is of untold value to both old and young. Besides the historical worth of this great spectacle, the con¬ stant emotional throb of the romantic story thrills the hearts of all. It is the supreme achievement of modern histrionism in its new guise untram¬ melled by the limitations of the theatre. The following remarkable cast will be seen in the local presentation: Henry B. Walthall, Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Josephine Crowell, Ralph Lewis, Jo¬ seph Henabery. Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp, Howard Gaye. George Seig¬ mann, Walter Long and Elmer Clifton. THREE LITTLE MAIDS WIN FAME BY EYES “Three Little Maids From School,” eighteen, nineteen and twenty arc the heroines of “The Birth of a Nation” because their eyes register on that elu¬ sive strip of celluloid known as a film. Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish and Miriam Cooper are the “Three Little Maids.” It was D. W. Griffith who discovered this talented trio. He first gave them a searching eye examination, as care¬ fully as an optician might do. After he had assured himself that their eyes would register he took up for him, the easy task of teaching them to act. That part was more easy, for after all he did not want them to act but to be natural. The important thing is that they got their big chance because their eyes registered. Why it is that some people’s eyes “take” better than others cannot be explained. It is an elusive thing that the cinema camera requires of its subjects. Poets might rhapso¬ dize over the most beautiful eyes in the world and yet those very eyes might not register on the screen. Many a prominent stage star has been failure in pictures for this very re son. The camera is merciless. It has no respect for histrionic reputations. It has been said that for an actress to acquire the technique to play Juliet she must be so old that it is difficult for her to look the part. To be Juliet on the screen one must have youth. The camera will not stand for shams. That is why Griffith makes his own stars. In the three principal feminine roles in “The Birth of a Nation” booked as the feature attraction for next .at the. Theatre. He had to have youth. That is why he took Mac Marsh and Lillian Gish and Miriam Cooper. They had youth and beauty and soul. Griffith did the rest. And so today the “Three Little Maids” are drawing salaries that sound fabulous. Nothing like this wonderful attrac¬ tion has ever been seen upon the local boards. It is given here exactly as presented recently in New York City where the drama set a new record for attendance at the famous Capitol The- playing to over $46,000 in one week and to more than 150,000 people a fortnight. It covers a wide range of American history and touches only the highest points of interest in the great events that preceded and terminated the Civil War. The force that slavery played producing this crisis is traced from its inception to its abolition. While the basic theme is historical, 18,000 people fill the stage which has a vast terri¬ tory for its background, 3,000 horses pass before your view in wild dashes re r miles of country roadway. The decisive battles of the Civil ’ar are reproduced in faithful detail and you see these conflicts fought again just as they were waged over 50 years ago. Cities were built up only to be destroyed to lend force and verity to the dramatic narrative. One enormous battlefield is shown stretching over an area of ten square miles and upon these plains and trench¬ es 10,000 soldiers clash in a warfare that is as real as if you were an eye witness of the actual occurrence. Hold¬ ing the great effects in tether is a story as tender and true as love and romance can be pictured. There are tears and smiles, noble sacrifices and heroic deeds of personal valor. Youthful dreams of love’s fruition e rent asunder by the demons of ar; home ties snap before the call to ms and suffering such as cannot be imagined is depicted in the crude man¬ ner that history is made when men surrender reason to passion in a dead¬ lock of arms resistance. You see the war start after being shown the causes which precipitated it. You see the great generals of the contending sections playing their des¬ perate games with human pawns moved into the field of slaughter. Then comes the agreement for peace and Lincoln sets about his superhu¬ man task of healing the wounds by the application of that great love which made him the towering figure of his age. A fanatic’s bullet stills the heart which beat so evenly for all humanity. The South is thrown back into a worse fate than war. Their lands arc overrun by a hungry horde of venge¬ ful politicians and self-seekers. The negro is cajoled into a false under¬ standing of liberty and in his ignor¬ ance is led into excesses by these scalawags of fqrtune. Out of it comes the ghostly garbed crusaders of a ter¬ rible era to set things aright and re¬ turn the lands and liberties of peace to their rightful owners. Griffith’s mis¬ erere sounds the chorus of brotherly love in an allegorical dream which visions the re-union of the divided sections and the welding of that tional spirit which has made this o try great after baptism in its own blood. The following wonderful cast will be seen: Henry B. Walthall, Lillian Gish, Mac Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Josephine Crowell, Ralph Lewis, Joseph Henabery, Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp, Howard Gaye, George Seigmann, Walter Long and Elmer Clifton. RECORDS SMASHED BY GRIFFITH SPECTACLE “The Birth of a Nation” Comes Here Just as Produced Re¬ cently in New York In bringing D. W. Griffith's Amcr in institution, “The Birth of a Na¬ tion” to the . Theatre limited engagement of . days the management takes great pleasure in announcing that the fa¬ mous spectacle will be offered here ex¬ actly as when it scored its initial tri¬ umphs in this city. The revival comes in the wake of its great success in New York City, where, in a theatre which seats over 5,000 people, it ran for the longest time a screen production was ever booked in that house and to the great¬ est receipts ever known for any pro¬ duction in a Broadway theatre for a given week. This record is the more astonish¬ ing as "The Birth of a Nation” was re¬ vived last Spring at a time when four other screen successes were in the very height of their respective runs but none, not excepting Griffith's master¬ piece, “Way Down East” ever played a week in New York to any such fig¬ ures. It was an unqualified success in every particular and will be pre¬ sented here as it was on this occasion with the stirring original score, the effective stage accompaniments, the most wonderful cast ever assembled in a motion picture production and with every attention to detail calculated to make it as appealing as ever. ' il~ WM| COULDN’T REPRODUCE “BIRTH OFA NATION” Photoplay Making Costs Too Much Nowadays to Permit Another Such Film D. W. Griffith’s wonder spectacle, The Birth of a Nation,” a United Artists release, is to be seen here for special presentation at the . . Theatre commenc- MAKING WAR AREA FOR GRIFFITH MOVIE When David W. Griffith started the outdoor staging of the civil war and reconstruction scenes in “The Birth of a Nation” he was confronted with seemingly insuperable difficulties. An area of private war was required about as large as the corner of Bel¬ gium occupied by the Anglo-French forces. Thousands of cavalrymen had to be shown in an historic raid on North Carolina clans. Their run was to be over many miles of typical Southern sandy roads. Though an icknowledged wizard of the films, Mr. Griffith is not a “war lord” with power to commandeer. In this emergency the county au¬ thorities of “The Birth of a Nation’ producing locale were applied to. ing next . It will be presented upon the same elaborate scale which has marked its recent presentations in New York and other Important cities where the great public demand for it induced Mr. Griffith to send several companies on tour. No American film spectacle has en¬ joyed the vogue or the fame of “The Birth of a Nation” and it stands alone achievement of the American screen. The story which moves through the most stirring periods of history lends itself to that form of sweeping drama Mr. Griffith has employed in recent years to astonish the world. Certainly no screen spectacle in con¬ temporary times has for its lay char¬ acters such wonderful figures in our native history as are the protagonists this elaboration of the Thomas Dixon novels dealing with the events that lead up to the Civil War, the great battles of that conflict and the thrilling days of the reconstruction period when the South had to be re¬ claimed from a horde of adventurers who landed there with the back wash of war and caused more suffering than the war itself with its bitter disappoint¬ ments and terrible sacrifices. Running through it are several love stories and touches of romance which materially heightens the action. In these days of costly production it would be impossible to reproduce “The Birth of a Nation” with its re¬ markable cast and its great scenes. The Public, therefore, is benefited by the shift of times and given an oppor¬ tunity to see Griffith at his best in a master work which would swamp a National Reserve Bank to produce in these days. Among the screen favorites and stars who have prominent parts in this story are: Henry B. Walthall, Mat- Marsh, Lillian Gish, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Josephine Crowell, Spot¬ tiswoode Aitken, Ralph Lewis, Joseph Henabery, Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp, Howard Gaye, George Seig¬ mann, Walter Long and Elmer Clifton. REMARKABLE CAST IN GRIFFITH FILM “The Birth of a Nation” Will Have a Broadway Presenta¬ tion Here Soon One of the contributory forces to the great success of D. W. Griffith's screen classic, “The Birth of a Nation" which is underlined for ... at the . Theatre starting next ., is the great cast which America’s foremost screen pro¬ ducer gathered for that spectacle. Gauged by their present earning ca¬ pacities the price of assembling such a cast would be positively prohibitive. While there are thousands of others in “The Birth of a Nation,” the lead¬ ing roles were created by Henry B. Walthall, Mae Marsh, Lillian Gish, Miriam Cooper, Mary Alden, Joseph¬ ine Crowell, Spottiswoode Aitken. Ralph Lewis, Joseph Henabery, Raoul Walsh, Donald Crisp, Howard Gaye. George Seigmann, Walter Long and Elmer Clifton. After a lapse of a few years during which time it has been held as the comparative model for every big pic¬ ture which has followed it, “The Birth of a Nation” stands out foremost among the greatest screen achieve¬ ments of the American picture world. Its recent revival at the Capitol Theatre where it broke all records, again demonstrated its powerful ap¬ peal to the public. It will be presented here exactly as given recently on Broadway and is still under the personal direction of the great Griffith whose other works have attracted a deal of his time but which never diminished his interest in this first venture that so thoroughly established his fame. ... ... .. D1 Um- those memorable battle scenes, the great plantation views, the dreamy life of the old Southland, the romance and heart interest gathering about its love conflicts, the appearance of such mighty figures of history as Lincoln, Grant, Lee, and others of equal prom¬ inence who played their parts in writ¬ ing the most crucial periods of Amer¬ ican history when the nation was be¬ ing welded into a mighty union can never be forgotten or lose their mar¬ velous appeal. GRIFFITH SET MARK FOR FILMPRODUCERS His “The Birth of a Nation” Coming Soon to the. Theatre Here Since D. W. Griffith’s American tri¬ umph, “The Birth of a Nation,” a United Artists release, paved the way for super-screen productions and proving that they could be made suc¬ cessfully, they have been followed by several others. The usual method of exploiting these was to pick out a catchline from some obsolete review and herald the new born effort as greater than the Griffith success. While those who have followed the career of "The Birth of a Nation” closelv ha\ e never denied t They finally consented to mark off an area of ten square miles for the use of the horsemen. Along all the roads within this area the county commis¬ sioners posted notices forbidding all traffic on “the day of days,” Pedes¬ trians were also warned off. But the roads themselves did not look Southern. Mr. Griffith handled this difficulty—with the authorities' permission—by remarking such of the highways as would come within the camera’s eye. Many tons of sand and gravel were spread by gangs of his workmen. Landscape engineering changed the look of the landscape to the rounded hills, poney woods, and deep gullies of old North State. The race of the Northern clansmen to res¬ cue their South Carolina brethren took place on the appointed day, without an accident or flaw. After it was over, Mr. Griffith's men scraped the sand off the macadam roads, took down the signs and life in the quiet country¬ side resumed its normal course. It cost about $25,000 to do the trick—the producer thinks it was worth all it cost, particularly after hearing the en¬ thusiastic comments of “The Birth of a Nation” patrons on his work. than She pioneer them all they have waited patiently to see one that is just as good. As no producer has modestly laid claim to such distinction it remained for a revival of “The Birth of a Nation" to demonstrate that it was the only one. Its reappearance at the . Theatre for a stay of . will emphasize these simple facts. In its way this great spectacle is unique. Nothing of its kind has been conceived because there is no picture subject which embraces the scope of history and intense drama that is crowded into the story which is the foundation of “The Birth of a Na¬ tion.” With its historical scenes, its roman¬ tic love interest between the children of Southern and Northern parents, its rich atmosphere of the ante-bellum days below the Mason and Dixon line, stirring scenes of rehabilitation cul¬ minating in the rising up of a down¬ trodden people to throw off intolerable yokes which threaten their lives and property made terrifically and realis¬ tically impressive by the battles of the Civil War it touches so many points of interest that it taps the very heart core of the crucial welding of the greatest nation into a mighty union. What contemporary drama rooted in American history has ever ap¬ proached such a span? Little wonder then that it is thrilling beyond de¬ scription and interesting in every mo¬ ment of its unfolding. The appeal of it all will ever remain fresh in Amer¬ ican hearts. It comes back after an absence of several years to appeal to a new clientele and will be presented in the same magnificent manner which established it in prime favor when first brought out. PRINTED IN U S.A.