D.W. Griffith

Biography

David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance (1916). Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera and narrative techniques, and its immense popularity set the stage for the dominance of the feature-length film. It also proved extremely controversial at the time and ever since for its negative depiction of Black Americans and their supporters, and its positive portrayal of slavery and the Ku Klux Klan. Griffith responded to his critics with his next film, Intolerance, intended to show the dangers of prejudiced thought and behavior. The film was not the financial success that its predecessor had been, but was received warmly by critics. Several of his later films were also successful, but high production, promotional, and roadshow costs often made his ventures commercial failures. Even so, he is generally considered one of the most important figures of early cinema.

Directed

1. The Birth of a Nation (1915) — Director
2. Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages (1916) — Director
3. Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl (1919) — Director
4. Way Down East (1920) — Director
5. A Corner in Wheat (1909) — Director
6. Orphans of the Storm (1921) — Director
7. The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912) — Director
8. The Lonely Villa (1909) — Director
9. Those Awful Hats (1909) — Director
10. The Lonedale Operator (1911) — Director
11. True Heart Susie (1919) — Director
12. The Girl and Her Trust (1912) — Director
13. Abraham Lincoln (1930) — Director
14. The Country Doctor (1909) — Director
15. The Unchanging Sea (1910) — Director
16. The Sealed Room (1909) — Director
17. The Mothering Heart (1913) — Director
18. The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913) — Director
19. The Avenging Conscience (1914) — Director
20. Death's Marathon (1913) — Director
21. Judith of Bethulia (1914) — Director
22. The New York Hat (1912) — Director
23. The Adventures of Dollie (1908) — Director
24. Edgar Allen Poe (1909) — Director
25. An Unseen Enemy (1912) — Director
26. The House with Closed Shutters (1910) — Director
27. His Trust (1911) — Director
28. Hearts of the World (1918) — Director
29. A Trap for Santa Claus (1909) — Director
30. The Painted Lady (1912) — Director
31. The Mended Lute (1909) — Director
32. The Massacre (1912) — Director
33. Ramona (1910) — Director
34. The Old Actor (1912) — Director
35. A Romance of Happy Valley (1919) — Director
36. In the Border States (1910) — Director
37. Home, Sweet Home (1914) — Director
38. The Female of the Species (1912) — Director
39. The Greatest Question (1919) — Director
40. The Redman's View (1909) — Director

Also appeared in

1. San Francisco (1936) — Orchestra Conductor (uncredited)
2. American Experience (1988) — Self
3. Rescued from an Eagle's Nest (1908) — Father
4. The Tramp and the Dictator (2002) — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
5. Charlie Chaplin, The Genius of Liberty (2020) — archive footage
6. A Calamitous Elopement (1908) — Policeman
7. The Black Viper (1908) — Rescuer
8. The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies (1995) — Self (archive footage)
9. Mary Pickford: The Muse of the Movies (2008) — Self (archive footage)
10. Her First Adventure (1908) — Father
11. 1776, or The Hessian Renegades (1909)
12. The Sculptor's Nightmare (1908)
13. Balked at the Altar (1908)
14. At the Altar (1909)
15. Cupid’s Pranks (1908) — Extra at ball
16. Enoch Arden (1915) — Mr. Ray
17. Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema (2007) — Self (archive footage)
18. Hollywood Black (2024) — Self (archive footage)
19. At the French Ball (1908) — Husband
20. Deceived Slumming Party (1908) — Reginald O.C. Wittington
21. The Invisible Fluid (1908) — Mailman
22. The Adventures of Billy (1911) — On Bench
23. The Politician's Love Story (1909) — Man - First Couple
24. The Making of 'The Birth of a Nation' (1993) — Self (Archive footage)
25. At the Crossroads of Life (1908) — Suitor
26. Classmates (1908) — Extra
27. Caught by Wireless (1908) — Policeman
28. Falsely Accused! (1908) — Cop in Court
29. When Knights Were Bold (1908)
30. The Girls and Daddy (1909) — At Black & Tan Ball
31. The Legend of Rudolph Valentino (1961) — Self (archive footage)
32. The Fatal Hour (1908) — Policeman
33. King of the Cannibal Islands (1908) — Cannibal in top hat
34. Flashback: The First World War (2014) — Self (archive footage)
35. The King's Messenger (1908) — Messenger
36. Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker (1908) — Doctor, Charity worker
37. The Man in the Box (1908) — Station Agent
38. The Kentuckian (1908)
39. The Stage Rustler (1908) — Phil Bowen
40. The Heart of O Yama (1908) — Footman