The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Brown also remembered that when the film ended, the audience “didn’t just sit there and applaud, but they stood up and cheered and yelled and stamped feet until Griffith finally made an appearance.” The director emerged from stage left but said nothing; he merely accepted the applause and cheers that washed over him.

On 18th February, President Woodrow Wilson, still officially in mourning for his wife, viewed the film at the White House. He is often attributed with remarking after watching the film that, “It is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.” Whether he ever uttered these words is open to doubt, although as the film’s view aligned with that of the President, it may be true. If not, then it is just one of many legends attached to the movie.

The following evening, it was shown to several U.S. politicians at the Raleigh Hotel in Washington. A further series of screenings occurred between 13th February and 3rd March 1915, during which, according to legend, Dixon suggested to Griffith that he change the film’s title from The Clansman to The Birth of a Nation. All these screenings, held not only for dignitaries but leading literary, drama critics and society figures, were staged to drum up interest in the film’s opening in New York on 3rd March. The makers also launched a massive publicity campaign, most of which promulgated blatant untruths that passed into movie lore. The film’s publicists, Theodore Mitchell and J.R. McCarthy, spuriously claimed the film cost $500,000 and featured a cast of 18,000 people. They also claimed that 3,000 horses were involved.

The Birth of a Nation met with near-universal critical acclaim. It ran at Clune’s for a record-breaking seven months. Even in New York, where tickets were a record-breaking $2.00 per seat, demand was unprecedented. But while its artistic content was beyond reproach, the NAACP rightly seized upon its racist viewpoint as a major cause for concern. The National Board of Censorship, recognising the potential for controversy, decided that its entire body of 125 members should view the picture before its release. The board initially allocated twelve tickets to the NAACP. However, they cut this number to two – with the proviso that only white members of the organisation may attend. Many in attendance that day were friendly to the picture, and their enthusiastic response to it swayed the members of the Board. It’s believed Frederick C. Howe, the Chairman of the Board, wanted the entire second half of the film banned, but, if true, his was a minority voice. The NAACP believed it had won a major victory by having much of the film censored, but the Board met with the film’s producers, who offered to change certain scenes. On 12th March, the General Committee passed the film by a majority of twelve to nine, subject to two minor changes. Attempts to block or censor the film in other cities – notably Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cleveland – met with similar defeat, although some larger local NAACP branches enjoyed limited success.

Upon national release, The Birth of a Nation enjoyed unparalleled success. It also sparked a not-altogether unforeseen revival of the Ku Klux Klan. Federal law enforcement had shut down the Reconstruction-era white supremacist group depicted as heroes in Griffith’s film in the 1870s. William J. Simmons, a former Methodist minister suspended for inefficiency in 1912, received the revived Klan’s charter from the state of Georgia on 4th December 1915. On 6th December 1915, the Atlanta Constitution  announced the film’s arrival in the city and carried an advertisement for the Klan. The organisation described itself as a “high class order for men of intelligence and character.” Simmons and his bedsheet-wearing acolytes paraded in front of the queues awaiting entry to the premiere.

Although the Klan exploited the film to publicise itself, claims that the film was solely responsible for the group’s revival are false. By 1919, it had only a few thousand members; it wasn’t until the organisation hired professional publicity agents in the early 1920s that membership rocketed.

The Birth of a Nation is as divisive now as it was back in 1915. The positive portrayal of the Ku Klux Klan and the depiction of its black characters are grossly offensive to a generation raised in an environment of gender and race equality. Today’s audience finds it almost impossible to understand why it was once so revered. Griffith was raised by a man who fought for the Confederacy and experienced the war’s disastrous aftermath. He genuinely believed he wasn’t racist. He believed Dixon’s racist, inflammatory novel depicted an accurate version of events because they aligned with his own father’s racist perspective. And, incredible as it might seem, most historical works on the Reconstruction at the time would have supported Griffith’s view of its history. That is not to offer an apology for the film’s content, but to put it in context with prevailing attitudes of the time. Griffith’s 1916 release, Intolerance, was an attempt to atone for the offence caused by The Birth of a Nation.

The problem today is that those unable to see beyond its racism cannot appreciate its artistic achievement, while those who choose to ignore its racism dismiss an evil that society must acknowledge if it is to be defeated. It is perhaps easier to consider The Birth of a Nation as a reflection of the times that spawned it: an era when racism was commonplace and often unpunished.

Sources: D. W. Griffith’s Film, The Birth of a Nation: The Film that Transformed America, Michael R. Hurwitz; D. W. Griffith: An American Life, Richard Schickel; Adventures with D. W. Griffith, Karl Brown; D. W. Griffith: American Film Master, Iris Barry; Billy Bitzer; his story, Billy Bitzer; Lillian Gish: the Movies, Mr. Griffith, and Me, Lillian Gish; D. W. Griffith: his Life and Work, Robert M. Henderson; A Silent Siren Song: the Aitken Brothers’ Hollywood Odyssey, 1905-1926, Al P. Nelson; D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation, Melvyn Stokes; The Birth of a Nation, Paul McEwan.