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American Cinema in 1915

The Birth of a Nation, Griffith's controversial Civil War epic, causes a sensation and provokes riots; Theda Bara introduces moviegoers to the Vamp; Mary Pickford becomes a superstar and Douglas Fairbanks makes his debut.

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Key developments

The founding of the Fox Film Corporation and Metro Pictures marks the start of the studio system.

Theda Bara finds instant fame as a Vamp in Frank Powell's A Fool There Was.

Griffith's controversial The Birth of a Nation marks a quantum leap forward in cinema's technical vocabulary.

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Key films

Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915)

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Griffith’s transformative epic popularised feature-scale spectacle, but its racist Reconstruction narrative glorified the Ku Klux Klan and caused enduring harm.

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Sessue Hayakawa in Cecil B. DeMille's The Cheat (1915)

The Cheat (1915)

Cecil B. DeMille’s visually stylised melodrama became internationally influential, especially for its expressive lighting, moral ambiguity, and Sessue Hayakawa’s role.

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Theda Bara and Edward José in Frank Powell's A Fool There Was (1915)

A Fool There Was (1915)

Theda Bara’s breakthrough role created the vamp and made her one of Hollywood’s first sex symbols.

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People who made their mark

Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin

Worldwide silent-film star, director and creator of the enduring Little Tramp.

Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil B. DeMille

Influential director and producer whose spectacles helped define Hollywood feature filmmaking.

Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas Fairbanks

Swashbuckling silent-screen star, producer and co-founder of United Artists.

D. W. Griffith

D. W. Griffith

Pioneering director whose narrative techniques shaped early feature filmmaking, amid a contested legacy.

Thomas H. Ince

Thomas H. Ince

Producer-director whose efficient studio methods helped shape the classical Hollywood system.

Carl Laemmle with the Best Picture Oscar for All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Carl Laemmle

Universal Pictures founder and an early champion of the Hollywood star system.

Mack Sennett

Mack Sennett

Founder of Keystone Studios and a key creator of American slapstick comedy.

Active studios

Biograph Studio

Biograph

From 1908 Biograph became the USA's prominent studio thanks to the groundbreaking work of director D. W. Griffith.

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Kalem Studio in Jacksonville, Florida

Kalem

A pioneering studio that at first owned no active studio, Kalem was the first American company to send units to film in foreign lands.

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Vitagraph Studio

Vitagraph

Founded in 1897 by two Englishmen, Vitagraph found early success by recreating marine battles in a bathtub...

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Back to the 1910s

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