Intolerance | |
---|---|
Directed by | D. W. Griffith |
Written by | D. W. Griffith Hettie Gray Baker Tod Browning Anita Loos Mary H. O'Connor Frank E. Woods |
Produced by | D. W. Griffith |
Starring | Vera Lewis Ralph Lewis Mae Marsh Robert Harron Constance Talmadge Lillian Gish Josephine Crowell Margery Wilson Frank Bennett Elmer Clifton Miriam Cooper Alfred Paget |
Cinematography | Billy Bitzer |
Edited by | D. W. Griffith James Smith Rose Smith |
Music by | Joseph Carl Breil Julián Carrillo Carl Davis (for 1989 restoration) |
Distributed by | Triangle Distributing Corporation |
Release date |
|
Running time | 210 minutes (original release) 197 minutes (most surviving cuts) |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Budget | $385,907[1] |
Box office | $1.75 million (theatrical rental) |
Intolerance is a 1916 epic anthology silent film directed by D. W. Griffith. Subtitled as Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages and A Sun-Play of the Ages,[2][3] the three-and-a-half-hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines, each separated by several centuries: first, a contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; second, a Biblical story: Christ's mission and death; third, a French story: the events surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572; and fourth, a Babylonian story: the fall of the Babylonian Empire to Persia in 539 BC. Each story had its own distinctive color tint in the original print.[3] The scenes are linked by shots of a figure representing Eternal Motherhood, rocking a cradle.[3]
Griffith chose to explore the theme of intolerance partly in response to his previous film The Birth of a Nation (1915) being derided by the NAACP and others for perpetuating and supporting racial stereotypes and glorifying the Ku Klux Klan.[4][5] Intolerance was not, however, an apology, as Griffith felt he had nothing to apologize for;[6] in numerous interviews, Griffith made clear that the film was a rebuttal to his critics and he felt that they were, in fact, the intolerant ones.[7] In the years following its release, Intolerance strongly influenced European film movements and is regarded as one of the most influential films of the silent era.[6] In 1958, the film was voted number 7 in the World Expo film poll. In 1989, it was one of the first films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
Schickel
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).filmsite
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).NAACP
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).TCMarticle
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Rapold
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).McEwan
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).