Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages, a silent film directed by D. W. Griffith in 1916, is considered one of the great masterpieces of the Silent Era.1 It has also been called the greatest film ever made "and the only film fugue". 2 3 4 Professor Theodore Huff, one of the leading film critics of the first half of the twentieth century, stated that it was the only motion picture worthy of taking its place alongside Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, the masterpieces of Michelangelo , etc. as a separate work of art. 5 It was made in response to critics who protested against Griffith's previous film, The Birth of a Nation, for its overt racist content, characterizing racism as people's "intolerance" of other people's views.
In 1989, Intolerance was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", going in during the first year of voting.
Background
Intolerance was a colossal undertaking filled with monumental sets, lavish period costumes, and more than 3,000 extras. The film consisted of four distinct but parallel stories that demonstrated mankind's intolerance during four different ages in world history. The timeline covered approximately 2,500 years, beginning with:
- The "Babylonian" period (539 BC) depicts the fall of Babylon as a result of intolerance arising from a conflict between devotees of different Babylonian gods.
- The "Judean" era (circa 27 AD) recounts how intolerance led to the crucifixion of Jesus.
- The French Renaissance (1572) tells of the failure of the Edict of Toleration that led to the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
- Modern America (1914) demonstrates how crime, moral puritanism, and conflicts between ruthless capitalists and striking workers helped ruin the lives of Americans.
Griffith began shooting the film with the Modern Story (originally titled "The Mother and the Law"), whose planning predated Birth of a Nation, then greatly expanded it to include the other three parallel stories under the theme of intolerance. These stories are not told separately. Instead the film constantly cuts between them, setting up moral and psychological connections among the different stories. As the four stories progress toward their climaxes, the cuts become more rapid. Breaks between the differing time-periods are marked by the symbolic image of a mother rocking a cradle, representing the passing of generations.
One of the unusual characteristics of the film is that most of the characters don't have names. Griffith wished them to be emblematic of human types. Thus, the central female character in the modern story is called The Dear One. Her young husband is called The Boy, and the leader of the local Mafia is called The Musketeer of the Slums. Critics and film theorists indicate these names show Griffith's sentimentalism, which was already hinted at in The Birth of a Nation, with names such as The Little Colonel.
Actual costs to produce Intolerance are unknown, but best estimates are close to $2 million (approximately $41 million in 2008 dollars), an astronomical sum in 1916. The movie was by far the most expensive made at that point. When the movie became a flop at the box-office, the burden was so great that Griffith's Triangle Studios went bankrupt.
The film and its unorthodox editing were enormously influential, particularly among European and Soviet filmmakers. Many of the numerous assistant directors Griffith employed in making the film went on to become important and noted Hollywood directors in the subsequent years.
A detailed account of the film’s making is told in the William M. Drew's 1986 book titled D.W.Griffith's Intolerance: Its Genesis and Its Vision.6
A scene from the Babylon segment
Different existing versions
Although the film itself is now in the public domain, there are currently four major versions of the film in circulation.
- The Killiam Shows Version: This version, taken from a third-generation 16 mm print, contains an organ score by Gaylord Carter. Running approx. 176 minutes, this is the version that has been the most widely seen in recent years, and is currently airing on Turner Classic Movies. It has been released on LaserDisc and DVD by Image Entertainment. This is the most complete version currently available on home video.
- The Kino Version: Pieced together by Kino International, this version, taken from better 35 mm material, is transfered at a slower frame rate than the Killiam Shows print, resulting in a longer running time. It contains a synth orchestral score by Joseph Turrin. An alternate "happy ending" to the "Fall of Babylon" sequence, showing the Mountain Girl surviving and re-united with the Rhapsode, is included on the DVD as a supplement. This runs 197 minutes and is on DVD from Kino. While not as complete as the Killiam Shows Version, this print does contain footage not found on any other home video release.
- The Official Thames Silents Restoration: In 1989, this film was given a formal restoration by film preservationists Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. This version, also running 197 minutes, was prepared by Thames Television from original 35 mm material, and its tones and tints restored per Griffith's original intent. It also has a digitally recorded orchestral score by Carl Davis. It was released briefly on home video in the 1990s, but has never been telecast in the U.S. This version is under copyright by the Rohauer Collection, who worked in association with Thames on the restoration.
- The Restored Digital Cinema Version: Restoration conducted by ZZ Productions in collaboration with the Danish Film Institute and Arte France of the version shown on 7 April 1917 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London. This version runs approx. 177 minutes and premiered 29 August 2007 at the Venice Film Festival and on 4 October on arte.7
There are other budget/public domain video and DVD versions of this film released by different companies, each with varying degrees of picture quality depending on the source that was used. A majority of these released are of poor picture quality, but even the restored 35 mm versions exhibit considerable film damage.
Credits
- Directed and written by D.W. Griffith
- Assistant directors: Allan Dwan, Erich von Stroheim, Christy Cabanne, Tod Browning, Jack Conway, Victor Fleming, W.S. Van Dyke, Elmer Clifton, Monte Blue, Mike Siebert, George Siegmann
- Cinematography: G.W. Bitzer and Karl Brown
- Editing: James and Rose Smith
- Average running time of currently available copies: just under or over 3 hours (depending on the version available; scroll up for details)8
Cast
Trivia
- The massive lifesize set of the Great Wall of Babylon, seen in the fourth story, was placed at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard (where the historic Vista Theater was built and where it remains to this day) when the movie was completed. It was a notable landmark for several years, until the Los Angeles Fire Department declared it a hazard and ordered it torn down. D.W. Griffith discovered that he had run out of money and was therefore unable to finance its demolition. Apart from temporary use as a filming location in Griffith's 1918 film Hearts of the World, the set stood derelict and crumbling for nearly four years until it was finally taken down in 1919. By then it had fallen apart enough for it to be dismantled at a sufficiently low cost. The massive courtyard of the "Hollywood Highland Center" adjacent to the Kodak Theater in Hollywood is designed as a homage to the set. The developer of the shopping center built part of the archway and 2 pillars with elephant sculptures on the capitals, just as seen in the film to the same full scale. It gives visitors an idea of how large the original set must have been.
- The marriage scenes in the life-of-Christ part of the film were staged and shot according to Jewish tradition, under the supervision of Rabbi Myers. He was the father of Carmel Myers, who played a slave girl in the Babylonian scenes.
- A major sub-plot, dealing with a real-life assassination, was cut from the French story before the film's release. The Christ episode was also substantially cut by Griffith before release.
- The role of the second Pharisee is credited to Erich von Stroheim. However, von Stroheim did not play this role. Griffith decided to use von Stroheim's name as a pseudonym for actor William Courtright, who actually plays the role. This has caused much confusion over the years. Von Stroheim's only work on this film was as a production assistant for the Babylon sequences.
- Ruth St. Denis is listed by some modern sources as the Solo Dancer in the Babylonian Story, but she denied this in an interview. However, it is generally believed St. Denis and her "Denishawn dancers" appear on the steps of the Babylon set in the great courtyard scene. Ted Shawn also had an uncredited role16.
- Griffith was forced to re-shoot the sequence of the crucifixion because certain organizations were saying that Griffith shot too many Jewish extras around the cross, and not enough Romans. Griffith then burned the footage and re-shot the scene with more Roman extras.
- Joseph Henaberry was hired to shoot some additional scenes of semi-nude slavegirls when the front office declared that the film needed "more sex".
- The title and some lines from the poem "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" by Walt Whitman are used as intertitles in the movie.
- Cameraman Karl Brown remembered a scene with the various members of the Babylonian harem that featured full frontal nudity. He was barred from the set that day, apparently because he was so young. While there are several shots of slaves and harem girls throughout the film (which were shot by another director, without Griffith's involvement) the scene that Brown describes is not in any surviving versions.17
- The briefly-glimpsed part of Marguerite de Valois, in the French Story, is credited to an actress named Georgia Pearce. 'Georgia Pearce' is actually the pseudonym of actress Constance Talmadge, who plays the Mountain Girl in the Babylonian section of the film. It is not clear why a different name was adopted for this tiny second role.
- The execution scene that concludes the Modern Story was supervised by Martin Aguerre, who was a former warden of Sing Sing Prison. Mr. Aguerre also supervised the building of the gallows used in the scene.
- Charles IX's brother, the future Henri III, is referred to as "Monsieur la France". This title never existed and is quite ridiculous to audiences in France, as it is grammatically incorrect in french : the king of France's brother was traditionally referred to as "Monsieur" or "Monsieur, frère du Roi".
See also
References
- ^ Tim Dirks, "Intolerance (1916)", The Best Films of All Time - A Primer of Cinematic History, on line.
- ^ Franklin, Joe: Classics of the Silent Screen, The Citadel Press, New York, NY, 1959
- ^ Zito, Stephen F., American Film Institute and Library of Congress, Cinema Club 9 Program Notes, Post Newsweek Stations, Washington, DC, Nov., 1971
- ^ Huff, Theodore quoted in Classics of the Silent Screen, The Citadel Press, New York, NY 1959
- ^ Franklin, Joe: Classics of the Silent Screen, The Citadel Press, New York, NY 1959
- ^ William M. Drew, D.W.Griffith's Intolerance: Its Genesis and Its Vision, Jefferson, NJ, McFarland & Company (1986); (2001). ISBN 0786412097
- ^ La Biennale di Venezia
- ^ Internet Movie Database - Full credits
- ^ MovieTome
- ^ MovieTome
- ^ MovieTome
- ^ MovieTome
- ^ MovieTome
- ^ MovieTome
- ^ Internet Movie Database - Full credits
- ^ "Ted Shawn", IMDB
- ^ Internet Movie Database - Trivia
External links
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