The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman, is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play The Clansman. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay with Frank E. Woods and produced the film with Harry Aitken.
Plot
Phil, the elder son of the Stonemans (a Northern family), falls in love with Margaret Cameron (the daughter of a Southern family), during a visit to the Cameron estate in South Carolina. There, Margaret's brother, Ben, idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman, Phil's sister. When the Civil War arrives, the young men of both families enlist in their respective armies. The younger Stoneman and two of the Cameron brothers are killed in combat. Meanwhile, a black militia attacks the Cameron home and is routed by Confederate soldiers, who save the Cameron women. Leading the final charge at the Siege of Petersburg, Ben Cameron earns the nickname of "the Little Colonel", but is also wounded and captured. He is then taken to a Union military hospital in Washington, D.C.
Cast
- Bob Burns
- D. W. Griffith
- Donald Crisp
- Edmund Burns
- Elmer Clifton
- Elmo Lincoln
- Erich von Stroheim
- Eugene Pallette
- George Beranger
- George Siegmann
- Gibson Gowland
- Henry B. Walthall
- Jennie Lee
- John Ford
- Joseph Henabery
- Josephine Crowell
- Jules White
- Lillian Gish
- Mae Marsh
- Mary Alden
- Miriam Cooper
- Monte Blue
- Peggy Cartwright
- Ralph Lewis
- Raoul Walsh
- Robert Harron
- Russell Hicks
- Spottiswoode Aitken
- Wallace Reid
- Walter Huston
- Walter Long