The Birth of a Nation
"The Fiery Cross of the Ku Klux Klan!"
Synopsis
Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.
Principal Cast8

Lillian Gish
Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

Mae Marsh
Flora Cameron

Henry B. Walthall
Col. Ben Cameron

Miriam Cooper
Margaret Cameron

Mary Alden
Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia

Ralph Lewis
Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman

George Siegmann
Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch

Walter Long
Gus
Media42
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Director

D.W. Griffith
Director →
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Collection
The Life of a Nation Collection
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Reviews1
He achieved what no other known man has ever achieved. To watch his work is like being witness to the beginning of melody, or the first conscious use of the lever or the wheel; the emergence, coordination, and first eloquence of language; thebirth of an art: and to realize that this is all the work of one man. - James Agee Griffith demonstrated to every filmmaker and moviegoer who followed him what a movie was, and what a movie could be. - Roger Ebert
Mar 3, 2018






































