The Fall of Babylon

IMDB says that this story was edited from D. W. Griffith's 1916 classic, "Intolerance". However, I think it uses some new material (or material filmed by not included in this epic) as well as many scenes from the previous film. Considering "Intolerance" cost an astronomical sum and had sets that are insanely huge and impressive, clearly the director was trying to squeeze more out of the existing sets.

This story only concerns the final days of the Neo-Babylonian empire. However, surprisingly, the story is NOT based on the fall from the Bible (as you might expect from 1919) but from historical records and a bit of fiction. The story is about a tom-boy who grows to adore the Prince, Belshazzar, and vows to fight for him against the invading Persian army under Cyrus the Great.

The story is mildly enjoyable. But the scope and magnitude of the sets is just overwhelming. It's massive beyond anything they could make today without using lots of CGI...and the case includes thousands. It also employs amazing costumes as well as the sets and the overall production is quite enjoyable and amazing to watch even today. I nearly gave it a 10, though the Princess' acting towards the end was way over the top....so I reduced it to a 9....which still makes it a well made spectacle.

After three years of worldwide box office returns from his "Intolerance" (1916) did not make up for its obvious cost, director D.W. Griffith released two of the film's interlocking stories as separate features. Those viewers familiar with "Intolerance" will immediately be able to identify which two of the stories could stand alone. They became "The Fall of Babylon" (comprising the film's opulent "Babylonian Story"), and "The Mother and the Law" (comprising the film's outstanding "Modern Story" segments). For both features, Mr. Griffith re-visited film cut from the original presentation; and, reedited the stories to include discarded footage. And, for both films, new 1919 footage was created.

"Intolerance" didn't meet box office expectations, but was immediately recognized as a classic. Much praise was given the stunning "Babylon Story" production; however, the "Modern Story" was, and still is, the main story. The release of "The Mother and the Law" does much better as a stand-alone film, and actually compliments the "Intolerance" story. This is not the case with "The Fall of Babylon"; there are only a few pieces which add any significant knowledge to the original. More importantly, this film alters the "Intolerance" version dramatically. Since he did not have the optimistic "Modern Story" ending, Griffith's newly shot footage gives "The Fall of Babylon" a happier ending.

The 1919 New York, George M. Cohan premiere was accompanied by several live stage interludes, where dancers and feasters joined those on film. Reportedly, the effect was stunning. Griffith actually started the "film" live, with an actress and globe (representing Earth) on stage. Some modern footage was projected on the globe before the Babylon film began. "The Fall of Babylon" contains the most lavish segments of "Intolerance" and does have a few enlightening moments - but, this is really not the best way to experience the full story. It's better to start with the original "Intolerance" and investigate the various versions of it, and these spin-offs (with breaks), if you're a scholar.

******* The Fall of Babylon (7/21/19) D.W. Griffith ~ Constance Talmadge, Elmer Clifton, Alfred Paget, Seena Owen

The Fall of Babylon (1919)

*** (out of 4)

A Mountain Girl (Constance Talmadge) is pulled out of her surroundings by a man who attempts to sell her but she is saved by another man. She falls in love with this man and agrees to go to war with him to try and bring down Babylon.

When INTOLERANCE was released in 1916, it wasn't the hit that director D.W. Griffith had hoped it would have been. It was a film unlike anything that had ever been made. It took four separate stories and edited them together to show how hate and intolerance has haunted the world throughout various eras. That film was a complete masterpiece but its box office failure meant that the director would release two of the four stories as stand alone films in 1919. THE MOTHER AND THE LAW was the modern story from INTOLERANCE and this here was the Babylon segment, which contained most of the great visuals.

Having now seen this film and THE MOTHER AND THE LAW, there's no question that both are quite good and entertaining but at the same time they aren't nearly as powerful as they were in INTOLERANCE. In fact, there's no question that people should check out the original 1916 film at all cost and only check out the two stand alone stories if they want to see everything that Griffith did. Both of the 1919 versions are worth seeing since you get to see the stories on their own and they do feature footage that wasn't used in the original.

Of the two stand alone films this one here is certainly the more entertaining one. It clocks in at just 62-minutes and we basically see the Mountain Girl's story as she eventually helps bring down Babylon. The amount of extras, the mammoth sets and the grand scale of this sequence is just something that had never been tried before and I'd argue that it hasn't been topped since.