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D.W. Griffith movies at the American Cinematheque (photo: D.W. Griffith circa 1915) A series of D.W. Griffith movies made at Biograph at the dawn of both the 20th century and the art of moviemaking will be screened at the American Cinematheque next weekend. "Retroformat Presents: D.W. Griffith at Biograph, Part 3 - 1909 – 1910" will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. in the Steven Spielberg auditorium of The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The evening will be hosted by Tom Barnes; musical accompaniment will be provided by Cliff Retallick. Among the D.W. Griffith films to be presented by Retroformat are the following: Lines of White on a Sullen Sea The Gibson Goddess The Mountaineer’s Honor Through the Breakers A Corner in Wheat Her Terrible Ordeal The Last Deal Faithful D.W. Griffith and his stars As found in Retroformat’s press release, those early D.W. Griffith efforts feature "innovative cinematography" by frequent Griffith collaborator G.W. Bitzer,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Nov. 5, 2013

Price: DVD $39.99, Blu-ray $49.98

Studio: Cohen Media

D.W. Griffith's 1916 silent epic Intolerance

Just one year after the huge success of his Birth of a Nation, pioneering filmmaker D.W. Griffith was emboldened to prove his faith in the new medium of motion pictures with his historical silent epic Intolerance.

Four separate stories are interwoven: the fall of Babylon, the death of Christ, the massacre of the Huguenots, and a contemporary (early 20th Century) drama — all crosscut and building with enormous energy to a thrilling chase and finale. Through the juxtaposition of these well-known sagas, Griffith joyously makes clear his markedly deterministic view of history, namely that the suffering of innocents makes possible the salvation of the current generation, symbolized by the boy in the modern love story.

Many of the leading stars of the silent screen appear in the classic movie, including Griffith regular Lillian Gish (Broken Blossoms), Mae Marsh,...

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight Written by Online Film Critics Society members Phil Hall and Rory Leighton Aronsky, What If They Lived? (BearManor Media, 2011) takes a look at the lives and oeuvre of celebrities whose film careers were prematurely curtailed by death. As befitting their book's title, Hall and Aronsky then wonder, "What if they lived?" Encompassing the early days of cinema all the way to the early 21st century, What If They Lived? features an eclectic mix of film talent gone much too soon. Those include Rudolph Valentino, Jean Harlow, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Dorothy Dandridge, Lon Chaney, Bruce Lee, John Belushi, River Phoenix, Mabel Normand, Carole Lombard, John Gilbert, Will Rogers, Robert Walker, Chris Farley, Natasha Richardson, and Heath Ledger, in addition to mostly forgotten luminaries such as early D. W. Griffith leading man Robert Harron, silent-era superstar Wallace Reid, Evelyn Preer, Carole Landis, Laird Cregar, Robert Francis,...

Every Sunday, Film School Rejects presents a film that was made before you were born and tells you why you should like it. This week, Old Ass Movies presents the controversial story of how the Kkk saved the south and how D.W. Griffith invented every camera trick you love. The Birth of a Nation (1915) Directed by: D.W. Griffith Starring: Lillian Gish, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, and Walter Long Growing up under the shadow of a grandfather who was a Civil War historian living in Arkansas, a grandmother who knew just as much, and two parents who collected antiques from the era, it was difficult to live in the present – especially around Christmas time when everyone would get together and exchange Mourning Jewelry and buttons that fell off the coats of dying men to be buried in the loam of Mississippi. It was also a melting pot of history and visions of where we, as...

Los Angeles Filmforum will present "D.W. Griffith in California," on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 pm. at the Echo Park Film Center. At the screening, film scholar Tom Gunning will discuss D. W. Griffith and his early Californian films. Six of those Griffith productions will be screened: Man’s Genesis (1912, 17 min); The New Dress (1911, 17 min.); The Massacre (1914, 20 min); The Unchanging Sea (below right, 1910, 14 min.); The Sands of Dee (1912, 17 min); and The Female of the Species (1912, 17 min). All in 16mm, with live musical accompaniment by Cliff Retallick. Among the early stars featured in those shorts are Blanche Sweet, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Arthur Johnson, Wilfred Lucas, and, [...]...