Birth : 22 January 1875
Died : 23 July 1948
Nationality :
Comment
David Llewelyn Wark " D W" Griffith was one a the great pioneers of the early American cinema. Between 1908 and 1931 he made nearly 500 films with many being typical dama and romance films of the period. He is remember for his very successful but controversial 1915 film Birth Of A Nation and the 1916 film Intolerance. Birth Of A Nation was the first full length feature film (it originally ran to 12 reels of film), used a number of pioneering techniques (with cinematographer G W Bitzer) but is considered controversial because of the way it deals with racism and was the highest grossing film until Gone With The Wind and possibly one of the most profitable films made. He was one of the founders of United Artists (with Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks) but he produced only a few films for them. One of the techniques he developed was that of parallel editing or cross cutting where the story swaps between two stories happenng simultaneously to heighten drama and emotion as he first used in Corner of Wheat in 1909. His first wife was Linda Arvidson.
Director
Sally Of The Sawdust (1925)
A Romance Of Happy Valley (1919)
True Heart Suzie (1919)
Intolerance (1916)
Birth Of A Nation (1915)
Home, Sweet Home (1914)
Mothering Heart (1913)
House Of Darkness (1913)
Death's Marathon (1913)
Narrow Road (1912)
The Female Of The Species (1912)
The New York Hat (1912)
The Musketeers Of Pig Alley (1912)
Mender Of Nets (1912)
An Arcadian Maid (1910)
As It Is In Life (1910)
Wilful Peggy (1910)
The Usurer (1910)
Country Doctor (1909)
Pippa Passes (1909)
Corner In Wheat (1909)
The Lonely Villa (1909)
Sealed Room (1909)
Producer
Sally Of The Sawdust (1925)
A Romance Of Happy Valley (1919)
True Heart Suzie (1919)
Flirting WIth Fate (1916)
Corner In Wheat (1909)
Sealed Room (1909)
Oscars
Honorary Award - 1936