Over his lifetime D. W. Griffith made 520 films, a record that is not likely ever to be equaled. He began at the dawn of the silent film era, ended just as the talkies were coming in, and during that time he transformed what had been a carnival novelty into a legitimate art form. One of his films was the first movie to be seriously reviewed in The New York Times. He is credited with either inventing or perfecting many of the film making and camera techniques we take for granted today: the closeup, the fade-out, intercutting. Almost single handedly he created the basic screen grammar of storytelling. But he is also credited with directing the most controversial film ever made in America, The Birth of a Nation. Its overt racism and its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan (which incidentally sparked its rebirth), caused riots when it was first shown. Nevertheless, it was wildly popular all across the country. Admired by President Woodrow Wilson, it was the first film ever shown in the White House, and it had a profound influence on a whole generation of American society. In segments over this six-week course, we will view in their entirety his two most important films, The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Before and after each week’s screening, we will consider Griffith’s life and career, and there will be time at the end of each session for comments and questions.

Richard Matturro, a native of Rye, New York, holds a doctorate in English with a specialization in Shakespeare and Greek mythology. After sixteen years at the Albany Times Union, he taught literature at UAlbany for fourteen years. He is the author of numerous newspaper articles and eight novels.

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