Griffith’s subsequent career. (see Ch 37)

When Griffith left Biograph in October 1913 and joined Harry and Roy Aitken, most of his acting troupe went with him and Billy Bitzer also resigned on December 1, 1913 ¹. Griffith, who at Biograph felt hindered in his plans to make longer films by ‘the idiots from the front office’ ², joined Aitken to lead the “Reliance” and “Majestic” studio’s. ³. He produced a number of films for Majestic Motion Picture Company :

[[tt0003167]]

Home Sweet Home (May 1914) screenplay D.W. Griffith and H.E. Aitken with Henry B. Walthall, Lilian and Dorothy Gish, Mae Marsh, Spottiswoode Aitken, Robert Harron, Miriam Cooper and Blanche Sweet for Majestic Motion Picture Company

⁴

[[tt0003643]]

The Avenging Conscience (D.W. Griffith, August 1914) camera G.W. Bitzer, with Henry B. Walthall, Spottiswood Aitken, Blanche Sweet, Mae Marsh and Bobby Harron for Majestic Motion Picture Company ⁵.

[[tt0005381]]

Ghosts (G. Nichols, June 1915) production D. W. Griffith with Henry B. Walthall, Mary Alden and Erich von Stroheim for Majestic Motion Picture Company (Mutual Master Pictures), distribution General Film

.

(For these three films see Ch. 33e)

Griffith told Aitken that he wanted to make a full-length feature film that would cost about $40,000 to produce. Harry and Roy, according to Roy’s testimony (in 1968), almost fainted ⁶. Yet Harry Aitken Griffith helped realize his mega-project ‘The Birth of a Nation’ (D.W. Griffith, 1915). When Aitken’s ‘Mutual’ partners saw nothing in it, he founded ‘Epoch Production Corporation’ with his own risk-bearing capital especially for this film, which led to a heated argument within ‘Mutual’, after which John Freuler fired Harry Aitken in May 1915, with shareholder support.

[[tt0004972]]

The Birth of a Nation(D.W Griffith, March 1915) camera Billy Bitzer, with Lilian Gish (Elsie Stoneman), Mae Marsh (Flora Cameron), Henry B. Walthall (Ben Cameron), Miriam Cooper (Margaret Cameron), Robert Harron (Stoneman’s youngest son Tod), Elmer Clifton (Stoneman’s eldest son Phil) and Spottiswoode Aiken (Dr. Cameron) for Epoch Producing Corporation ⁷

(see further Ch. 33g)

The Birth of a Nation was shot entirely by Billy Bitzer with one hand-cranked Pathé camera. The smoother, electrically powered Bell & Howell camera had just come onto the market, but the price prevented its use ⁸. With the exception of the battlefield scenes, filming took place primarily on the grounds behind the Reliance-Majestic studio’s on the corner of Sunset and Hollywood Blvd

For the ‘Birth of a Nation’ roadshow, the producer provided the projectors, the projectionist, a complete orchestra, the sound effects and the sheet music. In theaters that had a projector, the machine was removed and replaced with two projectors brought along, allowing the full length film to be shown without interruption ⁹.

Triangle Film

Harry and Roy Aitken from Wisconsin, successful film distributors, provided the financing for Griffith’s ‘Birth of a Nation’ with their ‘Epoch Film’. The film grossed $10 million and formed the basis for the founding of ‘Triangle Film Corporation / Triangle Motion Picture Company’. The collaboration was formed by:

• Reliance Majestic studio’s (Harry and Roy Aitken + Griffith),
• Keystone (Mack Sennett, financed by Kessel & Baumann)
• Kay Bee Studio’s (Thomas Ince, a subsidiary of the New York Motion Pictures Company (Kessel & Baumann)

Triangle was therefore a high-end studio, based on the talent and production qualities of Griffith, Thomas Ince and Mack Sennett and located in Culver City. Between 1915 and 1919, Triangle produced more than two hundred films. Aitken also founded the ‘Triangle Distributing Corporation’ to rent films from Reliance-Majestic, Keystone and Thomas Ince. Moreover the plan was to open eight high-end theaters, but Triangle developed only three in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, which had to be closed as early as 1916 due to lack of viability. Triangle produced Griffith’s ‘Intolerance’ but it was a financial failure, forcing the Aitken brothers to file for bankruptcy. William Wadsworth Hodkinson bought Triangle’s distribution network for $600,000 in 1917, after leaving Paramount, and Sam Goldwyn became owner of the bankrupt studio facilities in 1918. ¹⁰

¹¹

[[tt0006864]]

Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages(D.W. Griffith, August 1916) with Lilian Gish, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Sam de Grasse, Miriam Cooper , Spottiswoode Aitken for Triangle Film Corporation.

(see further Ch. 33g)

Griffith began production on a social drama entitled ‘The Mother and the Law’. The film would tell a simple story with Bobby Harron, ‘The Boy’ and Mae Marsh, ‘The Dear One’ as a couple with a child who become entangled in social structures. The industrialist in this film was a combination of John D. Rockefeller Sr. and Jr. On April 20, 1914, National Guardsmen dispersed strikers armed with machine guns at a Rockefeller mine in Ludlow, Colorado, killing the miners as well as their wives and children. Meanwhile, ‘The Birth of a Nation’ was an unprecedented success, grossing a huge box office. Griffith then expanded ‘The Mother and the Law’ into a film that rivaled ‘Birth of a Nation’ in scale. ‘Cabiria’ was a source of inspiration, both in terms of the scale of the scenes and the use of the moving camera.

But actually the film was a response to the attacks that the state censors made on ‘Birth of a Nation’. Griffith responded with a pamphlet entitled ‘The Rise and Fall of Free Speech in America’ and called his new film ‘Intolerance’. To ‘The Mother and the Law’ with its ‘American Story’ from 1914 an episode about the crucifixion of Christ was added and one about St. Bartholom’s murder on the Huguenots in 1572, a notorious example of religious ontolerance. In the Babylonian episode, Babylon in 539 BC is ruled by Belshazzar, who stands for tolerance and religious freedom. But the high priest disapproves of the hedonistic behavior and seeks revenge. The Persians led by Cyrus, who are on the side of the high priest, besiege Babylon. To celebrate Babylon’s victory, a huge set was built with a tower with two camera’s in a balanced elevator, while the tower itself could move on a track. The last half hour of the film became a race against time to save ‘The Boy’ from the gallows in cross-cut intersecting with the race of the ‘Mountain Girl’ on her way to Belshazzar to inform him of the high priest’s betrayal and the attack of the Persians. A trial performance of ‘The Downfall of All Nations’ was staged in Pomona, California in August 1915. It was ‘Intolerance’ in disguise. The presentation was not very successful and to give the film more commercial appeal, Griffith added erotic scenes to the love temple sequence. Furthermore he added to bridge the time jumps as a transition Lilian Gish with a rocking cradle. Griffith invested a huge amount of money in Intolerance, but the film made a loss. Twelve roadshow companies traveled around, each with their own orchestra, projectors and staff in theaters that were specially decorated for the screening of this film. De losses came on top of the fact that ‘Triangle’ was also not a success.

Griffith left at Triangle and signed a deal with Adolph Zukor, the founder of ‘Famous Players’.

In 1917 it looked like the Allies were going to lose the World War. Lord Beaverbrook, the British Minister of Information, invited Griffith to make a film to promote Allied interests. This became ‘Hearts of the World’ (for Famous Players - Lasky Corporation).

[[tt0009150]]

Hearts of the World(D.W. Griffith, March 1918) camera G.W. Bitzer, with Robert Harron, Lilian and Dorothy Gish and Kate Bruce for D.W. Griffith Productions / Famous Players-Lasky Corporation ¹² en ¹³

Griffith traveled to London in March 1917 to oversee the English premiere of ‘Intolerance’. England was at war with Germany and looked for US help. But President Woodrow Wilson and the American people wanted to remain neutral. Lloyd George, the English Prime Minister, saw film as a powerful propaganda tool and a way to mobilize aid. Griffith met Lloyd George and was introduced to members of the aristocracy and the Queen Mother Alexandra. After the Lusitania was torpedoed by a U-boat on May 7, 1915, the US declared war on Germany. Griffith was given permission to move along the front, but filming real action on the battlefield was not easy. That is why a battle that was part of the spring offensive was re-enacted by British reserve troops. The two Gish sisters, Bobby Harron and Billy Bitzer, arrived in Liverpool in June 1917 and filmed in English villages depicting France. Billy Bitzer was given a room with a bathroom with Bobby Harron, where he could comfortably develop films. Due to his special assignment from the English government, Bitzer was able to obtain as much film as he needed from the local Eastman branch. Normally, cinema was a particularly difficult product to obtain in wartime England ¹⁴. Griffith then went to France, where he worked with army cameraman Alfred Machin (see Belgium Chapter 45) and filmed the ruins of a village. Furthermore, recordings were made at Le Bourget Airport, Compiegne, Montreuil, Notre-Dames-de-Anges and Senlis France and in Cambridge, England ¹⁵.

But for further production he returned to California, where Griffith set up studio facilities in the still standing sets for ‘Intolerance’. He was assisted by the young Austrian Erich von Stroheim, who starred in the film and er ensured that the German military details were correctly depicted. On the site where the battlefield scenes for ‘Birth of a Nation’ were filmed, Griffith shot new battlefield scenes and merged them with material filmed in Europe. He also bought original German military recordings of troop movements, which he edited into the film. To turn the film into a real feature film, the love story of the Boy and the Girl, Americans in France, became the central axis of the film. They represent the morally high-minded good America, while the French are more of the loose ones. The figure of Von Strohm appears as the personified pars pro toto of the fanatical, perfidious German war machine. While the German soldiers are anonymous on the battlefield, Von Stroheim is the embodiment of evil, which almost triumphs, but à la Griffith is narrowly defeated. The film is somewhat self-laudatory: the battle between the French and Germans remains undecided for a long time, but the arrival of the Americans ensures that the Germans are defeated effortlessly. ‘Hearts of the World’ was a tremendous commercial success and Griffith sold the film as expressing the government’s position, automatically making criticism of the film unpatrottic.

[[tt0009559]]

A Romance of a Happy Valley (D.W. Griffith, January 1919) with Lilian Gish as Jennie Timberlake, camera Billy Bitzer for D.W. Griffith Productions, distribution Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Artcraft Pictures Corporation ¹⁶

[[tt0009109]]

The Girl Who Stayed at Home (D.W. Griffith, March 1919) screenplay Stanner E.V. Taylor, camera Billy Bitzer with Carol Dempster, Richard Barthelmess, Bobby Harron, Kate Bruce and Clarine Seymour for D.W. Griffith Productions / Paramount, Artcraft Pictures Corporation ¹⁷.

This was Carol Dempster’s first film (opposite Bobby Harron)

[[tt0010806]]

True Heart Suzie (D.W. Griffith, June 1919) camera G. W. Bitzer with Lilian Gish, Bobby Harron and Clarine Seymour for D.W. Griffith Productions, distribution Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Artcraft Pictures Corporation.

¹⁸.

[[tt0010662]]

Scarlet Days (D.W. Griffith, November 1919) screenplay Stanner E.V. Taylor with Eugenie Besserer for D.W. Griffith Productions / Paramount ¹⁹

²⁰

United Artists

The war was over in 1919. Griffith, together with Charles Chaplin, formed, Douglas Fairbanks, Gladys Mary Moore (i.e. Mary Pickford) (and William Gibbs Adoo, prominent Democrat and son-in-law of President Woodrow Wilson) on February 5, 1919 ‘United Artists’. Adoo was the legal advisor to the founders of United Artists. His first film for United artists was ‘Broken Blossoms’ (May 1919) which he dhe shot with Lilian Gish and Richard Barthelemes. The intention was that these artists could better pursue their own financial and artistic interests without the influence of commercial studo’s

[[tt0009968]]

Broken Blossoms, or The Yellow Man and the Girl (D.W. Griffith, May 1919) based on the novel by Thomas Burke, camera Billy Bitzer, with Lilian Gish and Richard Barthelmess for D.W. Griffith Productions/United Artists. ²¹

(see further Ch. 52)

Lilian Gish was struck by the Spanish flu and rehearsals started with Carol Dempster as observer, but Gish resumed rehearsals before she had fully recovered.

To portray the tender atmosphere of the relationship between the girl and the Chinese, Billy Bitzer opted for soft-focus by placing layers of gauze with a hole burned in the center in front of the lens ²². As a lens he used a 75 mm Dalmeyer f 1.9 soft focus ‘Patent Portrait’ lens ²³, introduced by Hendrik Sartov. By rotating the rear lens segment, the blur could be controlled. Other sources state that Hendrik Sartov was personally responsible for Gish’s dreamy images, maar in the title states clearly ‘Photography by G.W. Bitzer’ listed.

Adolph Zukor (Famous Players - Lasky Corporation and Artcraft, a subsidiary of Paramount) had financed the film but was dissatisfied with the result, a film ‘ in which everyone dies’. In his opinion the film was not commercial enough. Griffith therefore bought the film for $250,000 at and released it through United Artists, selling it as the first ‘Artfilm’, which no art lover should miss. The film grossed $700,000 in box office and was commensurate with the investment, with the exception of ‘Birth of a Nation’, Griffith’s highest grossing film.

Griffith after the fiasco of ‘Intolerance’ no longer had the option to invest large capital in planned films. So in mid-1919 he signed a lucrative contract with First National that he had to complete while affiliated with United Artists. Under this contract he made ‘The Greatest Question’, ‘The Idol Dancer’ with Clarine Seymour and ‘The Love Flower’ with Carol Dempster, with whom Griffith was dating.

[[tt0010193]]

The Greatest Question (D.W. Griffith, December 1919) camera G.W.Bitzer with Lilian Gish and Bobby Harron for First National Pictures / First National Exhibitors Circuit . ²⁴

This is with the exception of a 1921 release by Metro Coincidence Bobby Harron’s last film before his death (suicide?) in 1920.

Griffith moved back to the East Coast and acquired an estate in Mamaroneck, New York (now in the urban area) a lonely peninsula. But Griffith didn’t like the cold and took his troupe in December 1919 along on a trip to make two small films: ‘The Idol Dancer’ en ‘The Love Flower. Griffith shot both films in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and in Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas for First National Pictures in December 1919 ²⁵.

[[tt0011324]]

The Idol Dancer (D.W. Griffith, March 1920) screenplay Stanner E.V. Taylor based on the novel by Gordon Ray Young, camera Billy Bitzer with Richard Barthelmess, Clarine Seymour and Kate Bruce for D.W. Griffith Productions / First National ²⁶.

[[tt0011415]]

The Love Flower (Griffith, August 1920) camera Billy Bitzer based on the story “Black Beach” by Ralph Stock, with Carol Dempster and Richard Barthelmess for D.W. Griffith Productions / United Artists ²⁷.

De two films received very poor reviews: ‘ hastily made’ stated Variety. The two films both have Richard Barthelmess as the male lead, but different female stars. It is striking that the magic that occurs in “The Idol Dancer” between Richard Barthelmess and Clarine Seymour is in “The Love Flower” (Griffith, 1920) ²⁸ between Richard Barthelmess and Carol Dempster completely missing.

But after editing the film in April 1920, he bought the rights to The Love Flower for $400,000.— back. Apparently he was also dissatisfied with the result. In an attempt to save the film, he shot additional underwater footage of Dempster in Florida and footage of Dempster, MacQuarrie and Randolph against a black background ²⁹. Dempster’s sad facial expressions in these studio shots only add to the disgust against this film. The film was eventually released under United Artists.

In Mamaroneck Griffith began preparations for a new film, based on the repertoire piece ‘Way Down East’. He bought the rights for $175,000, built a childhood homestead on his estate and began an eight-week rehearsal period. The main character, played by Lilian Gish, is rejected by the family and leaves through a snowstorm and over the ice. When Richard Bathelmess’ double found jumping over ice floes too dangerous, assistant director Elmer Clifton took over his role. The recording of the dangerous rescue over the ice floes took many days and was unbearable for Gish and her stand-in. It was therefore decided to finish filming the following summer in Farmington, Connecticut. Wooden set pieces represented the ice shelves and Lilian Gish was able to keep her hand safely in the water without freezing. Shots of the Niagara Falls completed the illusion.

Griffith’s troupe was struck by two disasters: Griffith cast Clarine Seymour in the role of Kate Brewster, but during filming on April 21, 1920, Seymour developed an ileus (blockage of the intestine) for which she underwent surgery. Her condition did not improve and she also developed pneumonia, from which she died on April 25, 1920. Her role had to be reprized by Mary Hay. In addition, Bobby Harron, who had been passed over for the role of David Bartlett, died by suicide ttwo days after the premiere of ‘Way Down East’. Harron appeared in 160 Biograph films, was a good friend of Griffith and often came to him about the floor. He got important roles in ‘Birth of a Nation’ and ‘Intolerance’, but Griffith increasingly chose Richard Barthelmess. ‘Way Down East’ was very successful and although the ice scenes cost a fortune, the film made a significant profit.

‘Orphans in the Storm’ from 1921 was based on a play that had already been translated into 40 languages and was a success everywhere. A French Revolution setting was added to the story, partly under the influence of ‘Madame Dubarry / Passion’ (1919) by Lubitsch. Filming took place in Mamaroneck and the sets depicted 18th century Paris and filled half of the estate. Griffith significantly exceeded his budget for the film itself and also spent far too much on the road shows, which led to a loss. In addition, departed Lilian and Dorothy Gish, who set up their own company together with Richard Barthelmess and he lost Billy Bitzer by his alcoholism.

Griffith attempted to add synchroon sound to his silent film with ‘Dreamstreet’ (1921). To this end he used Orlando Kellum’s sound system, Photokinema, which used sound on a gramophone record. The sound quality was poor and the display system werd was only installed in two movie theaters in New York City. The silent version of Dream Street premiered on April 12, 1921. On April 27, the audio was recorded at Kellum’s Photokinema studio in New York, after which the audio version premiered on May 2 at Town Hall in New York City. Griffith provided a synchronized spoken introductiontie to the film and in addition there were two short sound fragments.

Griffith had to make a number of cheap films that generated revenueserden to cover costs. The first was ‘One exciting night’ (1922) with Carol Dempster. The exciting ending takes place during a completely out of control storm: the Mamaronech fire brigade sprayed two jets in front of a large propeller, trees fell and branches flew through the air. In this chaos, Carol Dempster played all the action herself. The film adaptation of the storm cost so much el money that the film did not cover its costs and the other ‘cheap’ films also flopped.

Griffith went to Louisiana to make ‘The White Rose’ (1923) with Ivan Novello and Mae Marsh. But the film felt old-fashioned and Griffith could not keep up with the innovations of the modern Jazz age. In 1924 he made ‘America’. The idea for the film came from film watchdog Will Hayes, who wanted to see patriotic films to give credibility to the film industry, which was suffering from a series of scandals, delivery. The film, which was shot in Mamaroneck, dealt with the confrontation between the British troops and the rebel militias in Lexington during the American Revolutionary War. An important scene was Paul Revere’s ‘Midnight ride’, a ride that played a crucial role in the Patriots’ victory at the following following battles at Lexington and Concord. Revere warned New England colonial militias of the arrival of British Army troops. Griffith zag that the future of his studio depended on the success of ‘America’ , but the film flopped and this marked the end of his role as leader of the film industry. Debts piled up and the studio was for sale.

Griffith went to Germany where he recorded ‘Isn’t Life wonderful’ (1924). He filmed the shame, hunger and humiliation of the German people. Gigantic inflation with rapidly rising food prices was depicted, just like in ‘Die Freudlose Gasse’ (1925) , by Carol Dempster standing in line at the butcher, where the price of beef shoots up every fifteen minutes, until she leaves despondent. In 1925 he made ‘Sally of the Sawdust’ (June 1925) with Carol Dempster and W.C. Fields for United Artists. When ‘Isn’t Life wonderful’ became a commercial flop, he had to leave United Artists,

Grifith joined Adolph Zukor / Paramount and created:

‘That Royle Girl’ (December 1925) with Carol Dempster and W.C. Fields.

In the Astoria Studios in New York he produced as a replacement for the embattled Cecil B. DeMille ‘The Sorrows of Satan’ (1926). But hin Paramount’s opinion, he rehearsed too long, went way over budget and felt sabotaged. The result was an abject commercial failure. In addition, Carol Dempster left Griffith. Griffith was devastated and drank too much. He returned to LA where Joseph Schenck gave him the opportunity for a comeback. He made the slapstick farce ‘Topsy and Eva’ with Del Lord and Lois Weber and produced ‘The Battle of the Sexes’ (1928) for Feature Productions (i.e. A. Joseph M. Schenck Production). ‘Lady of the Pavement’ did not make a big impression and the sound film ‘Lincoln’ (1930) became a commercial flop. Griffith, himself with an alcohol problem, made ‘The Struggle’ (1931) on his own account, which dealt with the dangers of alcohol abuse. But this sad film was a flop and was out of circulation within a week. This was followed by an audio version of ‘The Birth of a Nation’ with as an introduction an interview with Griffith and an audio version of ‘Way Down East’. Eventually Griffith returned to Kentucky, the land of his youth. In 1936 he received a lifetime Oscar. In July 1948, Griffith died alone, and his funeral was attended by only a few of his former stars.

Footnotes

1. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 89, 90 ↩

2. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 89, 90 ↩

3. Richard Abel. Encyclopedia of Early Cinema, Routledge, 2005, pg 16 ↩

4. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLDoYOJ0nXs ↩

5. www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVU09LEti9M ↩

6. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWOaVhjQxZE&t=920s tc 00:31:21 ↩

7. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebtiJH3EOHo ↩

8. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 4 ↩

9. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 5 ↩

10. www.wisconsinology.blogspot.com/2007/11/waukesha-brothers-invent-hollywood.html ↩

11. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wadsworth_Hodkinson ↩

12. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1INgb1d0IFs ↩

13. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1INgb1d0IFs&list=PLYbocufkwRFCeA_pFZEhXyChB36zVOuQ_&index=62 ↩

14. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 180-185 ↩

15. www.imdb.com/title/tt0009150/locations?ref_=ttco_ql_6 ↩

16. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHE3pGhYaiE ↩

17. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4FSqvpbvA8 ↩

18. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2whjaWXlz2g en www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxpjXrzWW4Q ↩

19. www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZEqS-4XS0 www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JT3tQo0hKY ↩

20. www.youtube.com/watch?v=49JR3C9e-DY ↩

21. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3qHmAQzg9M ↩

22. Billy Bitzer, His Story, Farrar, Straus and Giroux 1973, pg 206 ↩

23. www.antiquecameras.net/softfocuslenses.html ↩

24. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JT3tQo0hKY ↩

25. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Love_Flower ↩

26. www.youtube.com/watch?v=i30LuMFQKkE&t=317s ↩

27. www.youtube.com/watch?v=g67D8p0p4AM ↩

28. www.youtube.com/watch?v=g67D8p0p4AM ↩

29. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Love_Flower ↩