Intolerance (1916)
[[ tt0006864 ]]
__Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages __(D.W. Griffith, August 1916) camera G.W. Bitzer and Karl Brown, starring Lilian Gish, Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Sam de Grasse, Miriam Cooper, Constance Talmadge and Spottiswoode Aitken for Triangle Film Corporation 1
‘Our film is made up of four different stories, set in different periods of history, each with its own group of players. Each story shows how hatred and intolerance have, throughout all times, battled against love and charity. Therefore, you will see our film turning from one of the four stories to the next, as the common theme develops in each of them. Out of the endlessly rocking cradle’ (as a metaphor for time and to mark the transition from one story to the next).
In a heavenly light we see Lilian Gish as a mother sitting by the rocking cradle.
‘Today, as yesterday, endlessly rocking, and always with the same human passions, the same happiness and the same sorrows.’
‘Our first story – out of the cradle of the present. In a western city we find certain ambitious ladies working together to uplift humanity.’ The conservatively dressed ladies have a grim look. ‘Even the reform movement needs to be funded’ and the ladies say: ‘Now if we can just get Miss Jenkins interested - with her money.’ ‘Mary T. Jenkins, the unmarried sister of the autocratic industrialist, is having a party.’ In a deep space shot we see luxuriously dressed ladies and gentlemen in the foreground, while further back, on a higher level, an entire company is dancing in a spacious hall. Miss Jenkins receives the generally young guests and watches them meet each other and swing across the dance floor. But she herself is lonely and is shocked when she looks in the mirror (
‘The girl in our story keeps house for her father, who works in a Jenkins factory. He has a wage of $2.75 a day, a small garden, four chickens, four geese, and a fair amount of happiness and contentment.’ The chickens and geese roam the garden and Dad heads off to work. The girl gives him his tin lunch box. ‘Little Lovely’ / little Dear One is an over-enthusiastic girl.
‘The Boy, unaquainted with The Dear One, works in the same factory as his father.’ They also go together to their work. A stream of workers is on its way to work at the factory of ‘The Allied Manufacturers’. They flow into the factory gate.
‘An age intolerant of youth and laughter. The Vestalian virgins of the Uplift, looking for a financial contribution, succeed to reach Miss Jenkins.’ They are received by Miss Jenkins in her beautiful home and say: ‘We must have laws to uplift the people.’ And they describe in mental POV (
‘Now from yesterday’s cradle comes the story of ancient people, whose lives, though far removed from us, have the same feelings of hope and anguish.’ We see again the rocking cradle.
Ancient Jerusalem
‘Ancient Jerusalem, the golden city whose inhabitants have given us many of the highest ideals and sent us from the carpenter’s workshop of Bethlehem the Man of Men, the greatest enemy of intolerance.’ ‘At the Jaffa Gate’ it is bustling with merchants, camels, farmers and residents. A woman reminiscent of Mary sits on a sidewalk with her baby. We see ‘the house in Cana of Galilee’ (where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine). Through a gate we watch distant action in deep space (
France 1572
‘Another period of the past: 1572 - Paris a hotbed of intolerance in the time of Catherine de Medici and her son Charles IX, King of France.’ We look down a street in a French village at houses and people that can be seen far away in deep space (
We are witnessing ‘the betrothal of Marguerite de Valois, the King’s sister, to Henri de Navarre, a royal Huguenot, to guarantee peace instead of intolerance.’ The population cheers and waves flags, while a carriage with ‘Marguerite de Valois’ drives through the town and girls decorated with flowers throw flowers (symbol of love and fertility) at the carriage (
The current time
We return to the present day: ‘Back to our story today: the embittered Miss Jenkins joins the modern Pharisees and agrees to help the Uplifters.’ The ladies are happy with the help and thank Miss Jenkins. A party is organized as a diversion for the ‘male and female factory workers’ (
The Babylonian Era (Neo-Babylonian Empire, 626–539 BC).
‘And now our fourth story of love’s struggle against intolerance, in that distant time when all countries on earth recognized the dominance of Babylon.’ Once again we see the rocking craddle. We stand ‘outside Imgur Bel, the great gate of Babylon, in the time of Belshazzar, 539 BC. Merchants, farmers, East Indians with trains of elephants, Egyptians, Numidians and ambitious Persians spying upon the city.’ The initially small circular aperture gradually opens up to reveal the enormous set with the walls and gate of Babylon. From
We look from above ‘on the great wall, over which Prince Belshazzar, son of Nabonidus, apostle of tolerance and religious freedom’, passes with his horse-borne plateau, while below the statue of Isthar is carried by. From
‘The Mountain Girl’s brother, having some trouble with his high-spirited and rebellious sister, takes the case to court.’ He grabs his reluctant sister and brings her to court, ‘the first known court of justice in the world.’ A chief judge sits on a throne, with two fellow’s at a lower level next to him. ‘The Mountain Girl’s brother sayst that she is incorrigible.’ The Mountain Girl hears this testimony, in close-up (
We see again the rocking cradle: ‘Endlessly rocks the cradle, the uniter of here and hereafter, singer of sorrow and joy.
The current time
‘We come back to our story today. Because the dividend from the Jenkins factories is insufficient to meet Miss Jenkins’ increasing demand for charity, she complains to her brother, prompting him to take action.’ Jenkins calls his manager in a forceful tone and says: ‘Cut all wages by ten percent.’ The manager foresees problems. And when the wage cut is announced at the factory gate ‘a major strike follows.’ The workers protest: ‘They extort our money and use it to advertise themselves by ‘uplifting us’. We see how ‘The Boy’ rises up in the midst of a mass of workers. At a distance, the women and children of the workers watch the uprising with concern. Further along,‘hungry men (strikebreakers) are ready to take their places.’ And then the soldiers take their position, lying on the street and they even put machine guns into position. The soldiers shoot at the strikers and drive them away. The women, including little Dear One, are panicking. Deaths occur and the workers lay siege to the closed factory gate. The manager calls Jenkins who instructs him: ‘Clear the factory grounds.’ The managers standing inside the factory gate armed with rifles are now firing at the strikers. Deaths occur and the women react in panic. The Boy’s father is hit. ‘The loom of fate weaves death for the Boy’s father.’ The father dies in his son’s arms. Meanwhile, the factory manager sits in his enormous office, impassive and highly isolated. The father of the Dear One comes to tell her what happened. ‘After waiting for some time, an exodus starts. Many victims of the Jenkins family’s ambitions, including the Boy, are now forced to look for work elsewhere, moving to the nearby big city. The Boy leaves and walks past ‘The Friendless One, who is alone as a result of the strike’. The girl sits on the steps of her house and mourns. ‘The Dear One and her father’ are leaving for the big city and so is The Friendless One. ‘Fate leads them all to the same district. The Friendless One is immediately noticed and addressed by a gentleman with bad intentions. ‘Adversity makes her listen to this Musketeer of the Backyard’ and go with him. ‘The Boy fails to find work and ends up’ robbing a drunk man who has fallen unconscious. His sister enters the office of factory owner Jenkins. Meanwhile, the workers, accompanied by armed soldiers, crowd into the factory gate.
We see the rocking cradle again and return to Babylon.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
‘And again in Babylon: The marriage market. Money is paid for beautiful women, which are given, as dowries, to homely men, so that they may all have husbands and be happy. Lips glossy with henna juice; eyes outlined with kohl.’ A long pan passes by a number of well-endowed ladies (
‘The Rhapsode (helper of the High Priest of Bel) works in the tenements to convert apostates to the true worship of Bel.’ He is standing there among a whole circle of people when the Moutain Girl enters. The Rhapsode is happy to see her and makes advances again, which she rebuffs. ‘Put away your perfume and your garments of Assinnu, the female man. I will love no one but a soldier.’ (An assinnu was a male-born individual who lived or was perceived as feminine, closely associated with the cult of the goddess Ishtar). The Rhapsode is laughed at and flees. ‘The love-smitten (with Belshazzar) Mountain Girl swears to remain eternally faithful to Belshazzar.’ We see ‘the Virgins of the sacred fires of Life in the Love Temple.’ Attractive young women lie in graceful positions and look into the hand mirror. The recordings have a soft-porn character (
We again see the rocking cradle as the division between eras.
The current time
‘The Dear One now lives in her new environment, forced upon by the strike at the Jenkins factories. She has the same old love and dreams.’ She sits in her shabby room sewing and looks at ‘the geranium she pins her hopes on’. She hopes that she can take the unsightly plant to great heights and looks out the window, where a woman of the world is being followed on the street by men interested in her. The Dear One says to herself: ‘I’ll walk like them and maybe everyone will like me too.’ And she walks around the room in her ragged skirt like a lady. But then father comes in in his dirty work clothes. He has chest and back pain. ‘In the same neighborhood we also see the Friendless One again.’ She is sitting in a kind of harem pants drinking wine in a brothel where in the bachground people are drinking and dancing in deep space. She crosses ‘the hallway to the room where the Musketeer of the Slums’ is sitting. The image of the naked female figure chained to a rock (
The cradle continues to rock.
‘Because he is unable to adapt to the new circumstances, The Dear One’s father dies untimely.’ The Boy comes to visit the grieving Dear One. A tear runs down his face. The industrialist sits alone in the factory’s management office. From the endlessly rocking cradle --- the Comforter, out of Nazareth.’
Cana near Nazareth (120 km above Jerusalem)
‘There was a marriage in Cana of Galilee. John 2-1.’ We see the bride taking her first bite at the wedding dinner’. The bride is radiant. ‘Be as harmless as doves.’ Jesus and a group of followers enter the gate of the house where the wedding is taking place. Pigeons scurry around on the ground. A few pious Jews with tefillin on their foreheads ‘show their contempt and reject Jesus.’ Jesus enters the house: the blue virage that represents outside turns into amber (
Without a rocking cradle we will make another great leap in time.
France 1572
‘Brown Eyes and her family are blissfully ignorant of the web that bigotry is weaving around them.’ We are guests of de decent French Huguenot family. Father reads from the Bible, mother rocks the baby, the little daughter eats an apple and next to her older sister - Brown Eyes - sits her lover, Prosper Latour. ‘Love’s silent mystery.’ The little girl teasingly throws a piece of apple to the lover, who leaves a little later through the front door. While Prosper is being seen off at the front door by Brown Eyes and mother, the mercenary, who was previously interested in Brown Eyes, is already at the ready: ‘The mercenary becomes bold by passion’ and rushes towards Brown Eyes, takes her hand and declares his love for her. Brown Eyes finds that funny, but when he grabs her she says she doesn’t like it and he feels rejected.
The rocking cradle comes into view again.
The current time
‘In the good old summertime paasing days and her youth have healed the wound of The Dear One.’ In a beautiful orange viraged shot we see how a somewhat exalted Dear One and The Boy walk along the harbor. ‘At the end of a day on Coney Island’ the boy and the girl say goodbye decently. The Boy says: ‘Without trying to sleep over, I always go inside to see my girlfriends’ (for a cup of coffee). The Dear One rushes in and closes the door. The Boy pushes against the door, but she holds it closed from the inside. In a slight panic she says to herself: ‘Help me to be a strong girl.’ He continues to insist, but she says: ‘I’ve told you before and I promised the Virgin Mary (Virgin Lady) and my father that no man would ever come into this room.’ He replies: ‘Then I never want to see you again!’ and walks away. She doesn’t want that either now. But then he comes back and says: ‘I thought – imagine if we get married, then I can come in.’ She is enthusiastic about that. ‘It’s me. Kiss me ten goodbye and we’ll consider the matter settled.’ The Dear One opens the door a crack and gives him a shy kiss, after which she happily closes the door. She is madly in love.
‘The vast sums that Jenkins provides to be distributed by the busybodies as they see fit – for charity – makes the Uplifters the most influential force in the community.’ The door reads: Mary T. Jenkins Foundation Fund. The uplifters have a huge office that we first see as an empty decor, but which fills with employees via a fade (
Ancient Jerusalem
A group of Pharisees is talking shame about Jesus. ‘And the Pharisee says: Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. St. Matthew 11-19.’ (Jesus tells how the religious leaders speak of him: Behold a greedy man who loves a drink, is a friend of tax collectors and a friend of sinners. Jesus does not live an ascetic life, but mingles fully with the people). We see Jesus among ordinary people, but he declines a glass of wine. ‘An adulteress’ is attacked by an angry mob, including religious leaders, panics and tries to protect herself. ‘Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned; but what sayest thou? John 8.’ The panicked woman transitions through a hard cut at
The current time
In the office of the Uplifters, the ladies, self-satisfied, radiate their satisfaction: ‘It is peaceful in the…’ pub. We see an empty pub in which the furniture is roughly stacked and where the mirrors have been smashed. Done well, they radiate: ‘No dancing in…’ restaurants. In an oppressive vertical frame formed by curtains (vignette
‘The Boy, who feels firmly connected to The Dear One’s positive faith in humanity, takes steps with her on the right path.’ She teaches him to pray, after which she embraces and kisses him. She is wildly enthusiastic when he leaves. ‘The Boy tells his boss (the Musketeer) that he no longer needs his gun: he is done with his old life.’ The Musketeer finds this difficult to accept and it ends in a fight between the two. The Musketeer is knocked down and lies on the ground, while we see The Friendless One standing in deep space in the adjacent room. The Musketeer swears revenge and ‘organizes an old-fashioned ambush as an example to the other gang members and with the help of a number of men higher up in the organization. ’ The Boy is beaten up by a few men at his newspaper stall while incriminating material is stuffed in his pockets. Upstairs, The Dear One hears the noise downstairs (acoustic coupling
Again we see the cradle that marks the caesura in time.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
‘In Babylon, the High Priest of Bel courts public homage.’ The image of Isthar is solemnly carried into the temple. ‘Enraged by the worship of Isthar, he predicts the loss of their souls (drifting away from God) and the downfall of Babylon.’ He is disgusted by the idol of Isthar (
In ‘the Persian camp, Cyrus the world conqueror prepares for the titanic battle with Babylon, in a secret alliance with the priest of Bel.’ We see a huge army moving a huge bow and arrow. ‘The perfidious priest of Bel receives encouraging news from Cyrus.’ ‘Cyrus stands in his tent before the sacred image of the sun’, a rotating star-shaped sun wheel. By masking the lower third in black, the image gets a 2:1 widescreen aspect (
From the endlessly rocking cradle, baby fingers rise hopefully.
The current time
‘The little wife (The Dear One), now mother, prepares for daddy’s homecoming.’ A small baby’s hand holds his mother’s little finger in close-up (
The Jenkins Foundation comes into the picture. That’s where the Uplifters are taking the baby. The facility looks like a hospital from the inside, with nurses taking care of the baby and putting him in a crib. Outside, The Dear One walks past the facade of The Jenkins Foundation, ‘hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby’ and thinks: ‘Maybe they are right and the baby is happy after all.’ ‘Of course, the paid mothers are never negligent’: two nurses dance in the room where the baby lies alone in its crib. The Dear One has ‘a new pastime: watching the happiness of others.’ She looks from outside (in blue toning) through the window of a family. The family with father, mother and child sits together harmoniously in amber toning.
The cradle still rocks.
France 1572
‘On another sad day, memorable for its intolerance’ we are again at the court of Catherine de Medici and her son Charles IX. In a town the population flees from the Huguenots who storm through the streets on horseback. They arrive at the castle of Charles IX, which soldiers in armor and with lances defend against the attack of the Huguenots. ‘The threatening attitude of the Huguenots throughout France is reported to Catherine. The ‘old serpent’ uses the attack to stir up the spirits of the Catholics against the Protestants.’ ‘Remember, gentlemen, the Michelade that took place (on September 29, 1567) in Nîmes, when hundreds faithsfellows perished in the hands of the Huguenots! (a group of Huguenots murdered Catholic clergy and officials on St. Michael’s Day and threw their bodies into the well of the Episcopal Palace). We see in mental POV at
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
‘Cyrus marches against Babylon with in his hand the sword of war, the most powerful weapon forged in the flames of intolerance.’ Cyrus mounts the chariot and leads the army. A procession with enormous weaponry starts moving. ‘Belshazzar leaves to take charge of the city’s defense.’ He bids farewell to the Princess Beloved who says: ‘My Lord, I will keep my tears like white pearls in an ark of silver for your return. I bite my thumb. I strike my girdle! If you do not return, I will go to the death halls of Allat’ (Goddess Allat or Al Lat, the feminine form of Allah). The princess kneels before Belshazzar and is left sad. The Mountain Girl’s father tries on a suit of armor and picks up a bow. The Mountain Girl enters and puts on a suit of armor previously rejected by her father. ‘While the Princess Beloved prays, the Mountain Girl goes to fight for her Belshazzar. Babylon’s gates are closed against the enemy’ and large diagonal braces are placed against the doors. ‘War drums and trumpets!’ are being played. Belshazzar comes riding over the wall with his chariot: ‘On the walls of my city, I Belshazzar defy the enemies of Babylon, Allato! (3x).’ (Allato refers to the goddess Al Lat). A warrior on the chariot protects Belshazzar by holding up a shield. ‘Large moving siege towers covered with ox hide’ are rolled towards the wall. ‘Within the city walls’ masses of’s soldiers walk up, under which the Moutain Girl, closely followed by the Rhapsode. Old war instruments are used: rock throwers, catapults, battering rams, huge crossbows and boiling oil.’
‘Prayers are prayed in the temples, frankincense is burned’ and offerings are burned with dedication.’ ‘Beloved Isthar, forgive us though we have many sins. Now, in our behalf, draw your burning sword.’ The enormous statue of Isthar is worshiped by a multitude of its inhabitants. Meanwhile, the Moutain Girl shoots her arrows from behind the battlements. ‘The city is under attack from all sides.’ The image at
In the palace we see the Princess Beloved who says: ‘Help us Ishtar!’ Above the idol the light flickers. A soldier is bitten on the neck by the opponent, while another is pierced with a lance. Boiling oil is thrown down from the wall. ‘Babylon falls! Babylon, that mighty city, falls, falls!’ Men throw themselves at the feet of the Princess Beloved who panics and commands them to fight again. The townspeople are in panic: ‘Oh, God! Fight for us! Save us!’ A rock-thrower throws rocks and an ancient warrior is struck and dies. The Mountain Girl throws stones by hand. ‘The Princess Beloved, driven mad by the horrors of war, watches the battle from afar.’ ‘Large wooden towers against the walls’ are pushed over by the defenders with beams. ‘In the night’ (
A Sun Play of the Ages, Intolerance, a Drama of Comparisons, Act II.
‘The events depicted in Babylon in this final act correspond with the recently excavated (clay) cylinders of Nabonidus and Cyrus, which are related to the betrayal of Babylon by the priests of Bel. These cylinders describe the greatest treason of all history, which destroyed a civilization of countless ages and a universal written language (the cuneiform) was made to become an unknown cypher on the face of the earth.’
The rocking cradle again indicates the caesura in time.
The current time
In our modern story, the Musketeer, in whom a new fire is kindled by a new face, wins the trust of the little mother by the promise to bring back the baby. He gestures that he will arrange that shortly. But the Friendless One, the girlfriend of the Musketeer, is ‘jealous’ when she sees how the Musketeer is talking to The Dear One. After returning home she takes off her hat and lies down in bed. The Boy returns from prison to The Dear One. She shows him the baby’s sock and tells him that the baby has been taken and is now in a bed at The Jenkins Foundation (mental POV
The rocking cradle again indicates the caesura in time.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
‘The Feast of Belshazzar in the great courtyard of the palace where Babylon’s victory is celebrated. Before the nobles of Babylon Belshazzar pours out the colossal hospitality that existed in ancient times.’ Now follows an overview shot of the courtyard filmed from a moving balanced elevator with two cameras’s (G.W. Bitzer and Karl Brown) (
‘At the tenements, the Mountain Girl is given a simple meal, her last in Babylon’. She milks a goat for that. ‘At the table of Egibi, Babylon’s most important noble’, ‘spiced wine cooled with snow from the mountains’ is drunk in a decadent setting while Egibi strokes a leopard covered in flowers. That contrasts quite a bit with the Mountain Girl who is overjoyed with the cup of goat’s milk. Relational cross-cut
Without a rocking cradle we are going to another period.
France 1572
‘Catherine de Medici holds an audience with the King to secure his signature to the order for the St. Bartholomew massacre.’ But the King doesn’t support this: ‘I will not consent to this intolerant measure to destroy members of my people.’ Catherine responds angrily: You must! But the King refuses in a close-up full of fire (
‘Prosper and Brown Eyes get engaged. The wedding banns and tomorrow St. Bartholomew’s morn.’ Brown Eyes reacts somewhat shyly to Prosper and flies into her mother’s arms after his departure. Father, mother, little sister and Brown Eyes kneel and pray before going to sleep. ‘The candles are blown out and the lights go out.’ Brown Eyes and her sister go to bed. But ‘Prosper wonders what that ominous military activity’ on the streets means. In blue virage we see groups of soldiers in armor and with halberds appearing on the streets. It is ‘the eve of St. Bartholomew. The fateful chalk marks appear on the doorways of Huguenots.’ Meanwhile, the sisters sleep unaware of their fate. ‘Prosper lives on the other side of town.’ Soldiers walk past Brown Eyes house with the chalk mark. One of them pauses there and remembers Brown Eyes.
Once again we fly through time without a rocking cradle.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
A sacred dance in memory of the resurrection of Tammuz is held in the Love Temple (The resurrection of the fertility and agricultural vegetation god Tammuz, attributed to Isthar, marked the beginning of spring in Babylonia). A frenzied crowd worships the image of Isthar. The camera lift drops the camera into the main courtyard of the palace (
‘While the gates are manned by their own guards, the priests are led by the Rhapsode, on their mission of treason, to Cyrus’ camp. The Rhapsode finds the Mountain Girl at the gate, embraces and kisses her. The great gate is opened and the chariots with the priests rush out. ‘For the sake of her Prince (Belshazzar), the Mountain Girl’ flirts with one of the priests and is allowed to climb onto his chariot. The priest picks her up and kisses her, to her indignation, whereupon she throws him from the chariot. The gatekeepers stop her, but full of suspicion about (the purpose of) the hated journey of the priests to Cyrus, she uses the password to follow them.’ She is allowed to continue and rushes away.
And there’s the rocking cradle back again.
The current time.
‘The Musketeer of the Slums chooses a suitable time to visit the little wife (The Dear One).’ He kisses the Friendless One who appears to be sleeping in the bed and leaves. But as soon as he leaves she jumps out of bed fully dressed, puts on her hat and puts a gun in her bag. Meanwhile, The Boy is in the pub with friends. The Musketeer arrives in the stairwell of The Dear One’s home and is spotted there by an acquaintance. The Musketeer goes upstairs to The Dear One’s home and enters with an excuse: ‘Can I get the address from you where The Boy is?’ Meanwhile, The Friendless One also comes up the stairs. Once inside, the Musketeer locks the door. The Friendless One now stands in the stairwell in front of the door, with the revolver in her bag, and listens. The Musketeer says: ‘You know me – I can get the baby for you.’ The Friendless One is standing outside the door, gritting her teeth. Meanwhile, the Musketeer’s acquaintance informs The Boy that the Musketeer is with his wife: ‘I just saw the boss go upstairs to visit your wife.’ The Friendless One stands in front of the door, revolver in hand, suffering. As The Boy runs upstairs, the Musketeer tries to overwhelm The Dear One (
‘Towards the end of The Boy’s trial for murder’, the officer testifies, with the revolver in his hand, while The Dear One, in black clothing, anxiously follows the proceedings. The Friendless One sits among the audience and keeps quiet. The Boy must testify. ‘Love’s courageous encouragement’ comes from The Dear One, which we see in close-up (
Without a rocking cradle we go back in time.
Ancient Jerusalem
‘Outside the Roman courthouse, after the judgment of Pontius Pilates the mob shouts: ‘Let Him Be Crucified.’ Jesus carries the cross on his shoulders and collapses under it.
Without a rocking cradle we go forward in time.
The current time
‘The Boy’s sentence is pronounced. The Dear One nervously picks at a tissue, but still has hope: ‘Please – Mr. Judge –’. ‘Hanging until death, death, death!’ Both The Boy and The Dear One are speechless. But then she responds with wild denial and faints. The Friendless One sits coolly in the room and looks around. In the stairwell, The Dear One meets ‘The friendly local police officer’. He ‘learns the verdict.’ The Dear One enters her home. We see her successively in medium-close, close and extremely close.
Jenkins and his sister Mary have a nice get-together with the Uplifters: ‘People everywhere are singing your praises’. Jenkins likes that. The Friendless One has an ‘irresistible urge’ to visit the crime scene again and is already walking towards the stairs when the police officer comes down the stairs. She ducks away and pretends to put on makeup. The police officer thinks this is strange behavior.
We go back in time without a rocking cradle.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
‘In his distant camp, Cyrus waits for the priests’ who are heading towards him in the chariots. ‘The Mountain Girl boldly pursues them in a two-horse chariot.’
The current time
It is ‘the day before The Boy’s execution.’ The police officer is visiting The Dear One. He moves the bed aside and looks out the window through which The Friendless One fired her shots and sees the ledge she was standing on. ‘The nice local police officer has the feeling that The Boy has been wrongly convicted, by some mischance of fate, and draws some hope from the governor’s visit to the city. The Dear One feels a glimmer of hope again. The Boy emerges from his cell in prison garb. The Friendless One struggles with her guilt when she thinks about The Boy (mental POV
And there’s the rocking cradle back again.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
The procession of chariots with the priests enters ‘the tent camp of Cyrus’. And ‘the Mountain Girl observes the arrival of the priests from a distance.’ ‘The Great Conspiracy’: the priests walk in and bow to Cyrus, who sits on a throne.
Again we see the rocking cradle.
‘It is the last dawn for The Boy and time for the executioner to test the gallows.’ A group of prison staff mounts the scaffold with a bag of stones hanging from the noose. Three employees have to cut a cord to open the trapdoor. And that works properly. Meanwhile, The Boy is awakened. The local police officer returns to The Dear One and says that revision has been refused by the governor. Meanwhile, The Friendless One can’t stop herself from visiting the crime scene. She walks up the stairs and arrives at the door of The Dear One’s apartment. She hears her shouting at the police officer (acoustic coupling
France 1572
It is ‘the morning of St. Bartholomew’s Day. The bell of St. Germain rings’ and Catherine de Medici reacts with great excitement. The Duc d’Anjou looks at his mother meaningfully: now it is going to happen. And Charles IX sits desperately on the throne. The soldiers are on the move: ‘The beginning of the St. Bartholomew’s massacre.’ Citizens are attacked by soldiers on the street. ‘For Brown Eyes this is a terrible awakening.’ She flies up (acoustic coupling
We move forward in time again without a rocking cradle.
The current time
The taxi arrives at the governor’s house and The Friendless One’s taxi also arrives there. But ‘The Dear One’s plea to the governor is in vain.’ The Dear One sits down on the sidewalk and doesn’t want to go any further. The local police officer suddenly sees The Friendless One walking and goes after her. He speaks to her just before the taxi. Meanwhile, the governor leaves with the car accompanied by his wife. The Friendless One confesses to the officer that she killed the Musketeer: ‘I killed him! I did it, I did it!’ That means they ‘try to overtake the governor before he gets to the train.’ The taxi drives away.
Now we see the rocking cradle again.
The Babylonian Era,539 BC
The Mountain Girl leaves with her flower-decorated chariot (
Without a rocking cradle we go back to the present.
The current time
The Boy receives ‘the last sacrament’ from the priest. At the same time, the governor arrives at the train station. The Boy is desperate. The train with the governor leaves. At the station there is a racing car with the number 8 on the radiator, including driver. The police officer, The Dear One and The Friendless One arrive at the train station and see that the train has left. They ask the driver with ‘No 8 to follow the train and the car leaps with a new impulse.’ The Dear One, The Friendless One and the police officer are on board.
Now we see the rocking cradle again.
The Babylonian Era
A horde of soldiers advances and at the same time the Mountain Girl rushes to Babylon on her chariot full of flowers. In a shot where both the top and bottom thirds of the frame are covered by a blurry black mask (
The current time
The Boy prays with the priest as the race car speeds along the road along the track.
Now we see again the rocking cradle with the title over it: ‘Intolerance, burning and slaying.’
France 1572
Soldiers drive the Huguenots out of the castle and kill them. An old man hides a terrified girl under his long coat.
The Babylonian Era
‘In the doomed city’ we see a man and his girlfriend in a lavish / decadent setting saying to each other: ‘Our marriage will be announced tomorrow.’ A Babylonian boy with a flower sprig in his hand says to his girlfriend: ‘This bud will blossom tomorrow.’ We see a graceful lady dressed in voile, covered in flowers and holding a horn of plenty. ‘Beloved, I will start building your city tomorrow’ says Belshazzar to Princess Beloved. That makes her happy. But in the meantime Cyrus is in cold blue virage on his way on his chariot. _‘Cyrus is on his way to destroy Babylon: in two reverse tracking shots’s we see Cyrus speeding along on his chariot (
France 1572
The soldiers are killing off the urban population. A friend says to Prosper who is staying on the other side of town: ‘Catherine de Medici, that old cat, is scratching out the lives of all your people.’ The soldiers rush by and ‘at Brown Eyes’ house the mercenary sees his chance.’ The soldiers ram the door with a battering ram. ‘Prosper with a badge of safety (a white cloth around his arm and a password) tries to rescue his loved ones. There is panic in Brown Eyes’ house. Everyone is loading guns and when the door is rammed open, father shoots at the soldiers who enter. He flees to the room where Brown Eyes and the rest of the family are standing. Soldiers bang on the door of the room and a wild man holds a toddler upside down by his legs. The soldiers break into the room (
We now see the rocking cradle again.
Ancient Jerusalem
Jesus is handcuffed and driven along with a sign around his neck.
The Babylonian Era
We are witnessing ‘Babylon’s last bachanal.’ From a high vantage point, the camera elevator enters the large courtyard of the palace (
The current time
At the same breakneck pace, the steam train speeds along, while The Dear One, The Friendless One and the police officer in the racing car try to overtake the train. Meanwhile, The Boy is given the last rites by the priest, after which he faints in his arms.
We now see the rocking cradle again.
France 1572
The mercenary threatens Brown Eyes with his saber (
The rocking cradle appears again.
The current time
The train rumbles on and in the racing car the accelerator is pressed again. They manage to overtake the train and park the car on the track in front of the approaching locomotive. The governor wonders why it is being stopped.
France 1572
The mercenary plunges his saber straight through Brown Eyes, who falls dead, and he wonders what he’s done. Catherine de Medici and Charles IX leave the castle. She looks with satisfaction at the large number of victims lying in front of the gate. Prosper finds the dead Brown Eyes and takes her in his arms. The city streets are littered with victims. Prosper carries Brown Eyes to the front door where a group of soldiers shoot him. Prosper and Brown Eyes lie on the street among a lot of other victims.
The rocking cradle appears again.
The Babylonian Era
The gates of Babylon are opened to the returning priests. Meanwhile, ‘Cyrus joins forces with his deputy Gobyras (general Gobyras led the troops that took Babylon). ‘The Mountain Girl’s warning is delayed by the revelers.’ They stop the Mountain Girl’s wagon outside the gate. Meanwhile, the priests ride into town.
The rocking cradle appears again.
The current time
‘A new plea’: The Dear One, The Friendless One and the local police officer come to the governor in the train car, tell them that The Friendless One fired the shots and beg to stop the execution. Meanwhile, the priest and The Boy pray in prison. The governor instructs his assistant to withhold the execution.
The rocking cradle appears again.
The Babylonian Era
The Mountain Girl arrives in the large courtyard of the palace. She jumps out of the chariot, kneels before Belshazzar and tells excitedly how Cyrus threatens Babylon. ‘While Belshazzar doubts, Cyrus’ army enters through the gates left open by the priests.’ A mass of soldiers storms into the city and begins killing civilians. ‘Belshazzar is at last convinced by his own servants’, rises, draws his sword, and takes his shield. Belshazzar’s two swords man, the loyal bodyguard goes with him to battle. In the Love Temple the lovely girls wake up from their dreams. There is general panic. The Princess Beloved is besides herself. ‘Belshazzar has only twelve guards to defend his palace against Cyrus’ hordes’ and they are killed. ‘The Princess calls in vain and in panic Isthar to help Babylon. The Mountain Girl shoots arrows at the enemy with her bow. ‘To protect Belshazzar from the shame of captivity, his men send him back to his throne.’ ‘At the threshold of death’ Belshazzar’s bodyguard bids a touching farewell to Belshazzar. ‘The farewell’: the men kiss (
The rocking cradle takes us back to:
The current time
The governor’s assistent will pass on his order to the prison. The police officer, The Dear One and The Friendless One quickly leave with the car. Meanwhile, The Boy walks to the scaffold, mumbling prayers, with the priest and prison staff. The priest swoons with emotion.
Ancient Jerusalem
In a double-exposed shot we see the three crosses on Golgotha, with a crowd of people in front of them.
The current time
The Boy is brought to the scaffold. The governor’s assistant calls the prison. The Boy’s hands and feet are tied. In prison the phone is answered by a guard. He rushes to the place of execution. While the noose is placed around The Boy’s neck, the guard rushes upstairs. He informs the director that the execution cannot go ahead. But the director doesn’t seem to take that seriously. Meanwhile, the car with the police officer, The Dear One and The Friendless One arrives at the prison. Prison staff are ready to cut the cords. But there is the local police officer with the governor’s order in his hand. Now the director orders the execution to be stopped. The local police officer rushes upstairs and shows the governor’s order. The astonished Boy is freed again and falls into the arms of the very happy Dear One.
‘When cannons and prison bars wrought in the fires of intolerance –’ We see a battlefield, where lightning strikes. Two armies go against each other and a hand-to-hand battle takes place. Prisoners raise their fists. But then a heavenly image appears over the battlefield. ‘And perfect love shall bring peace forevermore.’ Soldiers drop their guns to the ground. Above the battlefield, high above the clouds, we see the sky with angels in double exposure. ‘Instead of prison walls, bloom flowery fields.’ A stone prison disappears through a fade and a flowering field appears. Workers work in the fields and we see an outdoor party where a cannon on which children are sitting is overgrown with ivy. Children play happily and the atmosphere is harmonious, while heaven appears again in the sky.
The rocking cradle that represents time comes into view again. End.
Mental POV:
- The Uplifters describe in mental POV (
00:06:36 ) how people drink and play in the pub. And there is dancing in restaurants (mental POV00:06:44 ). - The Dear One sits by the crib and thinks about The Boy (mental POV
01:15:05 ) who is stuck behind bars. - We see in mental POV (in the mind’s eye of Catherine de Medici) at
01:23:16 how Huguenots kill men and women and throw them off the battlement wall of the palace, while they smash a statue of Mary. - The Boy returns to The Dear One from prison. She tells him that the baby was taken and is now in a bed at The Jenkins Foundation (mental POV
01:41:25 ). - The Friendless One thinks back (mental POV
02:04:33 ) to the farewell she said to The Boy after the factory strike, when she left for the big city. - The Public Prosecutor interrogates The Boy with the gun in hand. He says that he gave his gun back to the Musketeer when he mended his ways (mental POV
02:07:53 ) and therefore no longer had a gun. - The Boy emerges from his cell in prison garb. The Friendless One struggles with her guilt when she thinks about The Boy (mental POV
02:13:52 ).
Relational cross-cut:
The panicking woman who is going to be stoned transitions via a hard cut at
‘At the table of Egibi, Babylon’s most important noble’, ‘spiced wine cooled with snow from the mountains’ is drunk in a decadent setting while Egibi strokes a leopard covered in flowers. That contrasts quite a bit with the Moutain Girl who is overjoyed with the cup of goat’s milk. Relational cross-cut
Close-up:
A small baby’s hand holds its mother’s little finger in close-up (
The King doesn’t support the St. Bartholomew Massacre: ‘I will not consent to this intolerant decision to destroy members of my people.’ The King refuses in close-up full of fire (
Meanwhile, the police have arrived: they find the dead man, arrest The Boy and confiscate the weapon (close-up
The Boy must testify. ‘Love’s courageous encouragement’ comes from The Dear One, which we see in close-up (
The Dear One shouts (in close-up
In a close-up a black blurry mask makes The Friendless Ones’ eyes very dark and full of doom while a tear dangles under her eye (
Deep space:
Mary T. Jenkins, the unmarried sister of the autocratic industrial overlord is having a party.’ In a deepspace shot (
At the house in Cana in Galilee (where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine) we look through a gate into deep space at a distant action (
Belshazzar walks into a palace hall, while in deep space (
The Friendless One is sitting in a kind of harem pants drinking wine in a brothel where people in the background are drinking and dancing in deep space (
Vignette and Aperture:
In an oppressive vertical frame formed by curtains (vignette
Cyrus stands in his tent in front of a rotating star-shaped sun wheel. By masking the lower third in black, the image gets a 2:1 widescreen aspect (
From siege towers people climb up the wall with ladders, but the defenders, in a narrow vertical vignette (
The conspiring priests leave the banquet hall.’ In a small circular vignette on the right of the screen (
A horde of soldiers advances. In a shot where both the top and bottom thirds of the frame are covered by a blurry black mask (
Acoustic coupling:
The Boy is beaten up by some men at his newspaper stall. Upstairs, The Dear One hears the noise downstairs (acoustic link
The Friendless One walks up the stairs and arrives at the door of The Dear One’s apartment. She hears her shouting at the police officer (acoustic coupling
Citizens are attacked by soldiers on the streets. ‘For Brown Eyes this is a terrible awakening.’ She flies up (acoustic link
Advanced camera movement:
- The overview shot of the courtyard is filmed from a moving balanced elevator with two cameras’s (G.W. Bitzer and Karl Brown) (
01:42:18 –01:43:02 ). As we enter the scene, the elevator descends towards the dancers on the stairs down to floor level. We now continue towards the stairs (01:43:39 ) where the elevator goes up again, creating an overview. The camera now pans up past the enormous columns on which many of the inhabitants of Babylon and enormous statues of elephants stand (01:44:10 –01:44:35 ). The scale of the set is overwhelming. - The camera lift drops the camera into the large courtyard of the palace (
01:56:38 ), where in a backward tracking shot a dancing couple performs a dance amidst female dancers. The entire dance group now participates. - At
01:57:08 we are back in the large courtyard where the camera makes a backward tracking shot, changing in one movement to a forward movement towards the dancers. - In the courtyard the dancing couple dances towards the camera, while the camera (
01:57:55 ) moves towards them and immediately makes a retreating movement. - We are witnessing ‘Babylon’s last bachanal.’ From a high vantage point, the camera elevator enters the large courtyard of the palace (
02:29:00 ) where crowds of ’s people are walking around. At02:29:07 we cut to an overview of the stairs, which the camera drives into as it slides down. At02:29:13 we are even closer to the dancers.
Tracking Shot:
As soon as the Duc d’Anjou kisses Charles’ hand, a forward Cabiria movement begins, including a tilt-down to Charles and Catherine (
From
From
_‘Cyrus is on his way to destroy Babylon: in two rear tracking shots’s we see Cyrus speeding along on his chariot (
Long pan:
At
A long pan goes into the Love Temple past a number of well-endowed ladies (
Flowers as a symbol of love:
The carriage with Marguerite de Valois drives through the town while girls decorated with flowers throw flowers (symbol of love and fertility) at the carriage (
The Rhapsode has not yet given up his attempts to conquer the Mountain Girl and says to her (
A slave offers the princess a flower on his knees, which she presses against her cheek (
In the courtyard, Princess Beloved sits next to Belshazzar. A table separates them. ‘Beloved – a white rose – by Princess Beloved.’ The Princess kisses a white rose (
The Mountain Girl leaves with her flower-decorated chariot (
Violence against women:
The Rhapsode kisses the Mountain Girl on her shoulder. Today we would call that unwanted intimacy (
The image of the naked female figure chained to a rock (
Forcibly taking the baby can certainly be considered violence against women.
The Musketeer says: ‘I can get the baby for you.’ This is blackmail to get The Dear One into prostitution. As The Boy runs upstairs, the Musketeer tries to overwhelm The Dear One (
The soldiers break into the room (
The mercenary threatens Brown Eyes with his saber and tries to force himself on her. He takes her into a headlock while Prosper continues to attempt to reach Brown Eyes’ house. But the soldiers stop him. ‘Brown Eyes – ah me, ah me!’ Brown Eyes stands in a corner in terror (close-up
Virage / color as indicator of location:
Jesus enters the house: the blue virage depicting outside turns into amber (
Hands like claws:
A man is interested in the Mountain Girl and wants to touch the merchandise. But she doesn’t accept that, her hands become like claws (
Symbols:
The image of the naked female figure chained to a rock (
The Boy returns from prison to The Dear One. She shows him the baby’s sock and tells him that the baby has been taken and is now in a bed at The Jenkins Foundation (mental POV
The Friendless One waits on the first floor for an opportunity to leave unseen. A black blurry mask makes her eyes very dark and full of doom and a tear dangles under her eye (
The ‘Uplifters’
were moral reformers, mostly middle and upperclass women, campaigning against alcohol, dance halls and working class leisure. They believed they were improving society but are depicted as hypocritical, authoritarian and destructive. They are clearly not Suffragettes, who fought for women’s voting rights but both were women’s empowerment movements, which Griffith was suspicious of.
Belshazzar,
son of Nabonidus, the last king of the Babylonian Empire, was crown prince of Babylon, but during his father’s ten-year absence (553 – 543 BC) he acted as regent of Babylon with all the rights that come with kingship. He threw a big party for a thousand fellow rulers. During this banquet they used the cups that Belshazzar’s grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had stolen from the temple of Solomon. A text appeared on the wall, which they could not decipher. Daniel was able to explain the text: ‘Mene mene tekel ufarsin’, ‘counted, weighed and divided’, a warning from God because of the sacrilege. It was ‘a sign on the wall’, Belshazzar was weighed and found wanting. That same night the Babylonian Empire fell, Belshazzar was murdered and Cyrus the great took control of the kingdom.
Cyrus the Great
(circa 585 -530 BC) expanded the ancient Persian Empire into a world empire that stretched from the Indus to Egypt. Cyrus’ predecessors ruled as vassals of the Medes. Cyrus rebelled against his liege and defeated the Medes, becoming ruler of the Medes and Persians. He ruled over an area that included Iran and eastern Turkey. Then began the conquests of Baylon, Canaan, Egypt and Asia Minor. Babylon, the cultural capital of the world, which posed a threat to Cyrus’ Empire, was defended by King Nabonidus and his crown prince Belshazzar. After a year of fighting, Babylon fell in October 539 and Cyrus became king of Babylonia. Cyrus describes his victory in clay cylinders (found in 1879) that were placed as foundation deposit ’s in the foundation of the new Babylonian city wall. In this text, Nabonidus as a tyrant of low origin is contrasted with the high origin of Cyrus. Gobyras was a general under Cyrus the Great and played a key role in the conquest of Babylon. He led the troops that conquered Babylon without a fight.
The Denishawn Dancers,
who perform in the palace’s grand courtyard and in the Love Temple, were founded in Los Angeles in 1915 by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis, who were also a romantic couple. Among the students were the Gish sisters, Carol Dempster, Colleen Moore, Mabel Normand and Louise Brooks, who was 15 years old when she started at Dennishawn. The school became known for its influence on experimental modern dance. Part of the curriculum were Delsarte’s laws of expression, yoga and Oriental dances such as ‘Ishtar of the seven Gates’ led by St. Denis. Martha Graham the mother of modern dance started in this school in 1916 and stayed there for five years 3