45. By February 29, 1916, income from the sale of city and state rights had reached $237,500 ($100,000 for the Western rights, $50,000 for New England, $40,000 for Canada, $20,000 for California, $11,000 for Wisconsin, $11,000 for Spokane and Seattle, Washington, and $5,500 for Portland, Oregon. Income from the percentages paid on operations in these areas amounted to $38,240.85. Epoch Producing Corporation, Sale of City and State Rights, February 29, 1916, DWGP.
46. Epoch Producing Corporation, Treasurer’s Statement for February 1916, DWGP. On the foreign reception of Birth, see Michael Hammond, “‘A Soul-Stirring Appeal to Every Briton’: The Reception of The Birth of a Nation in Britain (1915–1916),” Film History, 11, no. 3 (1999): 353–70: Melvyn Stokes, “Fighting the Color line in Montmartre and Montparnasse: The Reception of The Birth of a Nation in France” (forthcoming).
47. Schickel, Griffith, 280–81; Henderson, Griffith, 159.
48. Musser, Emergence of Cinema, 417, 433; Bowser, Transformation of Cinema, 131.
49. Bowser, Transformation of Cinema, 210–12. Also see Cook, Fire from the Flint, 182.
50. In the same interview, Griffith claimed that people would eventually be willing to pay $5 to see a movie that had cost $2,000,000 to make. Citizen [Columbus, Ohio], April 2, 1915; Republican [Gloversville, New York], April 1, 1915; Chronicle [Augusta, Georgia], April 2, 1915; Times [Racine, Wisconsin], April 19, 1915; all in DWGP.
51. See, for example, Times-Picayune [New Orleans, Louisiana], March 31, April 4, 1915; “Seat Sale at Grand for ‘Birth of a Nation’ to Start Tomorrow,” Kansas City Post, October 21, 1915; “Don’t Miss This Chance to See Big Picture The Birth of a Nation,” Call [Allentown, Pennsylvania], March 30, 1916; all in DWGP.
52. “D. W. Griffith’s Great Idea and How He Worked Out Historically Accurate Battle Scenes with 18,000 Actors and 3,000 Horses,” Sunday Star [Terre Haute, Indiana], January 2, 1916, DWGP; Kansas City Journal, October 26, 1915, DWGP.
53. “Virginians First to See the ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Sentinel [Milwaukee, Wisconsin], July 14, 1915; “18,000 People in Film of First $2 Movie,” Sun [Baltimore], March 7 [?], 1915; St. Louis Republic, September 5, 1915; “Seat Sale at Grand for ‘Birth of a Nation’ to Start Tomorrow,” Kansas City Post, October 21, 1915; “Producing a Play on a Stage Five Miles Wide,” Sun, April 25, 1915; “Surgeons Busy When Birth of a Nation Filmed,” Press [Atlantic City], July 3, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ to Be Shown Here,” Kansas City Post, November 13, 1915; Evansville Courier, December 4, 1915; “What It Meant to Make the Picture,” Gettysburg Times, April 29, 1916; all in DWGP.
54. “Seat Sale at Grand for ‘Birth of a Nation’ to Start Tomorrow,” Kansas City Post, October 21, 1915, DWGP; The Patriot [Jackson, Michigan], February 10, 1916, DWGP. Other reports said that Lillian Gish, during the filming, wore several dresses that had earlier been worn by members of her family during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The Baltimore Star even asserted that one of these dresses was a family heirloom, once worn by her mother at a ball in Springfield, Ohio, that had been disrupted by Morgan’s Raiders! “Great Picture Spectacle,” St. Joseph New Herald, November 19, 1915, DWGP; “Foyer Chat and Footlight Gossip,” Star [Baltimore], April 6, 1916, DWGP.
55. For hostile reactions to the film, see Chapter 6.
56. “Birth of a Nation—Ford’s,” American [Baltimore], March 28, 1916; “You Should See ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Daily Times [Huntsville, Alabama], February 8, 1916; “National—‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Washington Herald, May 4, 1916; “‘The Birth of a Nation’ Draws Great Crowds,” Paragraph [Akron, Ohio], September 14, 1915; “Social Ideas Anent [sic] ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Daily Journal [Quincy, Illinois], December 27, 1915; all in DWGP.
57. See, for example, Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1915; Neil G. Caward, “Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Chicago American, June 10, 1915; Journal [Providence, Rhode Island], August 17, 1915; all in DWGP.
58. Dramatic Editor, “Philadelphia Takes a Look at the Heights of the Photoplay Art,” Evening Ledger [Philadelphia], September 18, 1915, DWGP.
59. “Worth-While Feature Films Recommended by ‘Wid’: D. W. Griffith’s Production of ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Mail [New York], March 6, 1915, DWGP.
60. Evening Sun [New York], March 20, 1915; “The Talk of New York,” Morning Telegraph [New York], March 23, 1915; “Griffith Spectacle Birth of a New Art,” Press [Atlantic City, New Jersey], August 12, 1915; American [Baltimore], April 11, 1916; “With the Photo Players,” Tribune [San Diego, California], July 14, 1915; Evening Post [Charleston, Virginia], January 19, 1916; Times-Picayune [New Orleans], March 31, 1916; all in DWGP.
61. Lotte H. Eisner, The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt, trans. Roger Greaves (London: Thomas and Hudson, 1969), 39.
62. Mail [New York], March 6, 1915, DWGP. The anonymous reviewer moved on, in a foretaste of the “auteur theory” of the 1960s, to suggest a ranking of the best directors (he continued to refer to them as “producers”) and their films.
63. Ironically, the Biograph Company itself—soon to disappear from the scene—attempted to capitalize on Griffith’s new, post-Birth fame by rereleasing some of the films he had directed for them. “Biograph Plans to Re-issue 1912–1913 Griffith Films,” Motion Picture Weekly [New York], May 15, 1915, DWGP.
64. “Griffith Spectacle Birth of a New Art,” Press [Atlantic City], August 12, 1915; “National—‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Washington Post, May 16, 1916; both in DWGP.
65. See, for example, “He Invented ‘Switch-Back’ in the Movies,” New York Herald, March 28, 1915, DWGP.
66. Evansville Courier, December 8, 1915, DWGP.
67. “Return Engagement of ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Evening Report [Lebanon, Pennsylvania], May 11, 1916, DWGP. See Chapter 4 on Freeman.
68. Koszarski, An Evening’s Entertainment, 222.
69. Times [Brooklyn, New York], April 17, 1915, DWGP. The same story appeared in the Standard Union [Brooklyn, New York], April 18, 1915, DWGP.
70. “‘The Birth of a Nation’ Draws Great Crowds,” Paragraph [Akron, Ohio], September 14, 1915, DWGP. The estimate of 850 performances in Chicago was very high and may have been a misprint.
71. Kansas City Star, November 4, 1915, DWGP. The figure of 725 performances in New York by November 27 must have taken into account not just the Liberty Theater but also the Brighton Beach Music Hall in Brooklyn, where the film started its run on July 2. “Mayor to Greet ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Standard-Union [Brooklyn], July 2, 1915, DWGP.
72. “Not to have seen it,” commented one Western journalist, “becomes a mark of unprogressiveness. To hold no opinion, either ‘for’ or ‘forninst [sic],’ marks one as indifferent indeed.” “Some Thoughts for Dog Days on Things Theatrical,” Chronicle [Spokane, Washington], August 7, 1915, DWGP.
73. “‘Birth of a Nation’ Still Draws Well,” Mail [New York], May 22, 1915, DWGP.
74. “N.E. Rights to Birth of a Nation,” Sentinel [Fitchburg, Massachusetts], August 17, 1915; “Stay Home and Save $1.95 Each Jit Show,” Denver Times, March 4, 1915; both in DWGP.
75. Advertisement in Kansas City Post, October 16, 1915; cf. “Birth of a Nation Drawing Well at Olympic Theater,” Globe-Democrat [St. Louis], September 6, 1915; “Grant and Lee at Appomattox,” Labor Herald [Kansas City], October 22, 1915; all in DWGP.
76. See “Art Goes on Road with New Success,” Galveston News [Texas], August 8, 1915; “Seat Sale at Grand for ‘Birth of a Nation’ to Start Tomorrow,” Kansas City Post, October 21, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ to Open Here Tonight,” Daily Press [Newport News, Rhode Island], January 6, 1916; all in DWGP.
77. “Mayor May Pass Birth of a Nation,” Evansville Press, November 30, 1915; cf. “Seat Sales for ‘Birth of a Nation’ Have Broken Record in Every City in the South,” Selma Times [Selma, Alabama], December 31, 1915, and “Crowds See ‘Birth of a Nation’ but Protest Brings No
Clash,” Springfield New Record [Springfield, Illinois], January 17, 1916; all in DWGP. Herrick, once a newspaper man, had previously spent three years on the road with Dixon’s play, The Clansman. See “‘Birth of a Nation’ Advance Man Here,” St. Joseph Gazette [St. Joseph, Missouri], November 19, 1915; “Here’s More Advertising for Big Film,” Lansing Press [Lansing, Michigan], February 3, 1916; both in DWGP.
78. “‘Birth of a Nation’ Music Is Effective,” Post [New York], June 10, 1915, DWGP.
79. “Music Feature of Spectacle ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Enquirer [Buffalo, New York], February 15, 1916, DWGP.
80. “Birth of a Nation Drawing Well at Olympic Theater,” Globe-Democrat [St. Louis], September 6, 1915; cf. Milwaukee News, July 6, 1915; “New View of American History Shown on Film,” Oil City Blizzard [Pennsylvania], April 11, 1916; “Seat Sale at Grand for ‘Birth of a Nation’ to Start Tomorrow,” Kansas City Post, October 21, 1915; all in DWGP.
81. For its first showings in Brooklyn, an orchestra of fifty was organized. In Dallas, Texas, the orchestra had forty players. An ad in the Kansas City Post talked of a “Symphony Orchestra of Thirty.” In Decatur, Alabama, it was only a “twenty-piece orchestra.” “Special Music for ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Standard-Union [Brooklyn, New York], July 11, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ History in Motion,” Morning News [Dallas, Texas], October 5, 1915; Kansas City Post, October 16, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ is Revelation of Possibilities of Silent Drama,” Decatur Daily [Alabama], April 16, 1916; all in DWGP.
82. “Dreadnought Orchestra for ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Examiner [New York], August 1, 1915; “Music Is Strong Feature of ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Milwaukee Sentinel, August 7, 1915; “J.O.L. Finds Thrill in Music of ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Baltimore News, March 16, 1915; “Music Feature of Spectacle ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Enquirer [Buffalo, New York], February 15, 1916; “‘Birth of a Nation’ Throbs with Stirring Songs of War,” Indianapolis Star, December 15, 1915; Press [Philadelphia], August 8, 1915; all in DWGP.
83. “N. E. Rights to Birth of a Nation,” Sentinel [Fitchburg, Massachusetts], August 17, 1915; “Birth of a Nation Thrills Audience at Olympic,” Globe-Democrat [St. Louis], August 30, 1915; “Birth of a Nation—Ford’s,” American [Baltimore], March 28, 1916; “‘Birth of a Nation’ Wonder Spectacle,” Journal [Martinsburg, West Virginia], May 4, 1916; “Last Times Today and Tomorrow, ‘Birth of a Nation’ at Lyric,” Allentown Democrat [Pennsylvania], March 31, 1916; Telegraph [Philadelphia], August 10, 1915; “Don’t Miss This Chance to See Big Picture The Birth of a Nation,” Call [Allentown, Pennsylvania], March 30, 1916; “‘All Seats Sold,’ Is the Regular Sign at ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Chicago American, July 24, 1915; “‘The Birth of a Nation’ Draws Great Crowds,” Paragraph [Akron, Ohio], September 14, 1915; “National—‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Washington Herald [DC], May 4, 1916; all in DWGP.
84. “‘Birth of a Nation’ Drawing Hundreds to the Decaturs,” New Decatur [Alabama], April 16, 1916; H. C. Danforth, “Los Angeles Activities,” Star [New York], March 3, 1915; Review [Atlantic City, New Jersey], July 24, 1915; “Picture in Fourth Week,” Times-Picayune [New Orleans], April 2, 1916; “Central to Operate Special Train for ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Advertiser [Montgomery, Alabama], February 18, 1916; “Amusements—Special Trains for Miracle Movie,” Daily Observer [Charlotte, North Carolina], February 29, 1916; “Heavy Sales for ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Evening Times [Trenton, New Jersey?], September 20, 1915; “Crowds See ‘Birth of a Nation’ but Protest Brings No Clash,” New Record [Springfield, Illinois], January 17, 1916; “‘Birth of a Nation’ Wins Longer Time,” Post Intel [Seattle, Washington], July 3, 1915; “Grand,” Daily Record [Kansas City], November 20, 1915; “Seat Sales for ‘Birth of a Nation’ Have Broken Record in Every City in the South,” Selma Times [Alabama], December 31, 1915; all in DWGP.
85. “‘Birth of a Nation’ Coming to Brighton Beach,” Brooklyn Eagle [New York], June 21, 1915; Oklahoma Oklahoman, July 25, 1915; “Mayor to Greet ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Standard-Union [Brooklyn, New York], July 2, 1915; “‘The Birth of a Nation’ Is Shown for First Time in South and Achieves Decided Success at Norfolk, Va.,” Morning News [Dallas, Texas], September 29, 1915; Herald [Boston, Massachusetts], April 10, 1915; Kitty Kelly, “Flickerings from Filmland—Why Don’t Chicago Managers Do This?,” Tribune [Chicago], March 24, 1915; “Big Orchestra for Spectacle,” Review [Atlantic City, New Jersey], July 4, 1915; “Special Maine Trains to Boston for ‘Nation,’” Mail [New York], July 10, 1915; “Birth of a Nation—Special Car for Ayer after Saturday Evening Performance at the Cummings,” Sentinel [Fitchburg, Massachusetts], September 9, 1915; “Amusements—Special Trains for Miracle Movie,” Daily Observer [Charlotte, North Carolina], February 29, 1916; all in DWGP.
86. “Veterans from Soldiers’ Home Parade for Manager,” Motion Picture News [New York], July 3, 1915; “Veterans Will See ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Recor d [Fort Worth, Texas], November 19, 1915; Atlanta Constitution, December 13, 1915; Terre Haute Tribune [Indiana], January 6, 1916; Times-Picayune [New Orleans], April 3, 1916; “Ad Men to Watch ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Journal [Chicago], June 21, 1915; “Censor Board Made Permanent,” Evansville Courier [Illinois], December 20, 1915; “Newsboys to See Birth of a Nation,” Scranton Republican [Pennsylvania], May 31, 1916; Evening Sun [Baltimore], March 30, 1916; “Orphans’ Parade at Brighton to See ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Times [Brooklyn, New York], July 27, 1915; “Orphans Will See ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Louisville Herald, February 20, 1916; “Orphans to See ‘Movies,’” San Antonio Express [Texas], March 13, 1916; all in DWGP.
87. “‘Birth of a Nation’ Enters on Second Week at Olympic,” Star [St. Louis], September 6, 1915; cf. “‘Rebel Yell’ Adds Realism to ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Constitution [Atlanta], December 14, 1915; American [Baltimore], April 11, 1916; all in DWGP.
88. “American Theater Notes,” Christian Science Monitor [Boston], August 18, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ at Grand Another Week,” Kansas City Post, November 19, 1915; “Picture in Fourth Week,” Times-Picayune [New Orleans], April 2, 1916; “Ford’s,” Star [Baltimore], April 11, 1916; all in DWGP.
89. Merritt, “Dixon, Griffith, and the Southern Legend,” 27, n. 2.
90. Aitken, The Birth of a Nation Story, 59.
91. “The opening of ‘The Birth of a Nation’ in Los Angeles …,” reported one newspaper, “brought out the first ticket speculators in the motion picture field. The demand for seats was so large that 75-cent seats were bought up and resold for $2.50.” With tickets for the Liberty Theater being sold a month in advance, another paper observed that “ticket speculators—the bane of New York theatricals—are said to be reaping a harvest.” Evening Mail [New York], February 22, 1915; Times-Picayune [New Orleans], April 4, 1915; both in DWGP; cf. James S. Metcalf, “Theatre Tales from New York,” Herald [Washington, D.C.], March 14, 1915.
92. “Many “Repeaters” at ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Evening Sun [New York], April 2, 1915; “See Picture Again,” News [Baltimore], March 28, 1916; Sentinel [Milwaukee, Michigan], April 18, 1915; Post [Chicago], August 1, 1915; Boston Record [Massachusetts], August 17, 1915; Kansas City Journal, November 3, 1915; M. O. Marshall, Higginsville Advance [Oklahoma], November 5, 1915; Patriot [Jackson, Michigan], February 11, 1916; “Amusements—Special Trains for Miracle Movie,” Daily Observer [Charlotte, North Carolina], February 29, 1916; “Newsboys to See Birth of a Nation,” Scranton Republican [Pennsylvania], May 31, 1916;
93. Kansas City Journal, November 4, 1915; “A Real Work of Art,” Evansville Journal-News, November 25, 1915; “Hundreds Brought to Atlanta by ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Constitution [Atlanta], December 13, 1915; Courier-Journal [Louisville, Kentucky], February 10, 1916; Sun [Baltimore], April 4, 1916; “‘The Birth of a Nation’ Drawing Capacity Houses,” Clearfield Progress, May 23, 1916; all in DWGP. On the epic journey of one Minnesota family to see the film, see Hazel Jungquist, “Viewing D
. W. Griffith’s ‘The Birth of a Nation’: A First Hand Account,” Robert K. Klepper, ed., Classic Images, no. 245 (November 1995): 36–37.
94. Variety [New York], March 19, 1915; “Birth of a Nation Sways Its Audience,” Evansville Press, December 9, 1915; both in DWGP.
95. “The Clansman’s Audience Cheers, Weeps and Sings,” Enquirer [Oakland, California], May 11, 1915; cf. “Film, ‘Birth of a Nation,’ Grips Emotion of Audience,” Star [Indianapolis, Indiana], December 14, 1915; “Audience Cheers and Weeps over ‘Birth of a Nation,’” Daily States [New Orleans], March 13, 1916; all in DWGP.
96. M. O. Harshall, Higginsville Advance [Oklahoma], November 5, 1915; “‘Rebel Yell’ Adds Realism to ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Constitution [Atlanta, Georgia], December 14, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ at Vendome To-Night,” Banner [Nashville, Tennessee], January 24, 1916; all in DWGP.
97. Star [Terre Haute, Indiana], January 4, 1916, DWGP. The Hoosier audience also applauded the so-called Hampton Epilogue, discussed in Chapter 6.
98. Kitty Kelly, “Flickerings from Filmland—Why Don’t Chicago Managers Do This?,” Tribune [Chicago], March 24, 1915; “‘Birth of a Nation’ Justifies Praise,” Kansas City Journal, October 25, 1915; M. O. Harshall, Higginsville Advance [Oklahoma], November 5, 1915; Terre Haute Tribune [Indiana], January 4, 1916; “Hosts of People Seeing ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Marrett Weekly, January 27, 1916; “‘Birth of a Nation’ at Vendome To-Night,” Banner [Nashville, Tennessee], January 24, 1916; G. B. D. “The Birth of a Nation,” Battle Creek Morning Journal [Michigan], February 4, 1916; Patriot [Jackson, Michigan], February 11, 1916; Star [Baltimore], March 21, 1916; all in DWGP.
99. “Some Thoughts for Dog Days on Things Theatrical,” Chronicle [Spokane, Washington], August 7, 1915; “This Movie Battle Just Like Real War,” Milwaukee Leader, July 20, 1915; both in DWGP.
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