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D.W. Griffith

Highest Rated: 98% Intolerance (1916)

Lowest Rated: 29% The Struggle (1931)

Birthday: Jan 22, 1875

Birthday:

Birthplace: LaGrange, Kentucky, USA

Both a filmmaking pioneer and a social provocateur, director D. W. Griffith almost singlehandedly developed the techniques by which films would be made while simultaneously showing how they could be both a significant commercial and cultural element of American culture for good or ill. Once called "the father of film" by actress Lillian Gish and "the teacher of us all" by Charlie Chaplin, Griffith took a nascent medium wallowing in mediocrity and used his insatiable desire to experiment to break the conventions of his era and develop new means of relating narratives for the screen. After making almost three movies a week from 1908-1913, where he innovated with new techniques like close-ups, cross-cutting and deep focus, Griffith made the feature length Civil War epic "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), a technical triumph and box office hit undermined by its overtly racist themes of the times. He responded to public outrage in the form of protests and riots with "Intolerance" (1916), an expensive masterpiece that sought to answer his critics that failed at the box office and left him in dire financial straits for the remainder of his career. Though he formed the studio United Artists with Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in 1919, Griffith dropped out five years later over his failure to make a hit film that would resolve his debts. Though he continued making movies for UA and Paramount Pictures, nothing he made reached the heights of "Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance." In the end, Griffith's legacy as a groundbreaking pioneer who gave birth to modern filmmaking was mired by his obvious sentiment to racial stereotypes, which haunted him for decades after his death.

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Highest rated movies

98% 77% Intolerance Watchlist
96% 70% Way Down East
Watchlist
95% 71% Broken Blossoms
Watchlist
95% 31% Hearts of the World
Watchlist
91% 47% The Birth of a Nation
Watchlist
89% That Royle Girl
Watchlist
88% 71% Orphans of the Storm
Watchlist
83% The Sorrows of Satan
Watchlist
75% 37% Abraham Lincoln
Watchlist
75% 56% Sally of the Sawdust
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Footlight Varieties Director - 1951
29% 36% The Struggle Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer,
Original Music
- 1931
75% 37% Abraham Lincoln Director,
Producer
- 1930
No Score Yet No Score Yet Lady of the Pavements Director - 1929
No Score Yet 58% The Battle of the Sexes Director - 1928
83% No Score Yet The Sorrows of Satan Director,
Producer
- 1926
75% 56% Sally of the Sawdust Director,
Producer
- 1925
89% No Score Yet That Royle Girl Director - 1925
63% 62% America Director - 1924
No Score Yet No Score Yet Isn't Life Wonderful Director,
Writer
- 1924
No Score Yet No Score Yet The White Rose Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
- 1923
88% 71% Orphans of the Storm Director,
Producer,
Screenwriter
- 1922
No Score Yet No Score Yet One Exciting Night Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
- 1922
No Score Yet No Score Yet Dream Street Director - 1921
96% 70% Way Down East Director,
Producer,
Screenwriter
- 1920
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Love Flower Director,
Screenwriter
- 1920
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Idol Dancer Director - 1920
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Romance of Happy Valley Director - 1919
95% 71% Broken Blossoms Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
- 1919
No Score Yet No Score Yet Scarlet Days Director,
Producer
- 1919
71% 59% True Heart Susie Director,
Producer
- 1919
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Fall of Babylon Director,
Screenwriter,
Producer
- 1919
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Greatest Question Director,
Producer
- 1919
95% 31% Hearts of the World Director,
Writer
- 1918
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Greatest Thing in Life Director,
Producer
- 1918
98% 77% Intolerance Director,
Writer,
Producer,
Original Music,
Film Editing,
Costume Design
- 1916
No Score Yet No Score Yet Intolerance - Part 1 Director,
Writer,
Producer,
Original Music,
Film Editing,
Costume Design
- 1916
No Score Yet No Score Yet Intolerance - Part 2 Director,
Writer,
Producer,
Original Music,
Film Editing,
Costume Design
- 1916
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Social Secretary Producer - 1916
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mystery of the Leaping Fish Writer - 1916
No Score Yet 40% Hoodoo Ann Writer,
Producer
- 1916
No Score Yet 60% The Half-Breed Producer - 1916
No Score Yet No Score Yet Old Heidelberg Producer - 1915
91% 47% The Birth of a Nation Director,
Writer,
Producer,
Film Editing,
Original Music
- 1915
No Score Yet No Score Yet Ghosts Producer - 1915
No Score Yet 38% Judith of Bethulia Director,
Screenwriter
- 1914
No Score Yet 48% The Avenging Conscience Director,
Screenwriter
- 1914
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Fair Exchange Director - 1914
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Battle at Elderbush Gulch Director,
Screenwriter
- 1913
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mothering Heart Director - 1913
No Score Yet No Score Yet Death's Marathon Director - 1913
No Score Yet No Score Yet The House of Darkness Director - 1913
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Lady and the Mouse Director,
Screenwriter
- 1913
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Welcome Intruder Director - 1913
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Massacre Director,
Screenwriter
- 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Burglar's Dilemma Director - 1912
No Score Yet 29% An Unseen Enemy Director - 1912
No Score Yet 80% The Musketeers of Pig Alley Director,
Writer
- 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet One Is Business, the Other Crime Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Girl and Her Trust Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The New York Hat Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Eternal Mother Director,
Writer
- 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet Friends Director,
Screenwriter,
Cinematographer
- 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Lodging for the Night Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Female of the Species Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Sunbeam Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet For His Son Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Beast at Bay Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Painted Lady Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mender of Nets Director - 1912
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Trust Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet What Shall We Do With Our Old? Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Rose of Kentucky Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Mother's Scarf Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Ruling Passion Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Blind Princess and the Poet Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet How She Triumphed Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Miser's Heart Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Long Road Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Failure Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Her Awakening Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Romany Tragedy Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Knight of the Road Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Italian Blood Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Broken Cross Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Was He a Coward? Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Voice of the Child Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Sorrowful Example Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Through Darkened Vales Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Last Drop of Water Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Making of a Man Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Indian Brothers Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conscience Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bobby the Coward Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet As in a Looking Glass Director - 1911
No Score Yet 58% The Lonedale Operator Director,
Executive Producer
- 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Out from the Shadow Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Two Paths Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet Swords and Hearts Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Two Sides Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The White Rose of the Wilds Director - 1911
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Unchanging Sea Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Golden Supper Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Newlyweds Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Love Among the Roses Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Dancing Girl of Butte Director,
Screenwriter
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Unexpected Help Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Last Deal Director,
Writer
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet On the Reef Director,
Writer
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet In the Border States Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Romance of the Western Hills Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Child of the Ghetto Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Examination Day at School Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Her Terrible Ordeal Director,
Screenwriter
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Duke's Plan Director,
Writer
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet In Old California Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Twisted Trail Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Broken Doll Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wilful Peggy Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Smoker Producer - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet As It Is in Life Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Summer Idyll Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Rocky Road Director,
Screenwriter
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Iconoclast Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Plain Song Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet In the Season of Buds Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Converts Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Final Settlement Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Midnight Cupid Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Simple Charity Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Rich Revenge Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Sorrows of the Unfaithful Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Ramona Director,
Screenwriter
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet One Night and Then Director,
Screenwriter
- 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Song of the Wildwood Flute Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet An Arcadian Maid Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet Two Little Waifs: A Modern Fairy Tale Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Marked Time-Table Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Fugitive Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Sister-in-Law Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Thread of Destiny Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Honor of His Family Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Cloister's Touch Director - 1910
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Sealed Room Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Hessian Renegades Unknown (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet To Save Her Soul Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet In Old Kentucky Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Renunciation Director,
Screenwriter,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet One Touch of Nature Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Test Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Faded Lilies Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Leather Stocking Director,
Producer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mills of the Gods Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Love Finds a Way Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Friend of the Family Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Wife's Mother Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Wooden Leg Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Open Gate Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet What Drink Did Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Getting Even Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Cricket on the Hearth Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Girls and Daddy Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet In the Window Recess Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Two Memories Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Lucky Jim Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Little Darling Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A New Trick Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Lost Love Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet At the Altar Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Trick That Failed Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tragic Love Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Children's Friend Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Little Teacher Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Medicine Bottle Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Ward's Love Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Pippa Passes Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Cardinal's Conspiracy Director,
Producer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Baby's Shoe Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Violin Maker of Cremona Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Brahma Diamond Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Prussian Spy Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Curtain Pole Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Necklace Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Broken Locket Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Son's Return Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Lonely Villa Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mr. Jones Has a Card Party Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Edgar Allen Poe Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Trap for Santa Claus Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Fool's Revenge Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Sound Sleeper Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Burglar's Mistake Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Jilt Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Midnight Adventure Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Her First Biscuits Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet His Duty Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Was Justice Served? Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Way of Man Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Honor of Thieves Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Light That Came Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Through the Breakers Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Pranks Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Resurrection Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Note in the Shoe Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Gibson Goddess Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Jones' Burglar Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tis an Ill Wind That Blows No Good Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Choosing a Husband Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mended Lute Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Cord of Life Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet I Did It Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Indian Runner's Romance Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Eloping With Aunty Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Winning Coat Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet 68% A Corner in Wheat Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet And a Little Child Shall Lead Them Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's Your Hurry? Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Hindoo Dagger Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Road to the Heart Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Voice of the Violin Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Red Man's View Director - 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The French Duel Director,
Writer
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet Jealousy and the Man Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Eavesdropper Director,
Screenwriter
- 1909
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Adventures of Dollie Director - 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet Money Mad Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet After Many Years Director - 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Greaser's Gauntlet Director,
Writer
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Vaquero's Vow Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Woman's Way Director - 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet Behind the Scenes Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Ingrate Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Man and the Woman Director - 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet Heart of O Yama Footman (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet At the Crossroads of Life Unknown (Character) - 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Zulu's Heart Director,
Writer
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Devil Unknown (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet Her First Adventure Unknown (Character) - 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet Balked at the Altar Unknown (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet Where the Breakers Roar Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Song of the Shirt Director,
Writer
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet For a Wife's Honor Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Clubman and the Tramp Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet An Awful Moment Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Call of the Wild Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet For Love of Gold Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Stolen Jewels Unknown (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter
- 1908