DW Griffith's Thrilling Romance of Love, Laughter and Tears -- July 25, 2024

Exhibitors Herald, 05-July-1924

Director DW Griffith's America was an epic about the Revolutionary War. Notice that the quotes come from three members of Calvin Coolidge's cabinet and a senator.

Exhibitors Herald, 26-July-1924

Griffith, one of the founders of United Artists, was leaving to sign a contract with Paramount. 

Photoplay, July, 1924

A view of Griffith directing a scene for "the greatest picture ever made," The Birth of a Nation. It looks as if he had some Civil War veterans visiting.

They Are Subtly Teaching Us That They Are Superior -- May 30, 2024

Baltimore Afro-American, 02-May-1924

The author of this article hopes that Oscar Micheaux will succeed so that "we may have more colored films." The author says that white-made films "are subtly teaching us that they are superior." "The influence of the devilishly conceived 'Birth of a Nation' will not soon be counteracted." 

I like the 3-D effect in this ad for Micheaux's Symbold of the Unconquered. 

Kentucky Post, 24-May-1924

This may be the first reference I have seen to The Flaming Circle, a western directed by William H Grimes and Leo C Popkin. I don't know anything about William H Grimes but Leo C Popkin directed other race films like The Duke is Tops and later directed the original version of D.O.A. 

The lines are out of order, but the item states that "This is said to be the first film drama ever produced with an all-colored cast." We know that is not true. 

I will keep digging for information about Monarch Productions.

For Colored Only -- March 29, 2024

Atlanta Constitution, 11-March-1924

Atlanta's Paramount Theater "(For colored only)" was showing a William S Hart movie. 

Baltimore Sun, 16-March-1924

In January, we saw that Reol Productions, makers of race films, had been taken over by Progress Pictures. Emil Offerman, who had been head of Reol, was suing former employer Robertson-Cole over breach of contract. 

Motion Picture News, 15-March-1924

I was interested to see that African-Americans in Topeka, Kansas  protested DW Griffith's hateful epic The Birth of a Nation. I was shocked to see that they boycotted a local African American-owned newspaper which ran an advertisement for the showing. I haven't found the ad yet.

Written, Acted and Produced by Colored People -- July 20, 2023

Saint Louis Argus, 27-July-1923

Deceit was Evelyn Preer's first starring role. "The Most Beautiful Colored Actress on the screen." This was director Oscar Micheaux's tenth film. Notice that the theater advertised it was the "Coolest Place on Market Street/Ice Cold Water Running Always." Saint Louis gets hot during the summer. 

 

Pittsburgh Courier, 10-July-1948

25 years later, Micheaux's last movie, The Betrayal, was receiving bad reviews. JA Rogers used his column in the Pittsburgh Courier, and African American-owned newspaper, to defend the picture. Roger said it was better and truer-to-life than Gentleman's Agreement, a successful Hollywood movie. 

Film Daily, 05-July-1923

Back in 1923, a rumor that Kansas censors might life the ban on DW Griffith's famously racist Birth of a Nation led to protests from exhibitors. "Fear of racial differences is the reason for the ban."

100-Years-Lost Film Found at Cinémathèque Française -- April 1, 2023

New York Evening World, 27-February-1915

In 1915, pioneer director D. W. Griffith released an epic film entitled The Birth of a Nation. It was a US Civil War film based on two novels by white supremacist clergyman Thomas Dixon. Audiences were impressed by the dynamism of the battle scenes in the first half of the motion picture but were disgusted by the overt racism of the depiction of Reconstruction and African Americans during the second half. 

Social justice organizations like the NAACP and the United Daughters of the Confederacy pushed for the film to be banned. They succeeded in most jurisdictions, and all prints and negatives of the vile film were thought to have been destroyed by 1918 or 1919. 

The financial and moral failure of the film led to the early end of Griffith's once-promising career.

Finding an intact print of the thought-to-be-lost film in 2023 in the Cinémathèque Française has caused mixed feelings for film historians and civil rights activists. The only public showing of the film so far led to large scale, peaceful protests in New York City.

DW Griffith -- His Sixth Big Production -- December 8, 2021

Motion Picture News, 31-December-1921

"Why Is It Only One Producer Has Ever Made More Than One Big Production?" DW Griffith's last movie with Dorothy and Lillian Gish was Orphans of the Storm, which was adapted from an 1874 French melodrama, The Two Orphans, by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon.

Bridgeport Times and Evening Farmer, 03-December-1921

The Park Theater in Bridgeport, Connecticut hosted a preview of The Two Orphans on 04-December-1921. "MR. D. W. GRIFFITH, THE PRODUCER; MISS LILLIAN GISH, MISS DOROTHY GISH AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CAST WILL BE PRESENT IN PERSON." The title change came later.

Richmond Palladium and Sun-Telegram, 12-December-1921

Dream Street was not a hit. Many people have said mean things about the leading lady, Griffith's protégée, Carol Dempster.

Free Trader Journal and Ottowa Fair Dealer, 23-December-1921

Way Down East, released in 1920, was still touring the country, doing land office business.

Conway, Arkansas Log Cabin Democrat, 14-December-1921

Pueblo Chieftan, 12-December-1921

Birth of a Nation was still in release, giving aid and comfort to the second Ku Klux Klan.

DW Griffith -- Romance From Moth-Balls -- November 8, 2021

Photoplay, November, 1921.

DW Griffith's last movie with Dorothy and Lillian Gish was Orphans of the Storm, which was adapted from an 1874 French melodrama, The Two Orphans, by Adolphe d'Ennery and Eugène Cormon.

Photoplay, December, 1921.

Photoplay, March, 1922.

Orphans of the Storm got a rave review from Photoplay.  "Don't miss this."

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

Moving Picture World, 26-November-1921

Motion Picture News, 04-September-1915

Theda Bara appeared in an adaption of The Two Orphans in 1915. Herbert Brenon directed. Like most of Theda Bara's Fox features, it is presumed to be lost. 

Albuquerque Evening Herald, 02-November-1921

Dream Street and Orphans of the Storm were the only features that Griffith released in 1921. Dream Street was not a hit. Many people have said mean things about the leading lady, Griffith's protégée, Carol Dempster.

Albuquerque Evening Herald, 03-November-1921

Screen Snapshots was a series of short films produced by C.B.C. Film Sales Corp and its successor, Columbia Pictures, from 1920 to 1958.

Bemidji Daily Pioneer, 05-November-1921

Way Down East, released in 1920, was still touring the country, doing land office business.

Amarillo Daily News, 20-November-1921

All of these items, a still from the icy river scene, an ad for the showing at the New Diandi Theater and a collection of quotes from eminent people like actor John Barrymore and artists Howard Chandler Christy and Charles Dana Gibson. Way Down East, like many of Griffith's big productions, was shown in a roadshow format, with higher ticket prices, a special orchestra and a limited number of showings daily, as opposed to the continuous programs shown by most theaters. 

Conway, Arkansas Log Cabin Democrat, 11-November-1921

Washington Evening Star, 27-November-1921

Note that many ads for Way Down East featured a large black circle, just like ads for Griffith's Birth of a Nation. 

Rockingham Post Dispatch, 12-November-1921

Birth of a Nation was still in release, giving aid and comfort to the second Ku Klux Klan. 

Moscow, Idaho Daily Star-Mirror, 12-November-1921

Griffith's war film, Hearts of the World, was shown to raise money for the American Legion. 

Amarillo Daily News, 20-November-1921

While Way Down East was playing at Amarillo's New Diandi Theater, the Olympic advertised a 1915 feature film, Martyrs of the Alamo, "Personally Directed by D. W. Griffith." Griffith produced the movie and Christy Cabanne directed. Producers were often called supervisors then.

Wanted for Colored Motion Pictures! -- October 28, 2021

Chicago Whip, 29-October-1921

The Gate City Feature Film Company of Chicago advertised for "Girls and Young Men" of color to appear in "our Super-Feature 'Fought and Won.'" I can't find any records of the company or the film, but I will keep digging.

Moving Picture World, 29-October-1921

Ernest Morrison, billed as Sunshine Sammy, had appeared in many of Hal Roach's short comedies with Harold Lloyd and Snub Pollard. Roach starred Morrison in "The Pickanniny." "Pickanniny" is a derogatory term for a child of African descent. Morrison went on to be a member of the Bowery Boys. 

Moving Picture World, 22-October-1921

"a ray of joy." Later, we will see more about the Harris Dickson comedies. 

Moving Picture World, 29-October-1921

I don't know who played Morrison's partner. 

Moving Picture World, 22-October-1921

I was not familiar with the name Harris Dickson. A little research shows me that he was a lawyer and judge from the south. He wrote many stories about small-town life for the Saturday Evening Post. I was not entirely surprised to learn that he was prominent in the Anti-Miscegenation movement. Much of his output was what were referred to as "Colored stories." I have never read one of his stories, but I'll bet they contain the occasional stereotype.

Jasper, Mississippi News, 02-July-1915

"Old Reliable" was Dickson's most popular character. This items says of Dickson that (please excuse the racism) "His stories have helped the nation at large to understand the unique characteristics and appreciate the genuine humor of the southern darkey more than those of any other living writer."

Saturday Evening Post, 25-July-1914

Moving Picture World, 08-October-1921

At least the characters in "The Custard Nine," based on the Saturday Evening Post story were played by actual African-Americans and not European-Americans in blackface.

Moving Picture World, 22-October-1921

Meanwhile, a theater in Cristobal, Panama was promoting a Universal serial called The White Horseman with a guy dressed as a member of the KKK. Fortunately, the police hauled him to jail for brandishing a firearm. 

Exhibitors Herald, 08-October-1921

African American groups like the NAACP were protesting the revival of The Birth of a Nation, which helped to inspire the growth of the second Klan. 

The Face at Your Window -- September 20, 2021

Lakeland Evening Telegram, 22-September-1921

I was concerned when I came across ads for this movie. Was this another movie like Birth of a Nation where the Ku Klux Klan are the good guys? 

Moving Picture World, 24-September-1921

I was more concerned when I saw that the Klan staged a march to endorse the movie, which was showing at a theater in Atlanta.  

I dug around through some reviews and found that the movie was about labor and anti-immigrant issues. The recently organized American Legion comes in to cool down a strike, but the costume is troubling. 

Meanwhile, the Klan was going through a big revival, which encouraged and was encouraged by rerelease of DW Griffith's Birth of a Nation. This ad was for a showing at the Convention Hall in Tulsa, which ironically was a place where African American residents were herded while their neighborhood was being destroyed during the Tulsa Race Massacre a few months earlier:

http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com/2021/06/tulsa-race-massacre-100-day-2-june-1.html