Intolerance (film)

Intolerance
Intolerance
	Theatrical poster
Directed by	D. W. Griffith
Written by	D. W. Griffith; Hettie Gray Baker; Tod Browning; Anita Loos; Mary H. O'Connor; Frank E. Woods
Produced by	D. W. Griffith
Starring	Vera Lewis; Ralph Lewis; Mae Marsh; Robert Harron; Constance Talmadge; Lillian Gish; Josephine Crowell; Margery Wilson; Frank Bennett; Elmer Clifton; Miriam Cooper; Alfred Paget
Cinematography	Billy Bitzer
Edited by	D. W. Griffith; James Smith; Rose Smith
Music by	Joseph Carl Breil; Julián Carrillo; Carl Davis (for 1989 restoration)
Distributed by	Triangle Distributing Corporation
Release date	September 5, 1916 (U.S.);
Running time	210 minutes (original release); 197 minutes (most surviving cuts)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)
Budget	$385,907
Box office	$1.75 million (theatrical rental)

Intolerance is a 1916 epic silent film directed by D. W. Griffith. Subtitled as Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages and A Sun-Play of the Ages,^[2]^[3] the three-and-a-half-hour epic intercuts four parallel storylines, each separated by several centuries: first, a contemporary melodrama of crime and redemption; second, a Judean story: Christ's mission and death; third, a French story: the events surrounding the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572; and fourth, a Babylonian story: the fall of the Babylonian Empire to Persia in 539 BC. Each story had its own distinctive color tint in the original print.^[3] The scenes are linked by shots of a figure representing Eternal Motherhood, rocking a cradle.^[3]

Griffith chose to explore the theme of intolerance partly in response to his previous film The Birth of a Nation (1915) being derided by the NAACP and others for perpetuating and supporting racial stereotypes and glorifying the Ku Klux Klan.^[4]^[5] Intolerance was not, however, an apology, as Griffith felt he had nothing to apologize for;^[6] in numerous interviews, Griffith made clear that the film was a rebuttal to his critics and he felt that they were, in fact, the intolerant ones.^[7] In the years following its release, Intolerance strongly influenced European film movements and is regarded as one of the most influential films of the silent era.^[6] In 1958, the film was voted number 7 in the World Expo film poll. In 1989, it was one of the first films to be selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

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^ Internet Archive for Intolerance (1916), D. W. Griffith. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
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[IN-2] Internet Archive for Intolerance (1916), D. W. Griffith. Retrieved May 21, 2016.

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