Do you know what D.W. Griffith is in favor of, aside from white supremacy? Fun!* If you’ve got three hours, this is an exercise in marveling at immense sets and hordes of extras, and if you have a scratch-off movie poster, you will have the reward of seeing what that grasping hand changes into.
Cost: free from library
Where watched: at home
*In the modern story, it is clearly very bad that social reformers outlaw dancing at cafes, drinking at saloons, and also prostitution.** Griffith was getting a half-side-eye with his overwrought portrayal of women social reformers, until I got the title card that said something to the effect of “women who have ceased to become attractive to their husbands turn to interfering in other people’s lives.” From that point on, I was full side-eye. I get that some parts of the social movements run by women in the early twentieth century went too far. Prohibition is a good example. But the temperance movement was partially fueled by the fact that alcoholic men could easily wreck havoc on their families and there was no recourse for the women or children involved. The reforms of the early twentieth century improved a lot of lives, and were run by women with no political power. That’s impressive.
**And that part bugged me, too. We’re supposed to be sad that women can’t prostitute themselves anymore? Given the long, lingering shots of men drooling over the prostitutes as they were escorted from the brothel, this was a terrible, terrible turn.
Here’s our scratch off for this movie and the two others I’ve already seen. That Snow White one is one of my favorites.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/1916/intolerance.html
Do you want to scratch your movie poster itch? Get the scratch off poster here.
Hmmmm…I would like a release date on that scratch off poster. This is such a detailed 3-sentence review! Thanks for the extra notes.