 |
The Oldham County Historical Society 106 North Second Avenue |
For more information contact the Oldham County History Center 502-222-0826
D. W. Griffith Movie Night Friday, January 18, 2008
David Wark Griffith was born on Jan. 22, 1875, near Curry’s Fork in Oldham County to Mary Oglesby Griffith and Jacob Griffith. As a young man he left Kentucky and went to work for the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company in Hollywood, making five dollars a day as a utility actor. It was there he was allowed to make one reel pictures. While with the company he cranked out some 400 films and helped launch some of the greatest silent screen starts-Lionel Barrymore, Douglas Fairbanks, W.C. Fields, Lillian and Dorothy Gish, Mary Pickford, William Boyde and Eric Van Stroheim.
One of his dreams was to produce an epic Civil War movie. He launched the Griffith Studio and by 1914 “Birth of a Nation” was filmed. It cost $90,000 to produce and grossed $50 million within the next 35 years. This first ever, epic film, included massive battle scenes and large scale sets that had never been seen before by film audiences who, up until this time, were used to short films that lasted 8 to 10 minutes. However the film was very controversial because it idolized the Ku Klux Klan as the home guard against the despised carpetbaggers and scallywags during the Reconstruction Period. Griffith had a difficult time trying to get the movie shown in Northern cities and the film is recognized as setting the Civil Rights Movement back 20 years.
During the next 11 years, D. W. became known as “the” pioneer in film making. He was recognized the world over as the “father of film” and invited to England to meet the Queen which he described as the “greatest moment in my life”. He created such film making techniques as the fade out, flashback, diffused lighting, moving cameras, and high-angle photography. His many films include “America|”, “Intolerance”, “Broken Blossom”, “Orphans of the Storm”, “Abraham Lincoln”, “Way Down East”, “Dream Street”, “Hearts of the World”, “Scarlet Days”, “Sorrows of Satan”, “Desraeli”, and “Lady of the Pavements”, just to mention a few.
Although often cited as the Father of Modern Film, Griffith has never been recognized for his achievements by the Academy of Motion Pictures because of his film “Birth of a Nation”. The Oldham County History Center will be showing a excerpts of his films including short takes on Friday evening, January 18, 2008 from 5 to 8 p.m. There will be popcorn and birthday cake. All activities are free.
|
For information contact: 502-222-0826, email: ochstryctr@aol.com Website: oldhamcountyhistoricalsociety.org Free Admission Hours of Operation:
|