Intolerance (1916)

My Review

“Intolerance” is an epic silent film featuring four storylines which depicts humanity’s tendencies towards intolerance. Director D. W. Griffith’s segments include a contemporary crime drama, the events of the French St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, and the fall of Babylon to Persia in 539 B.C. Griffith employed outstanding production values, great performances, and excellent dialogue (on intertitle cards). He co-wrote the screenplay with Hettie Gray Baker, Anita Loos, Mary H. O’Connor, and Frank E. Woods.

The cast includes Lillian Gish, Constance Talmadge, Mae Marsh, Miriam Cooper, Robert Harron, Howard Gayle, Eugene Pallette, Bessie Love, Elmo Lincoln, Donald Crisp, Douglas Fairbanks, and King Vidor. “Intolerance” was a big hit at the box office for David W. Griffith Corporation and Triangle Distributing Corporation. This film has a 197 minute running time on most surviving cuts on DVD’s. It was filmed at various locations across Southern California.

“Intolerance” is considered one of the great movies of all time due to Griffith & company’s ingenuity and revolutionary approach to storytelling. It has an unprecedented monumental scale, enormous sets, and new cross-cutting editing techniques, exploring four separate historical eras. In 1989, it was one of the first motion pictures selected for preservation in the U. S. National Film Registry.