cwgallagher

Keaton had been able to maintain some control over his first two films at MGM,which were his last silents,but the studio foisted this TURKEY on him,and as it was a financial winner he lost any say over his final six films for the studio. This is perhaps the most leaden film Keaton ever made! It is incredibly slow and dull,with only minimal patches of action ,and nothing really funny for Buster to do. The dance numbers performed by the chubbiest dance line I've ever seen,are incredibly bad! It's interesting to compare them to the ones in "Speak Easily" (perhaps his best MGM sound film.) One can understand Buster's drinking and depression after making something as bad as this!

To someone who might stumble upon this film on IFC or Sundance by accident ,it will seem to be an authentic documentary on a real Antartic mission in the early parts of the 20th Century. This is perhaps the finest "mocumentary" ever made! Using old newsreel footage of various Artic and Antartic missions,and photographs from the Shackelton expedition,and very cleverly photographed new material,the film's makers have woven a fascinating tale that never happened . The idea of a tunnel connecting the two Poles is of course ludicrous,but it makes for a great film!

Many people seeing this film today cannot help but view it in the context of modern racial attitudes.Griffith's (and Dixon's) history is highly flawed,and the film's racial viewpoint was more than offensive to many in it's day,and time has not improved them any.Also most people upon first viewing the film they've heard called a masterpiece are suprised to find that it's not full of all sorts of new trick shots,but rather that it is a well structured and finely crafted film that can hold it's own with anyhing made today. What they don't realize is the startling advance it was in film making compared to the average feature of it's own era(1914-1915.) If onne see "The Birth" AFTER first seeing something like Theda Bara's 1914 film,"A Fool there was",just how much better and what an advane "The Birth"was becomes immediately apparent! The thing that has always amazed me about the film is how strong it's abbility to draw in it's viewers still is! This is perhaps the strongest reason for the many who still oppose showings of this movie almost 90 years after it was made! I was lucky enough years ago to talk with my paternal grandmother,who told me of seing the film in it's initial New York run at a "legitimate" stage house,The Liberty Theater on Broadway at $2 top for reserved seats,(which was what one paid to see a Broadway show in those days) acompanied by a full orchestra.

A closing note in these days where the box office gross is the measure of a movies worht.We will probably Never now how much the film has grossed (and it's still in paying exhibition),but we can safely say that "The Birth of a Nation" has ben seen by more people than any other American film.