Lot 144
Anyone who knows motion-picture history in this country is very familiar with Griffiths 1915 racist movie that has been hailed as a cinematic masterpiece. Maybe it was, given the period of its own birth, but its blasphemous portrayal of African Americans at the time was terroristic. The movie was based on the books The Clansman and The Leopards Spots by Thomas Dixon Jr., who like Griffith thought the South got a lousy deal in the war and black people were the cause of its misery. It was a Confederate interpretation of the founding of the nation. A silent film starring Lillian Gish (the only name I recognized), it told the story of two families one from the South, the other from the North and the impact that the war and Reconstruction had on them. The so-called black characters included Mammy, their faithful old servant; Gus, a renegade negro; Jake, a black man faithful until death. The savior of the country, according to the movie, was the Ku Klux Klan, which terrorized black people for decades, and with their lawlessness intimidated and killed them at will. The movie spurred an increase in Klan membership, and the group even used it to recruit new members. But African Americans didnt exactly take the movie silently. While thousands of whites plopped down $2 (a big sum when most films cost 25 cents) to see it when it opened first in Los Angeles and New York, the NAACP and its supporters waged a campaign to ban it, and later to have some of its brutal anti-black scenes removed. It was banned in a few places, and protested in others. Scholar W.E.B. DuBois wrote vehemently against it in the Crisis, the NAACP magazine, while newspaperman William Trotter and supporters protested by trying to buy tickets when it came to Boston. Other opponents who had managed to get inside disrupted the showing. They kept up their protests Despite the protests, the movie went on to become one of the most popular and highest-grossing films ever produced. In 1998, the film was named #44 among the 100 best in the last century by the American Film Institute, but was removed a decade later. We describe all items to the best of our ability as we are not experts on everything. Please ask specific questions on details, condition, and shipping prior to bidding, ALL ITEMS ARE SOLD AS IS, and bidder will be responsible for payment. We box and ship what we can to keep costs low, and use USPS and UPS. Large items, extremely fragile, and high value items will be packed by UPS. Quotes available on request. (Book)
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Dimensions:
- 9.5" x 12" Condition:
- Good Condition with the cover detached
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