Stars: Lillian Gish, Constance Talmadge, Mae Marsch, Robert Harron, Elmo Lincoln, Eugene Pallette, Donald Crisp, Richard Barthelmess, Arthur Howard, Norman Selby, Lowell Sherman, Josephine Bernard, Florence Short, Walter Huston, Una Merkel, Kay Hammond

Director: D.W. Griffith

Summary: Four features including 'The Birth Of A Nation' based on a play called 'The Clansman', which follows a family through the American Civil war. Includes 'The Making Of'. 'Intolerance' depicts four studies of intolerance and injustice from different periods of history. In 'Broken Blossoms' a Chinese man visits London in the hope that he can bring the message of Buddha to others. Contains the original 1919 orchestra score by Louis F. Gottschalk. 'Way Down East' is the story of Anna, a poor country girl, tricked into a fake wedding with a young, rich landowner. finding a job in a farmhouse she is dismissed when her new baby is discovered. 'Abraham Lincoln' tells the story of the life of Abraham Lincoln. All titles are tinted.

This box set includes five of D.W. Griffith's history-making feature films: THE BIRTH OF A NATION, INTOLERANCE, BROKEN BLOSSOMS, WAY DOWN EAST, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN. See individuals titles for more details.

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There's little doubt that much of what we now take for granted about cinema owes much to the vision of director D W Griffith. Monumental Epicscollects five of his most influential silent masterpieces.

The Birth of a Nation(1915) is also the birth of the epic film. Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War this provocative film unflinchingly shows the humiliation of Southern culture, the "heroism" of the Ku Klux Klan, and links the Union and Confederacy by a common Aryan birthright. All of which has to be viewed in its period context if it is to be viewed at all.

Intolerance(1916) is film-making of epic complexity. Human intolerance is related through a modern tale of wrongful conviction, intercut by three stories from Babylonian, Judean, and French history to point up the issue through the ages. The intricacy of the intercutting is breathtaking even now, but those as confused as the first audiences evidently were can opt to see each story separately. Sensitively tinted, this is Griffith's finest three hours.

Broken Blossoms(1919) has Griffith venturing into domestic melodrama. Although there's a clear moral to be drawn from this tale of compassion in the face of ignorance and brutality, neither the over-acting of Lillian Gish and Donald Crisp, nor the vein of sentimentality that creeps into their characters' relationship allow the viewer to forget the period-piece nature of the film. Here an appropriately expressive musical score helps keep viewing at an attentive level.

Way Down East(1920) shows Griffith moving from the epic to the personal, though still on a large scale. The combining of old-style melodrama with latter-day female emancipation is tellingly brought off, and Lillian Gish excels as the country girl used and abused by male society, until "rescued" by a farmer of true moral scruples. Unconvinced? Then go straight to the climactic snowstorm and ice floe sequences--Eisenstein et alare inconceivable without this as trailblazer.

Abraham Lincoln(1930) marked Griffith's entry into the talkie era. Tautly directed, it offers a historically accurate account of the 16th US President's rise to power and his visionary outlook on American society. Civil War scenes are implied rather than enacted, and its Walter Huston's robust yet understated acting that carries the day, with sterling support from Una Merkel as Ann Rutledge and Hobart Bosworth as General Lee.

On the DVD:Stylishly packaged, restoration and digital remastering has been carried out to Eureka's usual high standard, and the 4:3 aspect ratio has commendable clarity. Birth of a Nationhas Joseph Carl Breil's original orchestral score and a pithy "making of" film by Russell Merritt. Intolerancecontains a useful rolling commentary and a great wurlitzer soundtrack too. Way Down Eastincludes a commentary. Abraham Lincolnalso has a commentary, though Hugo Riesenfeld's score often verges on the mawkish. Overall this set is a must for anyone remotely interested in film as a living medium.--Richard Whitehouse

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Year:	1915
Release Date:	June 24, 2002
Runtime:	694 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	E K A 50008
Keywords:	Nation, Way, Birth, East, Broken, Box, General, Four, Down, Intolerance, Set, Lincoln, Silent, Griffith, Blossoms, Drama, Historical, W, Abraham, Discs, D, Epics, Monumental, Dw
Genre:	Drama