#silenterafilms

Today Im beginning a journey down early #SilentEraFilms starting with D.W. Griffiths infamous “The Birth of A Nation” released in 1915. The film was created to portray the horrors of war chronicling the relationship of a pro-union Northern family and a Pro-confederacy southern family through the civil war and reconstruction. Unfortunately due to its negative portrayal of people of color and the presentation of the founding of the KKK, it actually helped spark the revival of the second wave of the KKK in 1915-1944. Griffith was aghast at what his film created and spent the next year repenting by creating his masterpiece "Intolerance" one of he most ambitious movies ever created with a whole block dedicated to the creation of the Babylon set. The film flopped horribly in theaters, DW’s company went bankrupt, and the enormous set lay there to decay until it was finally torn down after WWII. A full scale replica of the wall still forms the cornerstone of the hollywood & Highland center today. You've might have seen it dozens of times and not even known what it is. more about it here: http://laist.com/2008/08/16/laistory_the_ugliest_building_in_lo.php

Triple fudge ice cream and silent films! This is life. Today I'm watching Charlie Chaplin's 1931 masterpiece "City Lights" filmed around LA and premiered at the Los Angeles Theater (where I watch the Moulin Rouge a few weeks ago!) #charliechaplin #CityLights #SilentEraFilms