The Birth of a Nation · 1915

The Birth of a Nation

«The Fiery Cross of the Ku Klux Klan!»

D.W. Griffith · 193 min · United States of America

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

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Budget

$100,000

Worldwide revenue

$11,000,000

Profit

$10,900,000

Production companies

Epoch Film Co., D.W. Griffith Productions, Epoch Productions

Cast

• 

  Lillian Gish

  Stoneman's Daughter Elsie

• 

  Mae Marsh

  Flora Cameron

• 

  Henry B. Walthall

  Col. Ben Cameron

• 

  Miriam Cooper

  Margaret Cameron

• 

  Mary Alden

  Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia

• 

  Ralph Lewis

  Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman

• 

  George Siegmann

  Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch

• 

  Walter Long

  Gus