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Intolerance
Also known as Intolerance; or,
The Mother and the Law
in the USA
(1916) United States of America
B&W : [?] 13 or 14? reels
Directed by D.W. Griffith

Cast: Lillian Gish [the woman who rocks the cradle], Mae Marsh [the little Dear One (Modern story)], Robert Harron [the boy (Modern story)], Georgia Pearce (Constance Talmadge) [the Mountain Girl (Babylon story)], Elmer Clifton [the Rhapsode (Babylon story), Alfred Paget [Belshazzar, the Prince (Babylon story)], Seena Owen [Attarea, the Princess Beloved (Babylon story)], Walter Long [the musketeer of the slums (Modern story)], Miriam Cooper [the friendless one (Modern story)], Howard Gaye [Jesus Christ (Judea story)], Lillian Langdon [Mary the mother (Judea story)], Josephine Crowell, Frank Fisher Bennett, Margery Wilson [Brown Eyes], Bessie Love [the bride of Cana (Judea story)], George Walsh [the bridegroom of Cana (Judea story), Joseph Henabery, George Siegmann [Cyrus (Babylon story)], Eugene Pallette [Prosper Latour], Monte Blue, Spottiswoode Aitken [Brown Eyes’ father], Vera Lewis [Mary T. Jenkins (Modern story)], Sam de Grasse [Arthur Jenkins (Modern story)], Clyde Hopkins [Jenkins’ secretary (Modern story)], Carl Stockdale [King Nabonidus (Babylon story)], Tully Marshall [the High Priest of Bel (Babylon story)], George Beranger (André Beranger) [the second Priest of Bel (Babylon story)], Kate Bruce [the city mother], [?] Lucille Younge or Olga Grey? [Mary Magdalene (Judea story)], Fred Turner (F.A. Turner) [the Dear One’s father (Modern story)], Tom Wilson [the kindly policeman (Modern story)], Ralph Lewis [the governor (Modern story)], Lloyd Ingraham [the judge (Modern story)], Mary Alden, Pearl Elmore, Lucille Browne, Marguerite Marsh [a debutante at the ball], Tod Browning [the racing car owner (Modern story)], Edward Dillon [the chief detective (Modern story)], Elmo Lincoln [the Mighty Man of Valor (Babylon story)], Luray Huntley, William H. Brown (Bill Brown) [the warden (Modern story); and the girl’s father (Judea story)], Alberta Lee [the wife], Robert Lawler (George Fawcett), Raymond Wells, Maxfield Stanley, Ruth Handforth [Brown Eyes’ mother], A.D. Sears (Allan Sears), W.E. Lawrence, Louis Romaine, Martin Landry, Mrs. Arthur Mackley [a social uplifter (Modern story)], Reverend A.W. McClure [Father Farley], Max Davidson [the kindly neighbor], Loyola O’Connor [Attarea’s slave (Babylon story)], Arthur Meyer, Morris Levy, Baron von Ritzau (Guenther von Ritzau) [first Pharisee (Judea story)], Count von Stroheim (Erich von Stroheim) [first Pharisee (Judea story)], James Curley, George James, Louis Ritz, John Bragdon, Howard Scott, Charles Van Cortland, Jack Cosgrove, Alma Rubens, Ed Burns (Edmund Burns), James Burns, Ruth Darling [a girl in the Marriage Market (Babylon story)], Grace Wilson, Lotta Clifton, Ah Singh, Ranji Singh, Margaret Mooney, Mildred Harris, Pauline Stark (Pauline Starke), Winifred Westover, Charles Eagle Eye, William Dark Cloud, Carol Dempster [extra (Babylon story)], Douglas Fairbanks [extra], Frank Campeau, Billy Quirk, W.S. Van Dyke, Gino Corrado, Carmel Myers, Jewel Carmen, Eve Southern, Natalie Talmadge, Wallace Reid, Daisy Robinson, Owen Moore, Wilfred Lucas, Nigel de Brulier, Donald Crisp, Ethel Terry [Egyptian slave girl], Eleanor Washington, Frank Brownlee [brother of the girl], Barney Bernard [the boy’s attorney], Hal Wilson, Francis McDonald, Clarence H. Geldert (Clarence Geldert), Ernest Butterworth, Anna Mae Walthall, John P. McCarthy, Tammany Young, Chandler House, Ted Duncan, Felix Modjeska, Madame Sul-te-Wan, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Ruth St. Denis, William E. Cassidy, Constance Collier

Wark Producing Corporation production; distributed by Wark Distributing Corporation. / Produced by D.W. Griffith. Scenario by D.W. Griffith + [Tod Browning]. Art direction by Walter L. Hall. Set design and construction supervised by Frank ‘Huck’ Wortman. Historical technologist, R. Ellis Wales. Research assistants, Joseph Henabery and Lillian Gish. Costume design by Claire West. Costumes by Western Costume Company. Dances staged by Ruth St. Denis. Assistant directors, George Siegmann and W.S. Van Dyke + [Joseph Henabery, Erich von Stroheim, Edward Dillon, Tod Browning, Joseph Henabery, Allan Dwan, Monte Blue, Elmer Clifton, Mike Siebert, George Hill, Arthur Berthelon, W. Christy Cabanne (William Christy Cabanne), Jack Conway, George Nichols and Victor Fleming]. Cinematography by G.W. Bitzer, with additional cinematography by Karl Brown. Film editor, D.W. Griffith, assisted by James Smith and Rose Smith. Intertitles written by Anita Loos + [D.W. Griffith and Frank E. Woods]. Music score arranged by Joseph Carl Breil + [D.W. Griffith]. / © 24 June 1916 as Intolerance, Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages by David Wark Griffith (D.W. Griffith) [LU8570]. © 5 September 1916 as Intolerance, a Sun-play of the Ages by David Wark Griffith (D.W. Griffith) [LP9934]. Previewed 5 August 1916 in Riverside, California. Premiered 5 September 1916 at the Liberty Theatre in New York, New York. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. Color-tinted and color-toned. / Subtitled: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages. The short film The Mother and the Law was incorporated into this film. The estimated original length was between 13,500 feet and 13,700 feet. Reportedly Margery Wilson’s film debut, although she did previously appear in The Lucky Transfer (1915). Barry-Griffith p. ? notes that Colleen Moore did not appear in the film though is sometimes credited as such; Colleen Moore in Drew-Speaking p. 164 confirms that she did not appear in the film. Original sequences with color by the Max Handschiegl hand-tinted color engraving process. Bardèche-History p. 202 notes that Griffith was paying outstanding debts on the production of this film until 1923. Prints shown at sound speed will run about 123 minutes. Late in 1918 the original negative cut cut to make up parts of the reedited The Mother and the Law and the expanded The Fall of Babylon. Griffith later tried to restore the negative but the resulting version was not as long as the original. The film was released in Sweden on 19 May 1919. Prints made in the 1920s ranged from ten to less than 12 reels. Revival presentations in 1926 and 1933 were shortened versions. The Museum of Modern Art film archive holds a preservation print at 11,811 feet.

Drama.

Synopsis: Synopsis available in AFI-F1 n. F1.2212.

Survival status: Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive (of the original edit); in the George Eastman Museum film archive [35mm positive]; in the Museum of Modern Art film archive [35mm preservation duplicate positive]; and in the film holdings of Cohen Media Group (Raymond Rohauer collection) [35mm positive].

Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].

Keywords: Alcohol: Stills, Wine - Ancient world: Babylon, Jerusalem - Animals: Bears, Camels, Dogs, Elephants, Goats, Horses, Leopards, Monkeys - Apartments - Attornies - Auctions - Automobiles - Babies - Ballrooms - Bars - Battles - Beds - Birds: Chickens, Doves, Geese - Blacks - Boardwalks - Books - Brooms - Butlers - Cafés - Candles - Catholics - Celebrations - Chariots - Chases - Chauffeurs - Checks - Children - Child welfare - Clothing: Overalls, Tuxedoes - Convicts - Cradles - Crime: Murder, Rape, Robbery, Theft - Criminals: Murderers, Rapists, Thieves - Crowds - Dances - Death: Murder - Decapitation - Desks - Drunks - Factories - Families: Brothers, Mothers: Single, Sisters - Fans - Feasts - Fights: Fist - Fire - Fire escapes - Flirtation - Food: Onions - Formal balls - Frame-ups - France: Paris - Gallows - Gangs - Gates - Governors - Hangmen - Horns - Illness: Colds - Infants - Jealousy - Jesus Christ - Judges - Juries - Kings - Kissing - Law: Enforcement (Police: Detectives, Policemen), Judicial: Courts (Courtrooms, Lawyers) - Lightning - Locomotives - Marketplaces - Marriage - Merchants - Mills - Miracles - Musical instruments: Harps - Newsstands - Nudity - Nurses - Offices - Prayer - Prisoners - Prisons - Prostitutes - Protestants - Raids - Razors - Reformers - Reform movements - Rejection - Religion - Reprieves - Rescues - Rich people - Sieges - Signage - Smoke - Soldiers - Staffs - Street scenes - Strikes - Suitcases - Swords - Tears - Telephones - Temples - Tobacco: Cigarettes - Trains - Trials - USA: New York: Coney Island - Verdicts - Victories - Virgins - Wages: Cut - Walled cities - War - Watches - Water - Weapons: Arrows, Bows, Cannons, Crossbows, Guns, Spears, Tanks - Workers

Listing updated: 9 May 2024.

References: Film credits, film viewing : AFI-F1 n. F1.2212; Amberg-NYTimes p. 3; Ball-Shakespeare pp. 231, 387; Bardèche-History pp. 104, 105, 142, 151, 164, 186, 201, 202, 225, 260, 274; Barry-Griffith pp. 17, 23, 25-30, 35, 37, 38, 40, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50-51, 52, 68, 74, 88; Basten-Technicolor p. 14; Birchard-DeMille p. xi; Bogdanovich-Dwan pp. 7, 35-36; Bohn-Light pp. xix, xxi, 51, 56-57, 59, 60, 61, 84, 86, 88, 90, 108, 110, 116, 139, 149, 174, 175; Bondanella-Italian p. 4; Brownlow-Behind pp. xix, 17; Brownlow-Parade pp. 28, 42, 45, 50, 51-64, 80, 93, 100-101, 238, 255, 270, 273, 282, 339, 388, 534, 542, 579; Card-Seductive pp. 30-32, 40, 45, 48, 53; Cooper-Dark pp. 1, 4, 39, 56f, 56g, 94, 97-99, 106, 109-112, 115, 126, 133, 141, 144, 169, 199, 205; Dardis-Keaton pp. 41, 96, 138; Dowd-Vidor pp. 11, 38; Drew-Speaking pp. 164, 219, 225, 243, 253; Edmonds-BigU pp. 99, 100; Everson-American pp. 56, 75, 76-77, 78, 86h, 88, 89, 90, 93-97, 98, 99, 100, 114, 116, 118, 123, 130, 133, 138, 141, 149, 156, 158, 172, 179, 181, 185, 187, 188, 192, 195, 212, 215, 266, 300-301, 317, 358, 369; Everson-Detective p. 27; Fell-History pp. 23, 54, 56, 67, 68, 69-71, 110, 113; FilmYearBook-1926 p. 11; Gallagher-Ford pp. 9, 22, 55; Geduld-Birth p. 38; Kael-Kiss pp. 131, 309; Kerr-Silent pp. 23, 46, 226; Lahue-Collecting pp. 27, 34, 49, 143; Lahue-Gentlemen p. 146; Lahue-Selig p. 223; Lahue-Triangle pp. 69-71, 103, 105, 106, 116, 118-120, 123, 126; Lee-Not pp. 28-29; Leish-Cinema pp. 24-25, 41; Leyda-Before pp. 72, 141; Limbacher-Feature p. 121; Maeder-Hollywood pp. 10, 86, 195, 196; Maltin-Classic p. 330; McCaffrey-Guide pp. 6, 14d; Nollen-Karloff p. 215; Parish-Gangster pp. 1, 210-211, 283; Perry-British pp. 48, 50; Pitts-Hollywood p. 65; Poague-Capra p. 113; Ramsaye-Million pp. lx-lxi; Sato-Currents p. 251; Shipman-Cinema p. 58; Shirley-Australian p. 49; Sinyard-Silent pp. 8, 20, 23, 25, 26-28, 30, 31, 32, 55, 60, 115, 139, 143, 165; Skal-Browning pp. 267-268; Sklar-Movie pp. 50, 61, 62, 63-64, 68, 92; Skretvedt-Magic pp. 438, 443; Slide-Aspects pp. 20, 22; Slide-FineArts pp. vii, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 20, 42, 49, 54, 69, 73, 74, 84, 112, 114, 116, 118, 119, 123, 127, 130, 132, 141, 142, 146, 150, 153, 155, 156; Sloan-Loud pp. 74-75, 98e, 149; Smith-Colman pp. 21, 176; Smith-Epic pp. xv-xvi, 116; Stedman-Serials p. 56; Taylor-Hitchcock p. 41; Thompson-Lost p. 40; Usai-Griffith-1 p. 22; Vermilye-Twenties pp. 109, 215; Weaver-Twenty pp. 146, 373; Webb-Hollywood pp. 6, 34, 87, 126-127, 129 : ClasIm-224 p. 53; ClasIm-225 p. C14; ClasIm-226 pp. 42-43; ClasIm-240 p. 44 : Documentary-Slide : Website-GEM : with additional information provided by Dorothy Fitzpatrick.

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