On Wed, 15 Jun 1994 02:01:10 -0400 Mary C. Kalfatovic said: >I don't think that people from the past, such as D.W.Griffith, should be >judged by 1990s standards. This is a defensible position if it weren't that BIRTH OF A NATION was attacked from the first showings in 1914 on the basis of its racist thrust. Perhaps it is useful to remember is that the second Klan was organized in 1915 following the release of BIRTH OF NATION and that the film was used through the 'twenties (and even later) for KKK recruiting. Nevertheless Griffith might be distinguished from Reifenstahl. On the evidence, her work was informed by Nazi principles. It is less clear whether Griffith was simply reflecting his era or consciously expounding racist principles. What is clear is that the author of the book CLANSMAN (later dramatized for stage and source of BIRTH OF A NATION), was explicitly and proudly a racist. I leave others to adjudicate the widely expressed argument that Griffith softened Dixon's vitriol. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Cal Pryluck, Radio-Television-Film, Temple University, Philadelphia <[log in to unmask]> <[log in to unmask]>