D.W. Griffith: An American Life - Hardcover

Schickel, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671225960 ISBN 13: 9780671225964

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1984

Synopsis

Examines the sources and scope of Griffith's art, tracing his life from a Southern childhood, through his innovative contributions to film, including techniques such as the close-up, to his fall from popular favor and lonely last years

About this title

From the Back Cover:

He transformed a nickelodeon novelty into a new art form and a powerful, glamorous American industry. He codified the rules and techniques of screen story-telling, and pioneered the conventions that brought films to life, from surging spectacle to soul-baring close-ups. A poor farm boy from the South, Griffith rose to fame with The Birth of a Nation, a cinematic masterpiece stained by the racism that infected his heritage. Though he went on to direct some of the most legendary films of the silent era, Griffith was doomed by his over-reaching drives, and he died an embittered man, shunned by the community he had largely created. His story is told here with unsparing truth and compelling narrative sweep.

From Library Journal:

LJ's reviewer found that Schickel's monumental biography of the man who practically invented Hollywood "presents the first great director as the author of his own destruction" (LJ 4/1/84).
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0671225960
• ISBN 13: 9780671225964
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 672