Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages ***** (1916, Lillian Gish, Douglas Fairbanks, Mae Marsh, Constance Talmadge, Robert Harron) – Classic Movie Review 3,781

Producer-writer-director D W Griffith’s 1916 classic epic silent film Intolerance: Love’s Struggle Throughout the Ages celebrated the 100th birthday of its US release on 5 September  2016. It advertised ‘colossal spectacle’, and that’s exactly what it delivers.

The theme of Griffith’s silent magnum opus is intolerance throughout the centuries, intertwining four stories ranging from ancient times in Babylon, via Judea and then 1572 Paris, to the then present day America to produce a film unlike anything seen before.

It is remarkable for its outstanding silent movie performances, particularly those of Lillian Gish and Constance Talmadge as the Mountain Girls, and above all for the sheer sweep of its epic scenes, especially in the Babylonian section with its battles, and the furious cross-cutting finale where Mae Marsh speeds to save Robert Harron from being hanged.

Following Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), also with Gish and Marsh, Intolerance is a true masterpiece of the silent era that was technically years ahead of its time and massively influential.

Also in the cast are Elmo Lincoln, Eugene Pallette, Bessie Love, Tully Marshall, Seena Owen, Miriam Cooper, Ralph Lewis, Sam De Grasse, Mary Alden and Alfred Paget.

The scenario is by Griffith, but the titles are by Anita Loos, who wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

The longest available version is 197 minutes on DVD, though original release ran 210 minutes.

Intolerance is in the public domain.

Watch free now on Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/Intolerance

There are four major versions of the film on home video.

(1). The Killiam Shows Version – Taken from a third-generation 16 millimeter print, it runs 176 minutes and has an organ score by Gaylord Carter.

(2). The Official Thames Silents Restoration – In 1989 this film was given a formal restoration by film preservationists Kevin Brownlow and David Gill. This version, also running 177 minutes, was prepared by Thames Television from original 35 millimeter material, and its tones and tints were restored as intended by Griffith. It has a digitally recorded orchestral score by Carl Davis.

(3). The Kino Version – Pieced together in 2002 by Kino International, this version, taken from 35 millimeter material, is transferred at a slower frame rate, resulting in a longer running time of 197 minutes. It has a synthetic orchestral score by Joseph Turrin.

(4). The Restored Digital Cinema Version – Restoration by ZZ Productions of the version shown at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on 7 April 1917. It runs 177 minutes, and premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 29 August 29, 2007.

Carl Davis, CBE (28 October 1936 – 3 August 2023) .

Carl Davis composed a new score for The Official Thames Silents Restoration of Intolerance, which had orchestral music originally, but Davis’s new music was used instead in 1989.

American-born composer and conductor Carl Davis won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music for the triumphant 1981 film The French Lieutenant’s Woman. He became the number one choice for new scores to silent films after his music for the restored Napoléon (1927) and D W Griffith’s Intolerance (1916).

Kevin Brownlow and David Gill commissioned him to create music for Thames Television’s TV series Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film (1980) and Abel Gance’s restored epic silent film Napoléon (1927). Davis’s music was used in Napoléon‘s cinema re-release and TV screenings. There was similar treatment for Intolerance, which had orchestral music originally, but Davis’s new score was used instead in 1989.

Carl Davis died from a brain haemorrhage in Oxford, UK, on 3 August 2023, aged 86.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 3,781

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