The Birth of a Nation
The Fiery Cross of the Ku Klux Klan!
5.9(601) 1915-03-08 193 minDramaHistoryWar
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.
ProducerD.W. Griffith
Original Music ComposerJon Mirsalis
WriterD.W. Griffith
ScreenplayFrank E. Woods
Original Music ComposerD.W. Griffith
DirectorD.W. Griffith
Cast & characters
Lillian Gish
as Stoneman's Daughter Elsie
Mae Marsh
as Flora Cameron
Henry B. Walthall
as Col. Ben Cameron
Miriam Cooper
as Margaret Cameron
Mary Alden
as Stoneman's Housekeeper Lydia
Ralph Lewis
as Leader of the House Hon. Austin Stoneman
George Siegmann
as Lieut. Governor Silas Lynch
Walter Long
as Gus
Robert Harron
as Tod
Wallace Reid
as Jeff, the Blacksmith
Joseph Henabery
as Abraham Lincoln
Elmer Clifton
as Stoneman's Elder Son Phil
Josephine Crowell
as Mrs. Cameron
Spottiswoode Aitken
as Dr. Cameron
George Beranger
as Wade Cameron
Maxfield Stanley
as Duke Cameron
Jennie Lee
as Mammy
Donald Crisp
as Gen. U.S. Grant
Howard Gaye
as Gen. Robert E. Lee
Sam De Grasse
as Senator Charles Sumner (uncredited)
No photo
William De Vaull
as Nelse (uncredited)
No photo
Willam Freeman
as Jake / Sentry at Hospital (uncredited)
Tom Wilson
as Stoneman's Servant (uncredited)
Fred Burns
as Klansman (uncredited)
