America

1924 DramaHistory 141 minutes Directed by D.W. Griffith

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About America

The story moves between Loyalists in upstate New York and Patriots in Massachusetts and Virginia. In Lexington, express rider and minuteman Nathan Holden carries a dispatch to the Virginia General Assembly and meets Nancy Montague. Her father, Justice Montague, a Loyalist judge, is not impressed. Loyalist captain Walter Butler leads Iroquois attacks on Patriot settlers, including the killing of women and children. The film ends with Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and George Washington's first inauguration in 1789.

Cast & crew

More about America

D. W. Griffith adapted Robert W. Chambers's 1905 novel The Reckoning. An alternate title is Love and Sacrifice. Billy Bitzer photographed it. Joseph Carl Breil wrote the music. A theatrical date cited for the picture is 21 February 1924. Location work included Farmington and Summit, New York. Wikipedia gives the cost as $795,000 and the box office as $1,750,000.

Themes

  • An express rider and a Loyalist daughter
  • Butler and the Iroquois
  • Yorktown
  • Washington's inauguration
  • Nathan Holden
  • Nancy Montague
  • Walter Butler
  • Lexington
  • George Washington
  • Revolutionary War

Background

A 1924 silent of the Revolutionary War in New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia, closing on Yorktown and Washington's inauguration.

Making

Griffith staged Revolutionary War battles on New York locations and cut a romance through the campaigns.

Look

Billy Bitzer shot the battles and the New York locations, including Farmington and Summit.

Music

Joseph Carl Breil wrote the score.

Preservation

The film survives. Wikimedia Commons has a copy. The Internet Archive item America1924Part1Of2--D.w.Griffith is the first half.

Notes

  • Neil Hamilton plays Nathan Holden. Carol Dempster plays Nancy Montague. Erville Alderson plays Justice Montague.
  • Lionel Barrymore plays Captain Walter Butler.
  • The northern campaign in New York is the main theater. Yorktown and the 1789 inauguration close the film.
  • A full copy online runs 2 hours, 19 minutes, and 45 seconds. Rotten Tomatoes lists 2 hours 15 minutes.

Scenes

  • Holden meets Nancy while carrying a dispatch to the Virginia assembly.
  • Butler's raids hit Patriot settlers.
  • Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.

Influenced by

  • Robert W. Chambers's novel The Reckoning (1905)

Also available

  • Internet Archive (America1924Part1Of2--D.w.Griffith)
  • Wikimedia Commons (America (1924).webm)

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