The Birth of a Race
About The Birth of a Race
The released film spends its first hour on Adam and Eve, Noah, the Exodus, and Moses receiving the commandments, then a Passion sequence in which Simon of Cyrene helps carry the cross. It passes quickly through Columbus, the Revolutionary War, and the assassination of Lincoln. In the war story, two sons of a German-American family fight on opposite sides. George, wounded, kills his brother Oscar while defending a hospital, then goes home and stops a German spy.
Cast & crew
More about The Birth of a Race
Emmett Jay Scott produced it as a reply to The Birth of a Nation. Investors pushed the story off Black history and toward a patriotic war picture, and Variety reported in 1918 that a large amount of footage about Black advancement was dropped. The 6 December 1918 Variety cited a production cost of $500,000. Gardiner Syndicate distributed it. The Chicago premiere program named no production company.
Themes
Background
Scott, who had been Booker T. Washington's secretary, first tried to attach a short answer film to The Birth of a Nation in 1915. Weak money and a larger plan held the project into the war. A 1916 prospectus still promised the Negro's life in Africa, enslavement, freedom, and achievements.
In film history
What reached theaters was not that prospectus. A few shots of Black and white men working together remained after the race material was cut.
Making
Daniel Frohman pulled out in March 1918. His staff, including Noble, and the Tampa plant were turned over to the promoters to finish the picture. Outdoor scenes shot in Tampa in January 1918 stood in for Egypt, the river rescue of the infant Moses, and the Via Dolorosa.
Reviews
The 6 December 1918 Variety called the Blackstone premiere "the most grotesque cinema chimera in the history of the picture business." Reviewers also called the story of two white brothers on opposite sides of the war muddled.
Audiences
It failed commercially. It opened weeks after the Armistice, when war pictures had lost their pull.
Look
Herbert Oswald Carleton photographed it, including the Tampa exteriors used for Egypt and the road to the crucifixion.
Music
Joseph Carl Breil composed the musical accompaniment.
Preservation
After two public showings the 150-minute release was cut to 60 minutes. That shorter version is at the Library of Congress.
Notes
- It opened at Chicago's Blackstone Theatre on 1 December 1918.
- John W. Noble directed. Rex Weber was billed in some materials as a director or supervisor; Weber later denied the connection, and the premiere program had that credit blotted out.
- Joseph Carl Breil, who had scored The Birth of a Nation, wrote the accompaniment.
- Herbert Oswald Carleton is credited as cinematographer. Anthony Paul Kelly is credited among the writers.
- After the Armistice the promoters considered retitling it The Story of a Great Peace. The original title stayed. Lincoln's Dream was an earlier name for the project.
- A February 1918 Variety item said $1 million in stock had been sold to 7,000 investors, many of them Black residents of Chicago.
- Louis Dean plays the Kaiser, Doris Doscher plays Eve, and Ben Hendricks Sr. plays Fritz Schmidt.
Scenes
- Simon of Cyrene, played by a Black actor, helps carry the cross.
- George kills his brother Oscar during the attack on the hospital.
Influenced by
- The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons
