The Fall of Babylon
About The Fall of Babylon
In 539 B.C. Prince Belshazzar and King Nabonidus rule Babylon and worship Ishtar. The High Priest of Bel, who will not have that cult, sends a messenger to Cyrus of Persia. A mountain girl sees the Persian army preparing, steals a chariot, and rides back to warn Belshazzar. No one believes her. The Persians break the gates and burn the palace. Belshazzar kills himself rather than be taken. The mountain girl holds his hand and kisses him as he dies.
Cast & crew
More about The Fall of Babylon
D. W. Griffith re-edited the Babylon story from Intolerance (1916), using footage cut from that film, and opened this feature on July 21, 1919, at the George M. Cohan Theatre in New York. AFI says it may have played Los Angeles earlier. The Cohan show was in two acts, with dancers and singers between the film. AFI lists seven reels. Wikidata gives 82 minutes. Constance Talmadge is the Mountain Girl, Alfred Paget is Belshazzar, Tully Marshall is the High Priest of Bel, Carl Stockdale is Nabonidus, and Seena Owen is Attarea.
Themes
Making
The new feature was built from Babylon material left out of the 1916 release as well as from shots that had been in it.
Preservation
A circulating copy is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- George Siegmann plays Cyrus in the cast lists carried over from Intolerance.
- Elmer Clifton is the Rhapsode. Elmo Lincoln is the Mighty Man of Valor.
- The Cohan engagement used a live company of dancers and singers in the same program as the film.
- A copy is on the Internet Archive as silent-the-fall-of-babylon.
- Griffith's other 1919 split of Intolerance was The Mother and the Law, from the modern story.
Scenes
- The Mountain Girl steals a chariot to warn the city.
- She kisses Belshazzar as he dies after the palace burns.
Influenced by
- Intolerance (1916)
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-the-fall-of-babylon)
