The Fall of a Nation
Encyclopedia
The Fall of a Nation was a 1916
1916 in film
The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 17 - release of A Daughter of the Gods, the first US production with a million dollar budget, with the first nude scene by a major star....

 American silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

 directed by Thomas Dixon, Jr.
Thomas Dixon, Jr.
Thomas F. Dixon, Jr. was an American Baptist minister, playwright, lecturer, North Carolina state legislator, lawyer, and author, perhaps best known for writing The Clansman — which was to become the inspiration for D. W...

 It is a sequel to the 1915
1915 in film
The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 8 : D.W Griffith's The Birth of a Nation premieres at Clune's Auditorium Los Angeles and breaks box office and film length records, running at a total length of 3 hrs 10 minutes.* June 18 : The Motion Picture Directors...

 film The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...

, directed by D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...

, which Dixon, Jr. co-wrote, in attempt in cash in on the success of the controversial first film. The Fall of a Nation is considered to be the first ever film sequel. Based upon a novel of the same name (also written by Thomas Dixon, Jr.), the film is now considered lost
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...

.

Synopsis

The Fall of a Nation is an attack on the pacifism of William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...

 and Henry Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...

 and a plea for American preparedness for war. America is unprepared for an attack by the "European Confederated Army", a European army headed by Germany. The army invades America and executes children and war veterans. However, America is saved by a pro-war Congressman who raises an army to defeat the invaders with the support of a suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...

. According to IMDb the film is split into three sections: "A nation falls", "The heel of the conqueror" and "The uprising two years later".

Cast

  • Lorraine Huling
    Lorraine Huling
    Lorraine Huling was an American actress. She appeared in the 1916 film The Fall of a Nation.-External links:**...

     - Virginia Holland
  • Percy Standing
    Percy Standing
    Percy Standing was an English film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 42 films between 1913 and 1934. He was the son of Herbert Standing...

     - Charles Waldron
  • Arthur Shirley
    Arthur Shirley
    Arthur Shirley was an Australian actor and film producer.Born Henry Raymond Shirley in Hobart to civil servant Henry Shirley and Sarah Ann, née Morton, he was baptised Arthur and attended Catholic schools. He then worked for Tattersall's Lottery and as a junior solicitor's clerk before moving to...

     - John Vassar
  • Flora Macdonald
    Flora Macdonald
    Flora MacDonald , Jacobite heroine, was the daughter of Ranald MacDonald of Milton on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, and his wife Marion, the daughter of Angus MacDonald.Her father died when she was a child, and her mother was abducted and married by Hugh MacDonald of...

     - Angela Benda
  • Paul Willis
    Paul Willis (actor)
    Paul Willis was an American actor of the silent film era who is possibly best recalled as a child actor in the 1910s....

     - Billy
  • Phil Gastrock - Thomas (as Philip Gastrock)
  • Clarence Geldart
    Clarence Geldart
    Clarence Geldart , was an American film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1915 and 1936.He was born in New Brunswick, Canada and died in Calabasas, California.-Selected filmography:* The Squaw Man...

     - General Arnold (as C.H. Geld)

Production

Some battle scenes were filmed in the same location as Birth of a Nation, at a cost of $31,000.

Soundtrack

The film had a musical score produced by Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...

. The Encyclopædia Britannica states that "this is probably the first original symphonic score composed for a feature film".

Reception and aftermath

Anthony Slide argues that the film was largely a commercial failure. The production company, "Dixon Studios", went bust in 1921 having produced only one film.
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