SOURCE: "The Griffith Tradition," in Film Comment, Vol. 10, No. 2, March-April, 1974, pp. 48-54.

In the following essay, Dorr surveys key movies, by Griffith and other directors, which were inspired by a filmmaking style known as the "Griffith Tradition."

The first strain of the American filmmaking tradition grew directly from the all-pervasive influence of the early work of D. W. Griffith. This essentially nationalistic tradition of dramatic narrative was rooted in the simple, direct montage principles that Griffith evolved in his Biograph one- and two-reelers. In 1915, The Birth of A Nation became the official lexicon of these principles.

The Griffith Tradition was the dominant style of the silent American film and was evolved to a classical perfection by the mid-Twenties. Later, emasculated by the transition to sound, this tradition became a recessive approach to direction best suited for keeping track of uncomplicated narratives over which a performer's personality could easily...