An authorized biography of D.W. Griffith, the self-proclaimed "Father of Filmmaking." Written in collaboration with the director, Robert Edgar Long's biographical sketch traces Griffith's early life, his career as an actor and stage director, his rise as one of Biograph's most acclaimed and innovative filmmakers, and the making of his revolutionary (and controversial) full-length films: The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, and other cinema classics.