SOURCE: "Griffith in Retrospect," in Man and Movies, edited by W. R. Robinson, Louisiana State University Press, 1967, pp. 153-60.

In the following essay, Dorris looks back thoughtfully at Griffith's oeuvre.

When the Museum of Modern Art announced its D. W. Griffith retrospective in the spring of 1965, I decided to attend the complete series. But I had no real idea of what I was letting myself in for. Like most filmgoers, I knew the legend of the shattered titan, living out the last years of his life as a virtual recluse. I had seen The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance and been moved by the beauty, the dramatic sweep, and the emotional power of these remarkable films. But of Griffith's other work I knew nothing. I had no prejudice against silent films, having admired many of the classic Russian and German silents as well as a few French...