D.W. Griffith’s epic 1915 film The Birth of a Nation is controversial, to say the least. Putting that aside for the moment, it is also a watershed moment in the history of film. Griffith pioneered a number of filmmaking techniques, leading Armond White of National Review to say, “It’s the building block film. There would be no extended movie narrative without Griffith. It is the film that showed the world about the potential of cinema.” It’s the first film to utilize fade-outs, close-ups, parallel action shots, high-angle panoramic shots, and battle sequences with up to 500 extras.

The Birth of a Nation was shown in two parts, with an intermission in the middle of the three-hour plus run time. It was the first major blockbuster film, grossing more than $60 million by 1920, the first American film with an orchestra score, and the first film to be screened in the White House, for President Woodrow Wilson, who is said to have enthusiastically remarked, “It is like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true,” pretty much in line with Wilson’s noted racist presidency. So it shouldn’t be all that surprising that the film led to another first, the first feature-length film sequel: 1916’s The Fall of a Nation.

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‘The Fall of a Nation’ Is a Warning About America’s Possible Future
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The Fall of a Nation, unlike its predecessor, focuses on a possible future where the United States is brought to the brink of downfall by its adherence to pacifism. After the sinking of the Lusitania, American millionaire Charles Waldron (Percy Standing) turns his back on his country and assists the Germans with a plot to overthrow the American government. The Germans assemble a large military force, the European Confederated Army, and invade the United States, executing citizens left and right. The U.S. is completely unprepared to counter the attack as pacifism has led to the belief that America has no enemies. As a result, the Germans conquer the nation, with Waldron designating himself as the new prince of a puppet government.

After two years of German rule, America is saved by the heroics of Congressman John Vassar (Arthur Shirley), a war advocate who raises an army with the help of suffragette Virginia Holland (Lorraine Huling). The army of women, known as the “Daughters of Jael,” seduce and kill the soldiers of the European Confederated Army (FYI, Jael is a biblical heroine who delivers Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan in the Book of Judges). The uprising drives out the occupying forces, bringing America back to its former rule, with its pacifist ideals pushed aside for the much more desirable military preparedness. With a much brighter future ahead, Holland makes plans to marry Vassar.

‘The Fall of a Nation’ Has Its Own Agenda
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The Fall of a Nation was based on a novel by Thomas Dixon Jr., who also wrote The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan, the novel that served as the basis for The Birth of a Nation. As producer and director, It was an attempt by Dixon Jr. to capitalize on the success of Griffith’s film, which had earned Dixon Jr. tons of money thanks to his holding of a quarter interest in the film (laying the groundwork for what would be a legacy of quicky sequels throughout film history made to cash in on the original’s success). The Fall of a Nation was billed as an “attack on the pacifism of William Jennings Bryan and Henry Ford, and a plea for American preparedness for war.” By showing what life would be like under German rule, the same Germans who slaughtered children and war veterans during their invasion, the film is unabashedly pro-war propaganda. It was even used as such in Europe during World War I, where it was shown extensively in European war zones and in several Russian cities.

However, unlike The Birth of a Nation, which pushed its deplorable agenda of Blacks, mostly played by white actors in blackface, as unintelligent and sexually aggressive towards white women (and the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic group that suppresses the Black man to maintain white supremacy), and its spiritual kin Triumph of the Will, the pro-Nazi propaganda film, The Fall of a Nation has had little to no impact on society as a whole. Griffith’s contributions to pioneering filmmaking techniques are above and beyond the reprehensible content of the story itself and its damning overt racism, while Leni Riefenstahl is seen by many as one of the most talented, yet hated filmmakers of the 20th century, even taking first place in Taste of Cinema’s list of the 20 Greatest Female Filmmakers in Cinema History. The Fall of a Nation ultimately proved that Dixon Jr. was no D.W. Griffith, with his plans for the film to rake in the money dashed with the film being a commercial failure. So much so that the production company he started, Dixon Studios, went bankrupt with The Fall of a Nation its lone output before being shut down in 1921.

Unfortunately, the film was not preserved and is considered lost, with no copies known to exist. The novel itself has survived, as have a number of stills and the soundtrack, which is in the possession of the Library of Congress (and available to listen on YouTube). As a result, we are left to assess the film based on anecdotal evidence, but that hasn’t hindered speculation that The Fall of a Nation isn’t a true sequel. While some of the battle scenes were filmed on the same location that Griffith used for The Birth of a Nation, there’s little else that connects the two. It’s set in a different time, doesn’t have any of the same characters, and doesn’t provide any continuation of the narrative from the first film. However, in a world that has seen Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Troll 2, and Halloween III: Season of the Witch, any argument that The Fall of a Nation is not a sequel is negligible at best.