The Birth of a Nation (1915)

Two families, abolitionist Northerners the Stonemans and Southern landowners the Camerons, intertwine. When Confederate colonel Ben Cameron is captured in battle, nurse Elsie Stoneman petitions for his pardon. In Reconstruction-era South Carolina, Cameron founds the Ku Klux Klan, battling Elsie's congressman father and his African-American protégé, Silas Lynch.

Directed by: D.W. Griffith

Starring: Henry B. Walthall, Lillian Gish, Miriam Cooper, Mae Marsh, Mary Alden, Ralph Lewis

Links: IMDb, Movie posters, Movie stills