D.W. Griffith: Years of Discovery, Volume 1

For the five years between 1908 and 1913, D.W. Griffith directed some 450 films for the Biograph Company, delivering at a rate of two or three films per week. These films, one and two reels in length, are sometimes regarded as apprentice works, films in which Griffith borrowed, invented, and perfected the forms and techniques that he used later. But the Biographs were more than that. The twenty-two films presented in this collection are the centerpieces of that group of films.

Volume 1 includes such widely recognized masterworks as The Musketeers of Pig Alley and Corner in Wheat. But lesser-known social dramas like What Shall We Do With Our Old? and a comic gem called The Sunbeam are also included. They rank among the best in a collection of short films that helped shape cinematic narrative for two generations.