The Birth of a Nation (1915)

The Birth of a Nation poster

David W. Griffith Corp.
Starring: Lillian Gish, Spottiswoode Aitken
Directed by: D.W. Griffith

Synopsis: Based on the novel The Clansman, this controversial film shows how America was torn apart during the Civil War and how post-war politics supposedly led to the creation of the Ku Klux Klan.

Kitty Cameos: The story focuses on two families, the Stoneman family from the North and the Cameron family from the South. One thing they have in common at the start of the film is they both own cats. Elsie Stoneman (Lillian Gish) is first seen behind a hanging sheet with a long-haired white cat at her feet. She reaches down and picks the cat up.

The Birth of a Nation - white long-haired cat on porch

The Birth of a Nation - white long-haired cat being picked up

The Birth of a Nation - white long-haired cat on porch closer

The Birth of a Nation - Elsie Lillian Gish holding white long-haired cat on porch

Elsie is seen holding the cat throughout this first scene as she talks to her brothers.

The Birth of a Nation - Elsie Lillian Gish holding white long-haired cat with brothers

The Birth of a Nation - Elsie Lillian Gish carrying white long-haired cat

The Cameron family is introduced sitting on the front veranda of their home. Dr. Cameron (Spottiswoode Aitken), the patriarch, is sitting on a chair with a tabby and white marked kitten on his lap. The kitten is looking down at some puppies at the man’s feet.

The Birth of a Nation - tabby and white cat on lap looking down at puppies

The Birth of a Nation - tabby and white cat on lap with puppies below

At one point the man drops the kitten down onto the puppies. A title card proclaims there are “Hostilities” but in reality the kitten only bats at one puppy but otherwise the scene is calm.

The Birth of a Nation - tabby and white cat dropped on puppy