CHAPTER 3
The Influence of the Documentary
D. W. Griffith and his contemporaries were part of a growing commercial industry of which the prime goal was to entertain. This meant that the ideas presented in their films were subordinate to their entertainment value. Griffith attempted to present conceptual material about society in Intolerance and failed. Although other filmmakers—such as King Vidor (The Crowd, 1928), Charlie Chaplin (The Gold Rush, 1925), and F. W. Murnau (Sunrise, 1927)— blended ideas and entertainment values more successfully, the commercial film has more often been associated primarily with entertainment.
The documentary film, on the other hand, has always been associated with the communication of ideas first and with ...
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