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American Racist
The Life and Films of Thomas Dixon
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" Thomas Dixon has a notorious reputation as the writer of the source material for D.W. Griffith's groundbreaking and controversial 1915 feature film The Birth of a Nation. Perhaps unfairly, Dixon has been branded an arch-conservative and a racist obsessed with what he viewed as "the Negro problem." As American Racist makes clear, however, Dixon was a complex, multitalented individual who, as well as writing some of the most popular novels of the early twentieth century, was involved in the production of some eighteen films. Dixon used the motion picture as a propaganda tool for his often outrageous opinions on race, communism, socialism, and feminism. His most spectacular production, The Fall of a Nation (1916), argues for American preparedness in the face of war and boasts a musical score by Victor Herbert, making it the first American feature film to have an original score by a major composer. Like the majority of Dixon's films, The Fall of a Nation has been lost, but had it survived, it might well have taken its place alongside The Birth of a Nation as a masterwork of silent film. Anthony Slide examines each of Dixon's films and discusses the novels from which they were adapted. Slide chronicles Dixon's transformation from a major supporter of the original Ku Klux Klan in his early novels to an ardent critic of the modern Klan in his last film, Nation Aflame. American Racist is the first book to discuss Dixon's work outside of literature and provide a wide overview of the life and career of this highly controversial twentieth-century southern populist. Anthony Slide is the author of numerous books, including Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses.
Press Reviews:
In addition to detailed synopses of films, plays, and novels, Slide chronicles multiple aspects of the making of Dixon's films, including financing, casting, promotion, and reception. Slide also provides context that gives the reader a more nuanced understanding of the world in which Dixon wrote. -American Literature
The most comprehensive account available of Dixon's relationship with motion pictures.... A timely reminder that the use of cinema to depict history or to openly express political views has a long and controversial legacy. -Bowling Green Daily News
Slide writes in an easily readable style.... He seems to have warmed to his subject, yet he doesn't overstress Dixon's virtues or downplay his shortcomings. -Charlotte Observer
A compelling, overlooked subject.... This book will be welcomed by scholars of race and silent cinema and by anyone interested in the intersection of politics and film. -Cineaste
Students in film studies, American Literature, ethnic studies, and southern studies will find value in Slide's book. -Journal of American History
It's a fascinating, renegade life, and Slide tells up as much of it as we are likely to know. -Palm Beach Post
Slide has long had a reputation as one of the most productive and knowledgeable film historians outside the academy. American Racist, with its authoritative research and incisive commentary, will only affirm that standing. -Matthew H. Bernstein, Film Quarterly
See the publisher website: University Press of Kentucky
See the complete filmography of Thomas Dixon Jr. on the website: IMDB ...
> From the same author:
The Silent Feminists (2022)
America's First Women Directors, Rowman & Littlefield Edition
Subject: Silent Cinema
The Encyclopedia of British Film (2021)
Dir. Brian McFarlane and Anthony Slide
Subject: Countries > Great Britain
Magnificent Obsession (2018)
The Outrageous History of Film Buffs, Collectors, Scholars, and Fanatics
Subject: Sociology
A Special Relationship (2015)
Britain Comes to Hollywood and Hollywood Comes to Britain
Subject: History of Cinema
It's the Pictures That Got Small (2014)
Charles Brackett on Billy Wilder and Hollywood's Golden Age
Dir. Anthony Slide
Subject: Director > Billy Wilder
Hollywood Unknowns (2012)
A History of Extras, Bit Players, and Stand-Ins
Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine (2010)
A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers
Subject: On Films > Movie magazines
Silent Players (2002)
A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses
Subject: Silent Cinema
De Toth on De Toth (1997)
Putting the Drama in Front of the Camera
by Andre De Toth and Anthony Slide
Subject: Director > André De Toth
> On a related topic:
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1999)
A Writer in Early Hollywood
Subject: Others persons > Frederica Sagor Maas
Without Lying Down (1998)
Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood
Subject: Others persons > Frances Marion
Film Societies in Germany and Austria 1910-1933 (2023)
Tracing the Social Life of Cinema
Hollywood on the Hudson (2010)
Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff
Subject: History of Cinema
The Fun Factory (2008)
The Keystone Film Company and the Emergence of Mass Culture
by Rob King
Subject: Genre > Comedy/Humor
Passions and Deceptions (1992)
The Early Films of Ernst Lubitsch
by Sabine Hake
Subject: Director > Ernst Lubitsch
Comedy Samurai (2025)
Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter
Subject: Others persons > Larry Charles
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