Intolerance

D.W. Griffith's lauded storytelling expertise falters in his not so grand folly INTOLERANCE. The first three cards in the film, which is subtitled "Love Throughout the Ages," announce both INTOLERANCE's theme and its unusual and ambitious structure: "Our play is made of four separate stories, laid in different periods of history, each with its own set of characters. Each story shows how hatred and intolerance, through all the ages, have battled against love and charity. Therefore, you will find our play turning from one of the four stories to another, as the common theme unfolds in each."

The modern story, the only one of the four set in America, begins when Je...