Man's Genesis

Man's Genesis
Scene from Man's Genesis
Directed byD. W. Griffith
StarringMae Marsh
Robert Harron
W. Chrystie Miller
Wilfred Lucas
Charles Hill Mailes
Production
company
Release date
  • July 11, 1912 (1912-July-11) (United States)

Man's Genesis is a short 1912 silent American film[1] starring Robert Harron and Mae Marsh. It was directed by D. W. Griffith for the Biograph Company and survives from an era from which many films are now lost. The movie's plot involves a grandfather recounting a story about cavemen fighting over a woman to his squabbling grandchildren.[2] The work was described as being the first "primitive man" film ever made[3] and, at the time, as the "greatest photoplay of its kind ever made".[4] It is credited as being responsible for creating the pre-historic film boom that occurred in the following years.[5] The film was re-issued alongside other Biograph films on July 23, 1915.[6]

  1. ^ "Man's Genesis (1912)". BFI. Archived from the original on July 22, 2017.
  2. ^ Man's genesis. Blackhawk Films. November 16, 1912. OCLC 173697053 – via Open WorldCat.
  3. ^ "Robert Harron and Mae Marsh, Isis Tomorrow". Pensacola News Journal. August 27, 1916. Retrieved December 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Amusements - The Penn". Intelligencer Journal. August 30, 1915. Retrieved December 25, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Denig, Lynde (June 26, 1915). ""Man's Genesis" and "The Battle of Elderbush Gulch" Included in Second Installment of Notable Biograph Re-issues". Moving Picture World. p. 2110. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  6. ^ "Biograph Re-Issues Six More Griffith Pictures". Motion Picture News. Vol. 11, no. 25. June 26, 1915. p. 63. Retrieved December 25, 2021.