Intolerance Trivia Quiz

Answer: Belshazzar

Belshazzar is the young Babylonian king. He is mentioned in the Bible, in the book of Daniel. It is at one of his feasts that God writes on the wall, this giving us the phrase "the handwriting is on the wall".
In the film, Belshazzar (Alfred Paget) is primarily focused on the Princess Beloved (Seena Owen), and is making plans for their wedding when his kingdom comes crashing down.
Hammurabi was the king of Babylon from 1792 to 1750. He is famous for being the first person to codify a system of laws.
Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian empire, and the father of Belshazzar. His reign ended in 539 B.C.
Nebuchadnezzar II was emperor of Babylon from 605 BC to 562 BC. He constructed the Hanging Gardens, one of the ancient wonders of the world. He is also mentioned in the book of Daniel.

Answer: Ishtar

Ishtar was one of the principal goddesses of Mesopotamia. She is associated with love, fertility, sexuality and oddly enough, warfare. She appears in the epic of Gilgamesh. Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to marry her, and he refuses, noting that most of her lovers wind up dead. She takes vengeance by sending the Bull of Heaven after Gilgamesh.
In the film, Ishtar is represented by handmaidens and temple priestesses. One of the stranger notes in the titles is Griffith's belief that the temple priestesses of Ishtar would have been virgins; given the nature of the goddess, that is extremely unlikely.
The goddess does play an important role in the plot, in that jealousy by the priests who worship Marduk lead them to betray the king, and open the gates of the city to invaders.
Aya is a goddess of light and justice. She is the wife of the sun God Samas. Ninisinna is the Babylonian goddess of healing. Istaran is a male God, associated with justice in the Babylonian pantheon.

Answer: Persians

It was the Persians who defeated Babylon, under Cyrus II (also known as Cyrus the Great). Babylon was defeated, and effectively destroyed as a nation, when it was conquered by Cyrus II of Persia in 539 BC. At its peak, the Persian empire stretched from present day Turkey to Afghanistan.
While the invasion is made possible by the betrayal of the priests in the film, in reality, the Persians lowered the Euphrates river to a level where they could sneak under the walls of the city and breach the perimeter.
In "Intolerance' (1916), Cyrus is portrayed by George Siegmann. He was a fairly prominent character actor during the silent era, and also appeared in "Birth of a Nation" (1914).
Chaldea existed between 1000 BC and 600 BC, and was located largely where northern Iraq is today. They briefly ruled over Babylon.
The Hittites were a major power in Mesopotamia in 14th century BC, but collapsed over 500 years, before the events depicted in "Intolerance".
Assyria did exert influence over Babylon for much of its history. It existed as an empire for roughly 2000 years, from 2600 BC until its downfall in 605 BC.

Answer: The feeding of the 5000

Griffith does not choose to show the feeding of the 5000, a story told in all four gospels, nor any other miracle, such as walking on water or healing the sick.
The wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, is in the film. It is in John 2:1-11.
The film also shows Jesus and the woman who was caught in adultery, including "He who is without sin cast the first stone." That story is also in John, verses 7:53 to 8:11.
And there is a brief scene of the crucifixion near the very end of the film, which parallels with the execution storyline in the modern segment.

Answer: Brown Eyes

Brown Eyes was played by Margery Wilson. She appeared in 51 films between 1914 and 1939. Brown Eyes is a young Protestant woman who has just gotten married on the day before the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (August 23, 1572). Brown Eyes is shot to death by a Catholic soldier, but not before he attempts to rape her. Her new husband, Prosper (Eugene Paliette) arrives too late to save Brown Eyes, and is then shot to death by an angry mob.
Bright Eyes is the nickame given to Taylor (Charlton Heston) by Zira in "Planet of the Apes" (1968). Angel Eyes is the nickname given to Lee Van Cleef's character in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966).
Montain Girl is the warrior girl in the Babylonian segment. She was played by Constance Talmadge. Her character was so popular, then when Griffith released "The Fall of Babylon" as a separate film in 1919, he changed the ending so that Mountain Girl survived.

Answer: Charles IX

Charles IX was king of France from 1560 to his death in 1574. He did indeed order the massacre of Protestant leaders, largely at the instigation of his mother, Catherine di Medici.
In the film, Griffith paints a somewhat sympathetic portrait of Charles, showing him initially reluctant to order the massacre. Griffith paints a sinister portrait of Catherine de Medici, making it seem that she derives great pleasure from killing her enemies.
Louis IX ruled from 1226 to 1270. He was made a saint by the Catholic church, and Saint Louis, Missouri is named after him.
Henry III (ruled 1574-1589) was the brother of Charles IX, and succeeded him as king.
Francis I (ruled 1515-1547) was the grandfather of Charles IX and the first Valois king. He is known his patronage of the arts (including Leonardo da Vinci) and supporting exploration of North America.

Answer: She almost dies of tuberculosis.

Among the tragedies that befall The Dear One are having her friends and family shot at by the militia during a strike, causing her father to lose his job; they are forced to move to New York City, where the stress kills her father.
Her husband, The Boy, goes to prison twice: once after being framed by the local mob boss, and again after being wrongly convicted for murdering the same mob boss. With her husband in jail and no means of support, her child is taken away by moralistic women who deem her an unfit mother.
While it is implied that the child is still alive in "Intolerance" (1916), when Griffith recut the film as "The Mother and the Law" in 1919 he included a scene where the child dies in state custody.
Mae Marsh (1894-1968) played The Dear One. She worked with Griffith on a variety of films, including "Birth of a Nation".

Answer: Uplift

Griffith refers to the Vestal Virgins of Uplift with great disdain, calling them The Uplifters. They raise money from a wealthy woman, whose brother cuts workers wages to fund her charity work. This leads to a strike and a host of other calamities. Grifffith also notes that their work shutting down bars led to illegal moonshine, and when they shut down a brothel, the prostitutes began working on street corners.

But Griffith's biggest criticism is that while the wealthy act all high and mighty about the moral values of the lower class, they do nothing about social and economic inequality.

A century later, some things have remained the same. Actually, that was probably Griffith's point.

Answer: Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish, one of the biggest stars of the Silent Era, appears in the transitional shots, sitting in a rocking chair next to a cradle. She has no lines, she merely sits in the chair. If you want to see Gish doing something more interesting, check out Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" (1915).
Lillian Gish was born in 1893 and began acting in shorts in 1912. He last film was "The Whales of August" (1987). Gish died in 1993; she was 99.
Dorothy Gish (1898-1968) was Lillian's kid sister, and they appeared together in several silent films.
Theda Bara (1890-1955) was the first genuine movie sex symbol, known as The Vamp.
Mary Pickford (1893-1979) was one of the key figures in early Hollywood. She helped found United Artists and helped create the Motion Picture Academy. Pickford was one of the wealthiest and most powerful actors of the Silent Era. She had worked with Griffith during his early days in short films.

Answer: The Eternal Struggle for Justice

I made up "The Eternal Struggle for Justice".
"Love's Struggle Through the Ages" can be seen at the very start of the film as the subtitle on the first title card. "A Sun Play for the Ages" and "A Drama of Comparisons" are both on the title card for the second act of the film, which begins at roughly the 1 hour, 40 minute mark on most versions of the film.