The most distinctive feature of Intolerance is of course its cross-cutting between the four stories, a technique which led to Eisenstein’s montage effects in Battleship Potemkin and October.  The attempt to illustrate a serious theme presaged the social realism of many other directors, including Erich von Stroheim with his epic Greed, and Fritz Lang with Fury.  Its epic sweep also influenced the grandeur of Abel Gance and Cecil B. DeMille.

However, Griffith would never quite recover from the commercial disaster that Intolerance undoubtedly was, even though he did have a few successes in the twenties, such as Broken Blossoms and Orphans of the Storm.  Despite receiving a special Academy Award in 1936 he struggled to find financial backing or employment, and eventually died a bitter alcoholic in 1948.

In the Filmgoer’s Companion, Halliwell cites Intolerance as the most representative work of Griffith’s career, and gives him the following dedication:

‘For enduring the fate of most monuments, and for deserving the tribute in the first place, despite being a personality with clearly unlikeable aspects.’