What Was the First Movie Sequel?

Sequels are such an integral part of the modern movie business that it's difficult to picture a time when they weren't mainstays on the marquee. "Nanny McPhee Returns," starring Emma Thompson is just the latest of the summer of 2010's sequels.

In truth, sequels have been around so long, they even predate 'talkies,' motion pictures with sound.

"The Fall of a Nation," released in 1916, is considered the first feature-length movie sequel, according to "The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History" (BL Press, 2006). Directed and co-written by Thomas Dixon, Jr., the silent film is a sequel to director D.W. Griffith's controversial 1915 classic, "The Birth of a Nation." In his book, "The Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time" (Oxford University Press, 2007), author Melvyn Stokes writes that Dixon made the sequel to capitalize on the success of first film.

Dixon actually wrote a novel called "The Fall of a Nation" before he did the film. Much like its predecessor, "The Fall of a Nation" was and remains a controversial film, according to Turner Classic Movies, for its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan and promotion of many ugly stereotypes. "Viewed as propaganda, it is a pity it is so reckless," The New York Times wrote about the film after its screening in 1916 at New York's Liberty Theatre. The paper also called it a "lively, interesting and sometimes preposterous picture."

"The Fall of a Nation" is also considered a 'lost' film. Surviving prints of the movie disappeared decades ago and have yet to surface anywhere.

Continuations of popular movies have been part of the Hollywood studio strategy since the 1930s, with "The Thin Man" films that starred William Powell and Myrna Loy, and the Andy Hardy series of pictures starring Mickey Rooney. In the 1960s, the James Bond franchise took a looser approach to sequels, with stories not connected to previous films. The "Pink Panther" films took a similar approach.

But during those decades, sequels were exceptions to the moviemaking rule. The 1970s were when sequels really came of age.

First with the Oscar-winning epic "The Godfather: Part II" in 1974, and then with "The French Connection II" in 1975, studios discovered a box office pot of gold with sequels. "Jaws 2" in 1978 and "Rocky II" in 1979 only served to strengthen Hollywood's resolve to cash in on continuations. Through the 1980s, 1990s and the 2000s, sequels kept coming, whether it was for horror franchises like "Friday the 13th" and "Saw," or science-fiction properties such as "The Matrix."

Now, sequels are as much a part of the movie going experience as sneak previews and Sno-Caps. Considering the biggest hit of the year to date is a sequel — "Toy Story 3," with more than $400 million in receipts so far — don’t expect that to change.

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