D.W. Griffith has too many titles to watch. I found a book on him, but couldnt find contact info for the author. I did find contact info for the man who edited the book, Charlie Keil,
Professor, Cinema Studies Institute / Department of History University of Toronto. I emailed him a photo of the plated rifle and asked him if he possibly recognizes it from the works of Griffith.
He did not, so he sent my question to Professor David Mayer, a Griffith expert in the UK. He did not recognize the rifle either, but added this:
In response to the query from Mr. Groshel, I can offer this information: Griffith and many other filmmakers on the East Coast hired their weapons and other props from Francis Bannerman & Co. I have described this connection in a short piece I wrote for Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film’s Documents of performance section: “Documents of Performance: Francis Bannerman Archive”, Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, Vol. 42, Issue 2, 2015, pp. 164 -173.
here is a link to the piece he references.
https://www.academia.edu/35808384/Francis_Bannerman_Sons_ArchiveThe piece is interesting because it speaks of the Bannerman archives. Bannerman kept good records of what was requested and sent to productions. Those archives are available, not on line but at the Hagley Museum in Delaware.
https://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2185.xmlBasically a dead end, but IF the rifle lettered to the consignee Bannermans (some of you may remember the catalog, they were the first mill surplus dealer in the us and did catalog sales) that would be a link to the film story.
