Native Land
Encyclopedia
Native Land is a 1942
documentary film
directed by Leo Hurwitz
and Paul Strand
.
A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments, the film depicted the struggle of trade union
s against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee's investigation of the repression of labor organizing.
Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson
participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist.
.
The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.”
The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011 and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver.
1942 in film
The year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Leo Hurwitz
Leo Hurwitz
Leo Hurwitz was an American documentary filmmaker. Among the films he directed were Native Land and Verdict for Tomorrow . He was blacklisted during the McCarthy period.- Source :* *...
and Paul Strand
Paul Strand
Paul Strand was an American photographer and filmmaker who, along with fellow modernist photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, helped establish photography as an art form in the 20th century...
.
A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments, the film depicted the struggle of trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee's investigation of the repression of labor organizing.
Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist.
Cast
- Paul RobesonPaul RobesonPaul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
as Narrator and vocalist (voice) - Fred JohnsonFred JohnsonFred Johnson may refer to:* Fred Johnson , American football player and coach* Fred Johnson , Major League Baseball player who played for the New York Giants and the St. Louis Browns* Fred Gustus Johnson , U.S...
as Fred Hill, a farmer - Mary George as Hill's wife
- John Rennick as Hill's son
- Amelia Romano as Window scrubber
- Houseley Stevenson as White sharecropper
- Louis Grant as Black sharecropper
- James Hanney as Mack, Union president
- Howard Da SilvaHoward Da SilvaHoward Da Silva was an American actor.-Early life:He was born Howard Silverblatt in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Benjamin and Bertha Silverblatt. His parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews born in Russia. He had a job as a steelworker before beginning his acting career on the stage...
as Jim, an informer - Art Smith as Harry Carlyle
- John MarleyJohn MarleyJohn Marley was an American actor who was known for his role as Phil Cavalleri in Love Story and as Jack Woltz— the defiant film mogul who awakens to find the severed head of his prized horse in his bed—in The Godfather...
as Thug with crowbar
Restoration / re-release
A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, funded by the Packard Humanities InstitutePackard Humanities Institute
The Packard Humanities Institute is a non-profit foundation, established in 1987, and located in Los Altos, California, which funds projects in a wide range of conservation concerns in the fields of archaeology, music, film preservation, and historic conservation, plus Greek epigraphy , with an...
.
The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.”
The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011 and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver.