Uncle Tom's Cabin (film)
Encyclopedia
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
have been made over the years. Most of these movies were created during the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era (with Uncle Tom's Cabin being the most-filmed story of that time period). Since the 1930s, Hollywood studios have considered the story too controversial for another adaptation (although one foreign film and a made-for-TV movie have been created). Characters, themes and plots from Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman....
have also influenced a large number of other movies, including Birth of a Nation (1915), while also inspiring numerous animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
s.
Silent film versions
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the most-filmed story of the silent filmSilent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
era with at least nine known adaptations between 1903 – 1927. This popularity was due to the continuing popularity of both the book and "Tom shows," meaning audiences were already familiar with the characters and the plot, making it easier for the film to be understood without spoken words.
- A 1903 version of Uncle Tom's Cabin was one of the earliest "full-length" movies (although "full-length" at that time meant between 10 and 14 minutes). This film, directed by Edwin S. PorterEdwin S. PorterEdwin Stanton Porter was an American early film pioneer, most famous as a director with Thomas Edison's company...
, used white actors in blackfaceBlackfaceBlackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
in the major roles and black performers only as extrasExtra (actor)A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
. This version was evidently similar to many of the "Tom Shows" of earlier decades and featured a large number of black stereotypes (such as having the slaves dance in almost any context, including at a slave auction). - Another film version from 1903 was directed by Siegmund LubinSiegmund LubinSiegmund Lubin was a Polish-American motion picture pioneer.-Biography:He was born as Siegmund Lubszynski in Breslau, Silesia, Germany on April 20, 1851, to a German Jewish family...
and starred Lubin as Simon Legree. While no copies of Lubin's film still exist, according to accounts the movie was similar to Porter's version and reused the sets and costumes from a "Tom Show." - In 1910, a 3-Reel Vitagraph Company of America production was directed by J. Stuart BlacktonJ. Stuart BlacktonJames Stuart Blackton , usually known as J. Stuart Blackton, was an Anglo-American film producer of the Silent Era, the founder of Vitagraph Studios and among the first filmmakers to use the techniques of stop-motion and drawn animation...
and adapted by Eugene Mullin. According to The Dramatic Mirror, this film was "a decided innovation" in motion pictures and "the first time an American company" released a dramatic film in 3 reels. Until then, "full-length" movies of the time were 15 minutes long and contained only one reel of film. The movie starred Frank Hall CraneFrank Hall CraneFrank Hall Crane was an American stage and film actor and director. He appeared in 75 films between 1909 and 1939. He also directed 48 films between 1914 and 1927. His first screen writing included The Stolen Voice in 1915.He was born in San Francisco, California, and died in Woodland Hills, Los...
, Anna RosemondAnna RosemondAnna Rosemond was one of the earliest film actresses of the early silent film era.Anna Miers Rosemond was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
, Marie ElineMarie ElineMarie Eline was an American silent film child actress and sister of Grace Eline, who apparently turned 111 in 2009. Nicknamed The Thanhouser Kid she began acting for the Thanhouser Company in film aged 8 and starred in exactly 100 films between 1910 and 1914.-Filmography:* Uncle Tom's Cabin ......
, Florence TurnerFlorence TurnerFlorence Turner was an American actress, who became known as the "Vitagraph Girl" in early silent films.Born in New York City, she was pushed into appearing on the stage at age three by her ambitious mother...
, Mary FullerMary FullerMary Claire Fuller was an American stage and silent film actress and screenwriter.-Early life:Born in Washington, D.C., to Nora Swing and attorney Miles Fuller, she spent her childhood on a farm. As a child, she was interested in music, writing and art...
, Edwin R. Phillips, Flora FinchFlora FinchFlora Finch was an English-born film actress who starred in over 300 silent films, including over 200 for the Vitagraph Studios film company.-Early life and career:...
, Genevieve TobinGenevieve TobinGenevieve Tobin was an American actress.The daughter of a vaudeville performer, Tobin made her film debut in 1910 in Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eva. She appeared in a few films as child, and formed a double act with her sister Vivian. Their brother, George, also had a brief acting career...
, and Carlyle Blackwell Sr. - Another 1910 version, directed by Barry O'Neil, starred Frank Hall Crane as Uncle Tom, Anna Rosemond as Eliza, Marie ElineMarie ElineMarie Eline was an American silent film child actress and sister of Grace Eline, who apparently turned 111 in 2009. Nicknamed The Thanhouser Kid she began acting for the Thanhouser Company in film aged 8 and starred in exactly 100 films between 1910 and 1914.-Filmography:* Uncle Tom's Cabin ......
as Little Eva, and Grace Eline as Topsy. - A 1913 release was directed by Otis Turner and adapted by Allan DwanAllan DwanAllan Dwan was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer and screenwriter.-Early life:...
. It starred Edward AlexanderEdward AlexanderEdward Alexander may refer to:* Edward Porter Alexander , mathematician, author, and US Civil War soldier from Washington, Georgia* Edward P. Alexander , museum administrator and author from Edmeston, New York...
, Margarita FischerMargarita FischerMargarita Fischer was an American actress in silent motion pictures and stage productions.-Formative Years As A Theatrical Stock Player:...
, Harry A. PollardHarry A. PollardHarry A. Pollard was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter who in total was involved in over 300 film productions...
, Iva ShepardIva ShepardIva Shepard was an American silent film actress. Her most notable film roles were as Zoe Trevor in "The Haunted Manor" and as Nettie Lea in "The Isle of Love" ....
and Gertrude Short. - Another 1913 release was directed by Sidney OlcottSidney OlcottSidney Olcott was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.-Biography:Born John Sidney Alcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great directors of the motion picture business...
and starred Anna Q. NilssonAnna Q. NilssonAnna Quirentia Nilsson was a Swedish born American actress who achieved success in American silent movies.-Background:...
. - A 1914 version was directed by William Robert Daly. It was adapted Edward McWade from the play adaptation by George L. Aiken. It starred Sam LucasSam LucasSam Lucas was an African American actor, comedian, singer, and songwriter. His career began in blackface minstrelsy, but he later became one of the first African Americans to branch into more serious drama, with roles in seminal works such as The Creole Show and A Trip to Coontown...
, Teresa Michelena, Marie Eline (again), Roy ApplegateRoyce D. ApplegateRoyce D. Applegate was an American actor and screenwriter. Born in Oklahoma, his most visible role was that of Chief Petty Officer Manilow Crocker on the first season of the Steven Spielberg-produced television series seaQuest DSV.In 1985, Applegate played tragic family man-turned-kidnapper Donald...
and Boots Wall. This was the first "white" film to have an African-American star. - A 1918 version was directed and adapted by J. Searle Dawley. It starred Marguerite ClarkMarguerite ClarkMarguerite Clark was an American stage and silent film actress.-Early life and theater:Born to a farming family in Avondale, Cincinnati, Ohio, Clark was educated at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cincinnati...
(as both Little Eva and Topsy), Sam Hardy, Florence Carpenter, Frank Losee and Walter P. Lewis. - A 1927 version was directed by Harry A. PollardHarry A. PollardHarry A. Pollard was an American silent film actor, director, and screenwriter who in total was involved in over 300 film productions...
(who'd played Uncle Tom in the 1913 release of Uncle Tom's Cabin). This two-hour movie spent more than a year in production and was the third most expensive picture of the silent era (at a cost of $1.8 million). Black actor Charles GilpinCharles Sidney GilpinCharles Sidney Gilpin became one of the most highly regarded actors of the 1920s. He played in critical debuts in New York: in the 1919 premier of John Drinkwater’s Abraham Lincoln and played the lead role of Brutus Jones in the 1920 premier of Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones, also touring...
was originally cast in the title role, but was fired after the studio decided his "portrayal was too aggressive." James B. Lowe then took over the character of Tom. One difference in this film from the novel is that after Tom dies, he returns as a vengeful spirit and confronts Simon Legree before leading the slave owner to his death. Black media outlets of the time praised the film, but the studio—fearful of a backlash from Southern and white film audiences—ended up cutting out controversial scenes, including the film's opening at a slave auction (where a mother is torn away from her baby). The story was adapted by Pollard, Harvey F. Thew and A.P. Younger, with titles by Walter Anthony. It starred James B. Lowe, Virginia GreyVirginia GreyVirginia Grey was an American actress.She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin as Little Eva...
, George SiegmannGeorge SiegmannGeorge Siegmann was an American actor in the silent film era. His more notable roles include Silas Lynch in Griffith's Birth of A Nation , the guard in the 1927 film The Cat and the Canary, Porthos in The Three Musketeers , Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist , and Dr...
, Margarita Fischer, Mona RayMona RayMona Ray was an American stage and screen comedian / actress from the late 1920s to the early 1940s. Her most famous role was an appearance in black face as the mischievous slave Topsy in the 1927 silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin...
and Madame Sul-Te-WanMadame Sul-Te-WanMadame Sul-Te-Wan was an American actress. The daughter of freed slaves, she began her career in entertainment touring the east coast with various theatrical companies and moved to California to become a member of the fledgling film community...
.
Later films and other cinematic mentions
For several decades after the end of the silent film era, the subject matter of Stowe's novel was judged too sensitive for further film interpretation. In 1946, Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
considered filming the story, but ceased production after protests led by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, usually abbreviated as NAACP, is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909. Its mission is "to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to...
.
- A German languageGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
version under the title Onkel Toms Hütte, directed by Géza von RadványiGéza von RadványiGéza von Radványi , was a Hungarian film director, cinematographer, producer and writer.- Biography :...
(1907-1986), appeared in 1965 and was presented in the United States by exploitation filmExploitation filmExploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
presenter Kroger BabbKroger BabbHoward W. "Kroger" Babb was an American film and television producer and showman. His marketing techniques were similar to a travelling salesman's, with roots in the medicine-show tradition...
. - The next film version was a televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
broadcast in 1987 directed by Stan LathanStan LathanStan Lathan is an American television director, film director, television producer and television director.-Career:Lathan’s career began with public television in Boston where he co-created and directed one of the first and longest running urban themed magazine shows, Say Brother...
and adapted by John GayJohn Gay (screenwriter)John Gay is an American screenwriter.Born in Whittier, California, Gay began his career writing episodes for television anthology series such as Lux Video Theatre, Kraft Television Theatre, and Goodyear Television Playhouse. He made his film screenwriting debut in 1956 with Run Silent Run Deep...
. It starred Avery BrooksAvery BrooksAvery Franklin Brooks is an American actor, television director, jazz musician, opera singer and college professor. Brooks is perhaps best known for his television roles as Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and as Hawk on Spenser: For Hire and its spinoff A Man Called Hawk, and in the...
, Phylicia RashadPhylicia RashadPhylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
, Edward WoodwardEdward WoodwardEdward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE was an English stage and screen actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , Woodward began his career on stage, and throughout his career he appeared in productions in both the West End in London and on Broadway in New York...
, Jenny LewisJenny LewisJennifer Diane Lewis , is an American singer-songwriter musician and actress. She was the primary vocalist of the indie rock band Rilo Kiley, and has released two solo albums. She currently performs as part of the duo Jenny & Johnny with boyfriend Johnathan Rice...
, Samuel L. JacksonSamuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
and Endyia Kinney. - Versions of Uncle Tom's Cabin have featured in a number of animated cartoonAnimated cartoonAn animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
s, including Walt DisneyWalt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's "Mickey's MellerdrammerMickey's MellerdrammerMickey's Mellerdrammer is a United Artists film released in 1933. The title is a corruption of "melodrama", thought to harken back to the earliest minstrel shows, as a film short based on a production of Uncle Tom's Cabin by the Disney characters....
" (1933), which features the classic Disney character performing the play in blackfaceBlackfaceBlackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
with exaggerated, orange lips; the Bugs BunnyBugs BunnyBugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
cartoon "Southern Fried RabbitSouthern Fried RabbitSouthern Fried Rabbit is a Looney Tunes cartoon by Warner Bros. starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Directed by Friz Freleng and produced in 1952, the animated short was first released on May 2, 1953....
" (1953), where Bugs disguises himself as Uncle Tom and sings "My Old Kentucky HomeMy Old Kentucky Home"My Old Kentucky Home" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster , probably composed in 1852. It was published as "My Old Kentucky Home, Good Night" in January 1853 by Firth, Pond, & Co. of New York...
" in order to cross the Mason-Dixon lineMason-Dixon lineThe Mason–Dixon Line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America. It forms a demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and...
; "Uncle Tom's Bungalow" (1937), a Warner Brother's cartoon supervised by Tex AveryTex AveryFrederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
; "Eliza on Ice" (1944), one of the earliest Mighty MouseMighty MouseMighty Mouse is an animated superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox.-History:The character was created by story man Izzy Klein as a super-powered housefly named Superfly. Studio head Paul Terry changed the character into a cartoon mouse instead...
cartoons produced by Paul TerryPaul Terry (cartoonist)Paul Houlton Terry was an American cartoonist, screenwriter, film director and one of the most prolific film producers in history...
; and "Uncle Tom's Cabana" (1947), a six-minute cartoon directed by Tex AveryTex AveryFrederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
. - Birth of a Nation (1915) deliberately used a cabin similar to Uncle Tom's home in the film's dramatic climax, where several white Southerners unite with their former enemy (Yankee soldiers) to defend what the film's caption says is their "AryanAryan raceThe Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
birthright." According to scholars, this reuse of such a familiar cabin would have resonated with, and been understood by, audiences of the time. - DimplesDimples (film)Dimples is a 1936 American musical film directed by William A. Seiter. The screenplay was written by Nat Perrin and Arthur Sheekman. The film is about a young mid-nineteenth century street entertainer who is separated from her pickpocket grandfather when given a home by a wealthy New York City...
, a 1936 Shirley TempleShirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
film, is a humorous look at the opening night of the 1853 play version of Uncle Tom's Cabin in New York. The film's last scene features a minstrel showMinstrel showThe minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American entertainment consisting of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface....
starring Temple and Stepin FetchitStepin FetchitStepin Fetchit was the stage name of American comedian and film actor Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry....
. - "Uncle Tom's Uncle," a 1926 Our GangOur GangOur Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
(The Little Rascals) episode, has the kids creating their own "Tom Show." - In the final scene of the Abbott and CostelloAbbott and CostelloWilliam "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
film The Naughty NinetiesThe Naughty NinetiesThe Naughty Nineties is a 1945 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is significant for containing perhaps the best-known recorded rendition of the team's classic "Who's on First?" routine, as it is this version of the routine that is shown at the National Baseball Hall of Fame...
, Costello is seen comically in drag as Little Eva in a showboat performance of the novel. He "ascends" to Heaven on a wire that gets caught. - A highlight of the Rodgers and HammersteinRodgers and HammersteinRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo, usually referred to as Rodgers and Hammerstein. They created a string of popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s during what is considered the golden age of the medium...
musical The King and IThe King and IThe King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
(1951) is a ballet, "Small House of Uncle Thomas", in traditional Siamese style which has been organized by Tuptim, on the subversive theme of Eliza's escape. - In Gangs of New YorkGangs of New YorkGangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan. The film was inspired by Herbert Asbury's 1928 nonfiction book, The Gangs of New...
(2002), Leonardo DiCaprioLeonardo DiCaprioLeonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
and Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-LewisDaniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
's characters attend an imagined wartime adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin with a deus ex machinaDeus ex machinaA deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
ending. An actor portraying Abraham Lincoln is suspended in mid-air as he speaks consolingly to the blackfaceBlackfaceBlackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
actors portraying Stowe's characters. The nativistNativismNativism may refer to:* Nativism or political nativism, a term used by scholars to refer to ethnocentric beliefs relating to immigration and nationalism; antiforeignism...
audience members respond by shouting racist epithets, throwing objects at "Lincoln," and rioting to calls of "Down with the Union!" (It should be noted that Gangs of New York, the film, took great liberties with its source, Gangs of New York, the book, so much so that the book is not officially acknowledged.) - In a deleted scene of the Indian film Rang De Basanti(India's official entry to the Oscar 2007),Indian revolutionaries are shown opting to watch the film while they were starving.
- A number of other movies have utilized characters, plots, and themes from Uncle Tom's Cabin, including An Uncle Tom's Cabin Troupe (1913); the Duncan Sisters' Topsy and Eva (1927); and 1938's Everybody Sing (which features Judy GarlandJudy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in blackfaceBlackfaceBlackface is a form of theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows, and later vaudeville, in which performers create a stereotyped caricature of a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky...
).
The evolution of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in film
Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 film production, "Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Slavery Days", was based largely off of the theatrical productions of the same story common during that time. This being said, the movie lived up to many racial stereotypes in wide circulation. Many scenes were included simply to showcase slave dances. While African-American extras made appearances, white actors in blackface played the main slave characters. The film storyline strays widely from the plot of the novel, as exemplified by a scene completely independent of the novel depicting a steamboat race. The film assumes the audience is generally familiar with the plot due to the story’s immense and long running popularity.Universal Studio’s 1927 release of "Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927 film)
Uncle Tom's Cabin is a silent film directed by Harry A. Pollard and released by Universal Pictures. The film is based on the eponymous novel written by Harriett Beecher Stowe and was the last silent film version....
" was a film of epic proportions and in many regards a large step forward for the advancement of Stowe's work. Also, while certain stigmatic similarities remained (such as scenes depicting outlandish slave dances and Topsy’s flamboyant unruliness), this version was much less outmoded in its characterization of slaves.
More so than other earlier adaptations, this film took care to accurately follow the book. Certain lines in the movie are direct quotes from the text. Integral characters that were omitted from previous films were brought to the forefront, such as George Harris. While the overall story remained intact, the writers did take some liberties. For instance, after escaping to freedom, Eliza and Harry are captured by the lawyer Marks and runaway slave tracker Tom Loker and sold down the river as opposed to receiving aid from kindly Quakers. Harry is separated from his mother when purchased by a nameless slave-owner before eventually being reunited with his father. Eliza is sold off to Simon Legree at the same auction as Uncle Tom. This alteration allows for the omission of the entire subplot involving the Harris family’s escape to Canada, weaving the story into one coherent plot. Another twist in the storyline comes at the end when Union soldiers on the march through the south liberate hundreds of slaves along the way, including the residents of Legree’s plantation. The director moved the story forward historically in order to capitalize on the public’s patriotic sympathies.
Socially, this film was more progressive than previous versions. Fewer characters were portrayed in blackface (Topsy is an outstanding exception) and less of an emphasis was put on exotic slave customs. Still, the majority of the screen time is dedicated to the white actors. It is notable that African American actor James B. Lowe played the character Uncle Tom, however it is important to point out that he’s on screen for less than 9 minutes altogether, and ‘speaks’ less than a dozen lines.
External links
- University of Virginia Web site "Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture: A Multi-Media Archive" Ed by Stephen Railton, covers 1830 to 1930, offering links to primary and bibliographic sources on the cultural background, various editions, and public reception of Harriet Beecher Stowe's influential novel. The site also provides the full text of the book, audio and video clips, and examples of related merchandising. (1927 version produced by Universal Pictures)