Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927 film)
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) is a silent film directed by Harry A. Pollard and released by Universal Pictures. The film is based on the 1852 novel Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe and was the last silent film version. A copy is preserved at the Library of Congress.[1]
| Uncle Tom's Cabin | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Harry A. Pollard |
| Produced by | Carl Laemmle |
| Written by | Harvey F. Thew (continuity) A. P. Younger (continuity) Walter Anthony (intertitles) |
| Based on | Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriett Beecher Stowe |
| Starring | Margarita Fischer Arthur Edmund Carewe George Siegmann |
| Music by | Erno Rapee Hugo Riesenfeld (1928 re-release in Movietone) |
| Cinematography | Charles Stumar Jacob Kull |
| Edited by | Gilmore Walker Daniel Mandell Byron Robinson Ted Kent |
Production company | Universal Studios |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 112 minutes (13 reels) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent English intertitles |
In this version of the film, all of the major slave roles, with the exception of Uncle Tom himself, were portrayed by white actors. Actress Mona Ray played the slave Topsy in blackface, while the slaves Eliza, George, Cassie and Harry were all presented as having very light skin coloring because of mixed-race heritage. This film was released on DVD in 1999 by Kino.[2]
The title role was originally played by the notable stage actor Charles Gilpin but he quit amid onset dissatisfaction with the depiction of the role and was replaced by James B. Lowe, reshooting the sections already filmed with Gilpin.[3]
The film was rereleased in 1958 with sound added and narration by Raymond Massey.[4]
Cast
- Margarita Fischer – Eliza
- James B. Lowe – Uncle Tom
- Arthur Edmund Carewe – George Harris
- George Siegmann – Simon Legree
- Eulalie Jensen – Cassie
- Mona Ray – Topsy
- Virginia Grey – Eva St. Clare
- Lassie Lou Ahern – Little Harry
- Lucien Littlefield – Lawyer Marks
- Adolph Milar – Mr. Tom Haley
- J. Gordon Russell – Tom Loker
- Gertrude Howard – Aunt Chloe, (Uncle Tom's wife)
- Jack Mower – Mr. Shelby
- Vivien Oakland – Mrs. Shelby
- John Roche – Augustine St. Clare
- Aileen Manning – Aunt Ophelia
Unbilled
- Tom Amardares – Quimbo
- Gertrude Astor – Mrs. St. Clare
- Matthew Beard – Child
- Louise Beavers – Slave at Wedding
- William Dyer – G.M. Beard – Auctioneer
- Francis Ford – Captain
- Eugene Jackson – Child
- Carla Laemmle – Auction Spectator
- Jeanette Loff – Auction Spectator
- Nelson McDowell – Phineas Fletcher
- Rolfe Sedan – Adolph
- Madame Sul-Te-Wan – Slave at Wedding
- Dick Sutherland – Sambo
- Clarence Wilson – Bidder at Eliza's Auction
See also
References
- Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artist Collection at The Library of Congress, by The American Film Institute,c.1978
- Uncle Tom's Cabin at the silentera.com database
- Blacks in Films, Jim Pines ISBN 0289 70326 3
- Blacks in Films, Jim Pines ISBN 0289 70326 3