Uncle Tom's Cabin

Frank Alexander's plantation has suffered a crop failure, and his "shiftless conduct in business" has made things worse. Slave trader Charles Chapman has gotten hold of his notes. So he takes his pick of Alexander's human stock.

Originally released by Vitagraph at an astonishing-for-1910 42 minutes, the copy I looked at was 25 minutes in length. The parts that are cut out mostly concern om himself, played by Edwin Phillips in blackface. The copy I looked at had acting credits for many players, including Phillips, Florence Turner, Mary Fuller, and Genevieve Tobin. This also was almost unheard of in 1910. It may be accounted for as a later reissue.

The blackface alone is enough to qualify this as unwatchable to a modern audience; never mind the story, the black-and-white photography, and, of course, the fact it is a silent movie. Yet if you look at it as a 1910 production, you will find a lot to admire in the performances and the dedication to the original intent to tell a tale that would incite the outrage of an uncaring public. There hasn't been a revival on the big or little screen since 1987. Perhaps the time has come for one.

Only one print of the 1910 Vitagraph version seems to have survived: designed for European distribution, its titles are in Danish, and it is in The National Film and Television Archive, in London. The version available in the archive through the link at left is digitized from a re-release of the film by another company (the Empire Safety Film Company) in the late 1920s, around the time of Universal's big budget Uncle Tom. This version, according to Brewster and Jacobs*, was intended for home use, and divides the film into six reels. At about 20 minutes in length, the re-release is about half as long as the original. But the clips here will give you a good idea of the way the story looked to film audiences in 1910.

http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/onstage/films/mv10hp1.html The link cannot be cut/copied, sorry, please refer to the above site.

Good luck! -Elizruth

Only an 11-minute 1927 re-release (to coincide with the release of Universal's feature-length version of Harriet Beecher Stowe's tale) is available online and it seems to have been chopped up quite indiscriminately. Fairly good production values, though, and LeGree's brutality is effectively captured.

PART 1. The first of a series of three reels, each approximately 1,000 feet, and intended to adequately present this powerful and fascinating drama. This reel depicts the escape of Eliza and the removal of Uncle Tom from his old home in Kentucky. Most of the salient facts in the story up to that point are graphically produced. It is scarcely necessary to go over the story. It is well known to practically every one. The staging is adequate and the actors have caught the spirit of the original story and develop their parts with a skill and intelligence which must be seen to be appreciated. While the story has lost most of its power with the removal of the reason for its existence, it still has a fascination which few are able to resist, and in this film that fascination is retained. It is a picture of power, and deserves all the applause which it receives. The producing firm deserves commendation for the sympathy and excellence of its work. - The Moving Picture World, August 6, 1910. PART 2. The second film illustrating this once popular story. It carries one forward to the death of Eva, showing the affection of Eva for Uncle Tom, the purchase of the old negro by St. Clair, the appearance of Topsy and finally Eva's death. The staging and scenic effects are wonderfully well produced and the story is followed closely enough to make it plain to those have read it. On the other hand, should anyone see it who never read the story the picture tells it plainly enough to make it understood. - The Moving Picture World, August 13, 1910. PART 3. This film, the last in the series, illustrates the re-sale of Uncle Tom to Simon Legree, the escape of Cassie and the cruel punishment and death of Uncle Tom, with the accessories which are described in the novel. What is said of this film may be accepted as applying to the entire series. Probably few novels offer such a fertile field for exploitation in motion pictures as this. The incidents, as described, are dramatic, but they are more. They arouse the emotions more forcibly than almost any other book published, and in playing upon the emotions they excite interest. The acting is sympathetic, with full appreciation of the possibilities of the piece. Perhaps few reproductions of long stories have been so well done. The difficulty generally is that the stories seem disconnected and in a way meaningless; but in this instance the continuity has been preserved, even in the process of elimination which has been unusually severe. But the novel has so many salient features that with only the most prominent shown there is no trouble in holding the interest of the audience. The series will be recognized as an achievement of importance, calculated to excite more than ordinary interest in the minds of almost any audience. - The Moving Picture World, August 13, 1910