Uncle Tom's Cabin

This is the first time a back American actor played the part of Uncle Tom on screen (Lucas, an enormously important figure in African American theatre and film, also played the part on stage) but it is not the first time a black actor had played the lead in a film.

Black actors, including vaudevillians John and Mattie Edwards and Joseph Outen, had already starred in Sigmund Lubin's Coloured Comedies (see my review of Rastus Among the Zulus). While these films may not be terribly politically correct, they gave important opportunities to black performers and were very popular, especially in the South, presumably because of the sheer pleasure for African American cinema-goers to see black stars on the screen.

Lucas was also one of an all-black troupe who appeared in the sadly unfinished 1913 Biograph film Lime Kiln Field Day (pretty much a feature) starring black Ziegfield Follies star Bert Williams who would go on to star in further Biograph shorts in 1916.

One aspect to note in this version of the Stowe novel is the way the words of the foreword - "This is the story of an exotic race, whose ancestors, born beneath a tropic sun, were brought to the New World by heartless traders, and sold into slavery" - later unpleasantly (and absurdly) twisted to suggest that their coming was the cause of all the nation's problems in Griffith's prefatory titles to Birth of a Nation. Griffith also re-created the "cabin" for his racist film.

Stowe's novel, which predated America's Civil War, was immensely popular, at least in America and Britain, where it was an inspiration to abolitionists. It had a very real influence in changing people's attitudes on slavery and race. Today, it's difficult to appreciate the historical importance of this story; we're further removed from this 1914 film than that film was from Stowe's novel, not just in years, but also in accessibility. As widely published as the novel was, it may have reached even more people through the stage. "Tom shows" were still common in the early 20th Century. "Uncle Tom's Cabin", probably especially for some of the stage versions, may be best remembered today for the racial stereotypes it fostered, including the title role.

As indication of the novel and plays' lasting popularity, one only need look at the several film adaptations, mostly from the 1910s. IMDb lists six versions from that decade, which still isn't all of them. Two of the more accessible silent screen adaptations are the 1903 tableau style Edison Company short film by Edwin S. Porter and Universal's 1927 epic production. Another notable adaptation was one of the 1910 versions, made by Vitagraph; at three reels length, it was longer than most films at that time. Additionally, one from 1918 served as a vehicle for silent film star Marguerite Clark; like Mary Pickford, she often played young girls, including the Eva St. Clair character in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

This 1914 film remains obscure today, but I think it's actually a rather good adaptation. I might not be as offended by the genre as other modern eyes are, since I've seen a good number of such old pictures, but this adaptation doesn't seem overly sentimental or melodramatic, surprisingly, given its source, although it does maintain the novel's puritanical sermon. The Christian message is only dominant in two deathbed scenes, however, which, albeit, are prominent to the photoplay. These involve superimposed spirits to create heavenly imagery. Furthermore, although the photography and visual film-making here are nothing exceptional, this film is not stagy, either. The pacing and editing, although choppy in the print available to me, is well paced and with decent continuity for its era, although nothing especially remarkable. There are few close-ups (which would've helped given the effect of age on the reduction print, which I'll mention more on).

The best decision here was probably to cast Sam Lucas, a real African-American and former slave, in the title role. He demonstrates commendable restraint in a role that could have too easily served for some stereotypes or over-the-top hams. Nothing that nice can be said about most of the rest of the cast. Although the print I saw was dark, unclear and rather blurry, so much to the point where it was difficult to see faces or make out skin color, it appears that some of the black and mulatto slaves are played by white actors. A Boots Wall in blackface as Topsy is notably rather offensive—providing a generic pickaninny stereotype. Regardless, plot-wise, this is a clear and concise adaptation of an old tale.

(Note: I saw the old Grapevine video, which is a very poor quality reduction print/analog transfer.)

For only the second time since I first started writing these reviews for IMDb in 2006, I'm dedicating this particular month-Black History Month-to the films of African-Americans in front of and behind the camera in chronological order. So we're in 1914 with one of several adaptations from before and after of Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin". A big difference between this one and previous versions, however, is that this marked the first time on film an actual man of color named Sam Lucas-who was also the first person to do so on stage-portrayed the title character. Though the movie as I watched on YouTube was choppily edited, the print wasn't always very clear, and there was a Spanish narration during the intertitles, this wasn't a bad version of the then-popular story. Even the embarrassing scenes involving the pickaninny Topsy were brief enough to not cause too much harm. And seeing Lucas doing his melodramatic turns was at least interesting enough in observing what kind of performances was considered effective then. Oh, and while I noticed many Caucasions also playing people of color, I noticed one other of Sam's race playing a slave Tom refuses to whip. Too bad he's not identified on the IMDb cast list. So on that note, this version of Uncle Tom's Cabin is worth a look.