Civilization (1916)

Allegorical film about peace. A king starts a war, many of the women are against it, people are pressed into service. A count has constructed a submarine and gets the order to sink an ocean... See full summary »

Directors:

Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince,

Writer:

C. Gardner Sullivan

Stars:

Howard C. Hickman, Enid Markey, Lola May

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Howard C. Hickman	...	Count Ferdinand
Enid Markey	...	Katheryn Haldemann
Lola May	...	Queen Engenie
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kate Bruce	...	A Mother
J. Frank Burke	...	Luther Rolf, the peace advocate
Claire Du Brey
George Fisher	...	The Christ
Charles K. French	...	The Prime Minister
Thomas H. Ince	...	Himself (prologue)
Herschel Mayall	...	The King of Wredpryd
Fanny Midgley
J. Barney Sherry	...	The Blacksmith
Jerome Storm	...	The Blacksmith's Son
Ethel Ullman	...	The Blacksmith's Daughter
Woodrow Wilson	...	Himself (prologue)

Storyline

Allegorical film about peace. A king starts a war, many of the women are against it, people are pressed into service. A count has constructed a submarine and gets the order to sink an ocean liner, that is also carrying - supposedly - ammunition for the enemy. The count refuses to fire the torpedos, and sinks the submarine. He survives, but in a limbo between death and life where he meets Jesus, who takes him over to preach peace. Naturally the king arrests him and sentences him to death for treason, but then Jesus shows him the real face of war.

---

Plot Keywords:

submarine | torpedo | fictional war | parable | survival | 

---

Taglines:

THE GREATEST PRODUCTION OF MODERN TIMES

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

2 June 1916 (USA)

Also Known As:

Civilisation

Filming Locations:

Inceville, Santa Ynez Canyon, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thomas H. Ince Corporation, Triangle Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Cochrane, who was the press representative of the DNC, is quoted as claiming "Civilization" helped Woodrow Wilson beat Republican Charles Evans Hughes in 1916 campaign.

---

Connections

Featured in The Moving Picture Boys in the Great War (1975)

User Reviews

Thomas Ince, the Auteur

Thomas H. Ince was one of the independents, who established Hollywood as the motion picture capital of the world to avoid the strong-arm of the Motion Picture Patents Company. He introduced the studio system: the assembly-line production of movies headed by producers. William S. Hart Westerns are probably Inceville's most notable product. They're certainly better than this, "Civilization", which, I suppose, must have been a more personal product than usual for Ince, with its obvious pacifist message.

In this fictionalization of the Great War, a German commander commits treason, sabotages his submarine and kills the crew to prevent the torpedoing of the Lusitania. It takes Christ's second coming to affect the German King, though. The story is ridiculous, with overdone morality and sentimentality, mawkish Christian allegory and over-use of intertitles. On the other hand, there is some nice photography, and the battle scenes, with explosions and smoke, are well edited, but that's merely the craftsmanship one should expect from the assembly line.