Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914)

A black and white silent film based on Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel documenting the life and times of Uncle Tom.

Director:

William Robert Daly

Writers:

Harriet Beecher Stowe (novel), George L. Aiken (play)

Stars:

Sam Lucas, Walter Hitchcock, Hattie Delaro

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview:
Sam Lucas	...	Uncle Tom
Walter Hitchcock	...	George Shelby
Hattie Delaro	...	Mrs. Shelby
Master Abernathy	...	George Shelby Jr
Teresa Michelena	...	Eliza
Irving Cummings	...	George Harris
Paul Scardon	...	Haley
Marie Eline	...	Little Eva St. Clair
Garfield Thompson	...	St. Clair
Roy Applegate	...	Simon Legree
Boots Wall	...	Topsy

Storyline

Geo. Shelby is forced to sell his faithful old slave, Tom, and the infant son of Eliza Harris, in order to save his property from Haley, the slave trader and holder of the mortgage. Eliza hearing she is to be separated from her baby makes her escape to join her husband, George Harris, who with Vance, were well on their way to freedom. Learning of the departure, Haley immediately puts the hounds on her trail. The searching party arrives on the river bank in time to see Eliza leaping over the broken ice, upon which the dogs and men feared to tread. A second party is organized by lawyer Marks, but fails to capture the fugitive, who has been befriended by a kindly Quaker and has in the meantime joined her husband. During the sail to Haley's plantation Tom's attention from his Bible is attracted by the cry of "Overboard." Making a bold rush, this wonderful old man leaps into the water and brings little Eva St. Clair, who had wandered from her Aunt and fallen overboard, to safety. This ...

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | rescue | pledge | plantation | infant | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Release Date:

10 August 1914 (USA)

Also Known As:

Chata wuja Toma

Company Credits

Production Co:

World Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

54 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Lucas in the title role is generally considered the first black actor in a leading role in a feature film.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Gorgeous Grampa (2013)

User Reviews

This filmed version of Uncle Tom's Cabin is notable as the first time in cinema history an actual man of color was the lead

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.