Universal Weekly (1920, 1923-27)

12 Universal Weekly December 10, 1927 SOUTHERN NEWSPAPER PRAISES “UNCLE TOM’S CABIN” A SPECIAL correspondent wrote the following enthusiastic review of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” to the Baltimore Sun: “The most beautiful thing about the bringing of ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ to the screen is that the Civil War isn’t fought all over again; the bitter hatred of the Harriet Beecher Stowe book has been eliminated. “What remains is a well-made, sometimes moving and generally interesting film. Skill has been put into its cinema construction — skill of the sort which should cause the censors of things movie through the Southern States to cease holding objection to anything dealing with slavery as an institution. “For the film’s makers, Universal, and the film’s director, Harry Pollard, have exercised what we may best call discretion; they have emphasized the personal side of the film to a fine and thoroughly commendable exclusion of the sectional hatred, the race hatred and the political hatreds which brought on the Civil War and which have, to this day, been touchy subjects in some parts of the South. Frightfulness Discarded “Thus they have left us the story of ’Liza, her husband, Harris, the rascally Lawyer Marks (who looks like a toothless Coolidge) , the altruistic Shelbys, poor old Uncle Tom, Topsy, Eva and the final happiness. All of this is so much better than if they had brought us a long, involved story of the underground railroad system of slave smuggling; a frightful picture of the carpet-bag rule and other things of a like nature. “Picture people, above all others, know the value of humanity — socalled — in their films; they know that one lovable character able to arouse the sympathy of an audience is worth a dozen cold, frigid folk in high places. The formula holds good. The skin of Uncle Tom may be as black as the ace of spades, but Uncle Tom has a heart of gold — this is very carefully pressed upon us, and the audience having been made privy to the fact, is quite obliging in giving of its tears and sympathy. Two Years in Production “ ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ is the picture upon which Universal Pictures Corporation has been lavishing time and great sums of money for the past two years. Month after month passed before river conditions were right for Liza to cross the ice. By the shores of the useless Susquehanna the entire company waited a winter or so ago, waiting impatiently for the ice floes to start their grinding, crushing journey down to Havre de Grace and points South. The writer’s recollection is that the flight across the ice wasn’t made on the Susquehanna, but wherever it was secured a good job was done. “We see the almost white Liza, bearing her baby Harry, leaping from one cake of ice to another, the bloodhounds of her pursuers hot on the trail, while on the far Ohio shore (the flight, you must recall, was from Ole Kaintuck’ over to Ohio — from a slave State into a free State) — the helpful Quaker, Phineas Fletcher, waited to lend assistance. Uncle Tom Is Sold “Then there is the story of the Shelbys, kind slave owners who were forced by money troubles to sell Uncle Tom, most faithful of the slaves, down the river to the slave market at New Orleans. “On the river boat, as it churned its way down the muddy Mississippi, WATCH /'CARLLAEMMLES special JOY WEEK Releases Uncle Tom sat in his chains, cheered up by a sight of that angelic Miss Eva St. Clare, an only child, whose desire was law with her adoring father— she wants Uncle Tom and he is bought for her. Here the Topsy episodes follow; those episodes wherein the devilish Topsy steals from the puritanical Miss Feely, steals and is caught in the act. “Everything happens but one — Topsy never once says that ‘she just growed.’ Negro Actor Good “The best performance in the film is given by a Negro actor, James T. Lowe. He is a tall, upstanding fellow, strong of face and gentle in his demeanor. Margarita Fischer is the ’Liza, a little too white in her makeup perhaps for the role, but skillful in certain of its emotional requirements. Arthur Edmund Carewe is the George Harris, her husband, and this splendid actor never quite as famous as he should be if fame went in ratio to good work. Well-Made Film “ ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’ seems a sincere effort. It is, we think, a wellmade film, and if its biggest moment, the escape over the ice, does come a bit early in the film, one »n always be compensated for the fact that the second section is filled with some views of Mississippi river boats, those old stern-wheelers, quite as fine and interesting as anything you’re likely to see in that line. “You will never imagine, until you have seen this film follow the course of one of those flat-bottomed boats down the rived, just how interesting they can be. It seems here that they sneak up on the most unsuspecting shores, haul the gangplank, unload the passengers and freight and then quietly poke along down the river. The ease with which those boats navigated shallow water is quite amazing — almost as amazing as ’Liza’s happy and lucky escape from those villains who pursued her.” Rare Tribute Paid To Conrad Veidt AN unusual tribute to histronic ability, fit to go down in the archives of motion picture history, was paid to Conrad Veidt, Universal star, yesterday, when 250 extras burst into spontaneous applause after Veidt had completed an especially emotional scene. This compliment was paid to Veidt on the set of “The Man Who Laughs” in which Veidt is co-starred with Mary Philbin under the direction of Paul Leni. Very few of the extras misunderstood the scene despite the fact that Veidt spoke his lines in German.