A number of film adaptations ofHarriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novelUncle Tom's Cabin have been made over the years. Most of these movies were created during thesilent film era (withUncle Tom's Cabin being the most-filmed story of that time period).[1] Since the 1930s,Hollywood studios have considered the story too controversial for another adaptation (although one foreign film and a made-for-TV movie have been created). Characters, themes and plot elements fromUncle Tom's Cabin have also influenced a large number of other movies, includingThe Birth of a Nation (1915), while also inspiring numerousanimated cartoons.
Edwin S. Porter's 1903 version ofUncle Tom's Cabin, which was one of the first "full length" movies.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the most-filmed story of thesilent film era[1] with at least nine known adaptations between 1903 – 1927. This popularity was due to the continuing popularity of both the book and "Tom shows", meaning audiences were already familiar with the characters and the plot, making it easier for the film to be understood without spoken words.[1]
A 1903 version ofUncle Tom's Cabin, directed byEdwin S. Porter was one of the earliest "full-length" movies (although "full-length" at that time meant between 10 and 14 minutes).[2] This film, produced by theEdison Manufacturing Company, used white actors inblackface in the major roles and black performers only asextras. This version was evidently similar to many of the "Tom Shows" of earlier decades and featured a large number of black stereotypes (such as having the slaves dance in almost any context, including at a slave auction).[2] It was the most expensive film production ever at the time of its production.[3]
Another film version from 1903 was directed bySiegmund Lubin and starred Lubin asSimon Legree. While no copies of Lubin's film still exist, according to accounts the movie was similar to Porter's version and reused the sets and costumes from a "Tom Show."[4]
In 1910, a 3-Reel Vitagraph Company of America production was directed byJ. Stuart Blackton and adapted by Eugene Mullin. According toThe Dramatic Mirror, this film was "a decided innovation" in motion pictures and "the first time an American company" released a dramatic film in 3 reels. Until then, "full-length" movies of the time were 15 minutes long and contained only one reel of film. The movie starredFlorence Turner,Mary Fuller, Edwin R. Phillips,Flora Finch,Genevieve Tobin, and Carlyle Blackwell Sr.[5]
A1914 version was directed by William Robert Daly. It was adapted Edward McWade from the play adaptation by George L. Aiken. It starredSam Lucas, Teresa Michelena, Marie Eline (again), Royce D. Applegate and Boots Wall. This was the first "white" film to have an African-American star.[6] This version was added to theNational Film Registry in 2012.[7]
The Birth of a Nation (1915) deliberately used a cabin similar to Uncle Tom's home in the film's dramatic climax, where several white Southerners unite with their former enemy (Yankee soldiers) to defend what the film's caption says is their "Aryan birthright." According to scholars, this reuse of such a familiar cabin would have resonated with, and been understood by, audiences of the time.[8]
A1918 version was directed and adapted by J. Searle Dawley. It starredMarguerite Clark (as both Little Eva and Topsy),Sam Hardy, Florence Carpenter, Frank Losee and Walter P. Lewis. It is now considered to be alost film.[9]
A1927 version was directed byHarry A. Pollard (who'd played Uncle Tom in the 1913 release ofUncle Tom's Cabin). This two-hour movie spent more than a year in production and was the third most expensive picture of the silent era (at a cost of $1.8 million). Black actorCharles Gilpin was originally cast in the title role, but was fired after the studio decided his "portrayal was too aggressive."James B. Lowe then took over the character of Tom. One difference in this film from the novel is that after Tom dies, he returns as avengeful spirit and confronts Simon Legree before leading the slave owner to his death. Black media outlets of the time praised the film, but the studio—fearful of a backlash from Southern and white film audiences—ended up cutting out controversial scenes, including the film's opening at a slave auction (where a mother is torn away from her baby). The story was adapted by Pollard, Harvey F. Thew and A.P. Younger, with titles by Walter Anthony. It starred James B. Lowe,Virginia Grey,George Siegmann, Margarita Fischer,Mona Ray andMadame Sul-Te-Wan.[10]
A number of movies have utilized characters, plots, and themes fromUncle Tom's Cabin, includingAn Uncle Tom's Cabin Troupe (1913); the Duncan Sisters'Topsy and Eva (1927); "Uncle Tom's Uncle," a 1926Our Gang episode which has the kids creating their own "Tom Show"[11] and 1938'sEverybody Sing (which featuresJudy Garland inblackface).[11] But for several decades after the end of the silent film era, the subject matter of Stowe's novel was judged too sensitive for further film interpretation. In 1946,Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer considered filming the story, but ceased production after protests led by theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People.[11]
Dimples, a 1936Shirley Temple film, is a humorous look at the opening night of the 1853 play version ofUncle Tom's Cabin in New York. The film's last scene features aminstrel show starring Temple andStepin Fetchit.[11]
In the final scene of theAbbott and Costello filmThe Naughty Nineties (1945), Costello is seen comically in drag as Little Eva in a showboat performance of the novel. He "ascends" to Heaven on a wire that gets caught.
A highlight of theRodgers and Hammerstein musicalThe King and I (1951) is a ballet, "Small House of Uncle Thomas", in traditional Siamese style which has been organized by Tuptim, on the subversive theme of Eliza's escape.
A Cabana do Pai Tomás was a 1969-70 Brazilian television serial adaptation of the Harriet Beecher Stowe story.
A 1971 Italian pseudo-documentary film calledGoodbye Uncle Tom recreated historical events from the slave era. It was generally thought at the time to be exploitive and racist.
Uncle Tom no Koya (1977), an abridged Japanese anime adaptation featured in an episode of anthology seriesManga Fairy Tales of the World.[12]
InGangs of New York (2002),Leonardo DiCaprio andDaniel Day-Lewis's characters attend an imagined wartime adaptation ofUncle Tom's Cabin with adeus ex machina ending. An actor portraying Abraham Lincoln is suspended in mid-air as he speaks consolingly to theblackface actors portraying Stowe's characters. Thenativist audience members respond by shouting racist epithets, throwing objects at "Lincoln," and rioting to calls of "Down with the Union!" (Gangs of New York, the film, took great liberties with its source,Gangs of New York, the book, so much so that the book is not officially acknowledged.)
In a deleted scene of the Indian filmRang De Basanti (India's official entry to the Oscar 2007), Indian revolutionaries are shown opting to watch the film while they were starving.
Edwin S. Porter's 1903 film production,Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Slavery Days, was based largely off of the theatrical productions of the same story common during that time. The movie lived up to racial stereotypes in wide circulation, and scenes were included to showcase slave dances. While African-American extras made appearances, white actors in blackface played the main slave characters. The film storyline strays widely from the plot of the novel, as exemplified by a scene completely independent of the novel depicting a steamboat race. The film assumes the audience is generally familiar with the plot due to the story's long running popularity.[2]
Universal Studio's 1927 release ofUncle Tom’s Cabin was an epic film and a step forward for Stowe's work. While certain stigmatic similarities remained, such as scenes depicting outlandish slave dances and Topsy's flamboyant unruliness, this version was less outmoded in its characterization of slaves. More than earlier adaptations, this film took care to accurately follow the book, and some lines in the movie are direct quotes from the text. Integral characters omitted from previous films were brought to the forefront, such as George Harris. While the overall story remained intact, the writers did take some liberties. For instance, after escaping to freedom, Eliza and Harry are captured by the lawyer Marks and runaway slave tracker Tom Loker and sold down the river as opposed to receiving aid from kindly Quakers. Harry is separated from his mother when purchased by a nameless slave-owner before eventually being reunited with his father. Eliza is sold off to Simon Legree at the same auction as Uncle Tom. This alteration omits the entire subplot involving the Harris family's escape to Canada, weaving the story into one coherent plot. Another twist in the storyline occurs when Union soldiers on the march through the south liberate hundreds of slaves along the way, including the residents of Legree's plantation. The director moved the story forward historically to capitalize on the public's patriotic sympathies.
Socially, this film was more progressive than previous versions. Fewer characters were portrayed in blackface (Topsy is an outstanding exception) and less of an emphasis was put on exotic slave customs. Still, the majority of the screen time is dedicated to the white actors. African American actor James B. Lowe played the character Uncle Tom, but was on screen for less than 9 minutes and speaks less than a dozen lines.[13]
^Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to O. J. Simpson by Linda Williams, Princeton Univ. Press, 2001, page 115. AlsoH. B. Stowe's Cabin in D. W. Griffith's MovieArchived 2009-04-11 at theWayback Machine, Uncle Tom's Cabin and American Culture, a Multi-Media Archive, accessed April 19, 2007.
(1927 version produced by Universal Pictures)