This is movie is big! At a huge cost, which I cannot be definite Mr. Carl Laemmle, he of Universal Pictures fame brought us this movie. First of all, Universal released two kind of movies in those early days of movies, regularly pictures which played under the Universal logo and the big prestige pictures which went out under the Carl Laemmle presents or "gold" pictures as they were called. This was the one selected for the year 1927 and it was a hit, one of the top 20 of its year. Now unto the movie. I have never read the book but I know it is a very flimsy adaptation because the movie begins in 1856 when the book was published in 1852. It always involves the civil war and emancipation. The Civil War did not start till 1861. Already we know, they are taking detours and liberties from this book, the best selling novel of the 19th Century. This is a big movie after all, therefore the light-skinned blacks and leads of the movie are plain whites with a dash of ebony and potash that make them look like white-skinned whites. This is too distracting. Marion Davies in a movie in 1934 movie with Gary Cooper which I cannot remember the name for about three scenes pretends to be a black servant girl and the make-up people were very convincing in pulling this off. The story is melodrama. I'm sure the book is melodrama too but this is too excessive. No stops have not been pulled or upturned to make sure the audience is sufficiently entertained. The plot deals with two slaves who are kindly treated by their masters and are raised like one of the family. It isn't mentioned but it is implied that they were fathered by their plantation owners and thus the very light skin. They marry while the cotton barnyard of onyx faces dance and Jim crow about in splendid surprise while acknowledging that these two in house slaves are "almost" white. If delivered as sound and not as a title card, this line would surely get laughs. It's a pure groaner. Not too late, bad man plantation owner appears and is agree that old Harry - that is the male slave - dares to marry Eliza - the female slave - without his permission. He angrily and haughtily drags him away. Events happen which lead to both slaves in desperation not to be separated to get on the run. It might seem that I hate this movie. I didn't. It is too wheel directed to be hated, with big sets, action sequences involving an ice floe and waterfall and lifting of scenes from movies including the famous farewell scene from the Big Parade. Characters like Topsy and Eva the little white girl and black slave girl are never fully integrated in to the whole and I understand that some of Eva's scenes have been cleaned up for modern eyes. The version I saw did not have Eva referring to herself as a nigga etc. "Uncle Tom" is a term used by blacks to refer to a system following, obedient and benevolent black man who accepts or is seen as subservient to white interests. It comes from the characterization of the character in the book. You cannot tell this from watching the movie. A title card says he loves his masters but that's about it. He doesn't really act excessively docile meaning scenes have been omitted that were in the book that clearly spelled this out. The last thirty minutes is well-directed hokum. Even the ending is but who takes risks on such a big movie. Not intellectual or substantially good because it never fully takes you into the lives of the slaves beyond excessive stereotypes on both landowners and servitude aspects. It's crude but entertaining.
Review of Uncle Tom's Cabin
