Back to God's Country (1919 film)

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Back to God's Country (1919 film) - Wikipedia

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Back to God's Country

Directed by	David Hartford
Written by	Nell Shipman
Produced by	James Oliver Curwood Ernest Shipman (uncredited)
Starring	Nell Shipman Charles Arling Wheeler Oakman Wellington A. Playter
Cinematography	Dal Clawson Joseph Walker
Edited by	Cyril Gardner
Production company	Canadian Photoplays Ltd.
Distributed by	First National Exhibitor's Circuit (later to become First National Pictures)
Release date	October 27, 1919 (1919-10-27)
Running time	73 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Back to God's Country

Back to God's Country is a 1919 Canadian drama film directed by David Hartford. It is one of the earliest Canadian feature films. The film starred and was co-written by Canadian actress Nell Shipman. With an estimated budget of over $67,000, it was the most successful silent film in Canadian history.

The film is noteworthy as it starred Shipman and was produced by her husband, Ernest. Shipman was one of the first women to do a nude scene on screen in the movie.^[1] In 1918, they created a production company, Shipman-Curwood Producing Company, to produce Back to God's Country. The film was the only film the company would produce, and was based on a short story, "Wapi, the Walrus", by James Oliver Curwood.^[2]

Curwood's story was adapted to the screen by Nell herself. She changed the protagonist of the film from a great dane to the female lead, Dolores. Shipman also shaped her character into a heroine, who saves her husband. Curwood was infuriated with Shipman, but commercially the film was extremely successful, posting a 300 percent profit and grossing a million-and-a-half dollars.^[3]^[4]

Cast

Nell Shipman as Dolores LeBeau
Charles Arling as 'Sealskin' Blake
Wheeler Oakman as Peter Burke
Wellington A. Playter as Captain Rydal (credited as Wellington Plater)
Ronald Byram as Peter Burke (original casting) (uncredited)
William Colvin as Mountie Shot by Rydal (uncredited)
Roy Laidlaw as Baptiste LeBeau, Dolores' Father (uncredited)
Kewpie Morgan as Bully in Bar Who Shoots Chinaman (uncredited)
Charles B. Murphy as The Half-Breed (uncredited)

Preservation

Back to God's Country was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.^[5]

The film has been re-made twice by Hollywood, but the original version was believed to have been lost. However, a print of the original film was found in Europe, restored in 1985, and re-released. A copy of the film is in the Library of Congress film archive,^[6] and it has been released on DVD by Milestone Films.

References

^ Dawn E. Monroe, On The Job: Canadian Women of Achievement Archived 2018-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
^ Gutenberg.org
^ Morris, Peter (1978). Embattled Shadows: A History of Canadian Cinema 1895-1939. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 95–126. ISBN 0-7735-0323-4.
^ Clandfield, David (1987). Canadian Film. Toronto: Oxford University Press. pp. 4–6. ISBN 0-19-540581-1.
^ Carole Corbeil, "The stars are coming out for Toronto's film festival". The Globe and Mail, September 6, 1984.
^ Progressive Silent Film List: Back to God's Country at silentera.com

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Back to God's Country (1919 film).

Back to God's Country (1919) at IMDb
Back to God's Country at Canadian Film Encyclopedia
This is the earliest known Canadian film written by a woman CBC Arts
Special Free Screening of ‘Back To God’s Country’ at The Cinematheque Scout Magazine

Cast

Preservation

See also

References

External links