1 'The one outstanding director': 'Universal Signs Pollard for Five Years,' Universal Weekly, 26 March 1927. Laemmle opinion of Pollard: see Universal advertisement No. 448 'Comedy is King and Pollard His Premier,' in Filmograph, 5 September 1925, 2. According to Laemmle, Pollard 'has to his credit the most amazing list of successful pictures I ever heard of in my whole moving picture career.' The advertisement then discusses The Leather Pushers (Universal, 1922-24) and Pollard's seven consecutive successful features. King Vidor: Carl Laemmle, 'From the Inside: The Business of Motion Pictures,' The Saturday Evening Post, 10 September 1927, 103. Laemmle noted 'King Vidor, who used to be paid $15,000 a production, now receives $100,000. Harry Pollard likewise averages a similar amount for a picture.'
2 Margarita Fischer: The actress recalled that director Henry McCrae suggested that she play the lead. Robert S. Birchard recorded interview with Margarita Fischer, circa 1970. The Cohens and the Kellys: 'Studios Work Closer with Film Sales Force,' The New York Times, 3 July 1927.
3 Hunchback production: George Turner, 'A Silent Giant: The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' American Cinematographer, June 1985, 34-43. After a disastrous audience preview, The Phantom of the Opera (Universal, 1925) was put back into production. After the San Francisco premiere, the film was re-edited. Scott MacQueen, 'The 1926 Phantom of the Opera,' American Cinematographer, September 1989, 35-40. Scott MacQueen, 'Phantom of the Opera- Part II,' American Cinematographer, October 1989, 34-40. Les Miserables (Films de France, 1925) was a French production, released in the United States by Universal.
4 'One of two things': Ralph Eugene Lund, 'Trouping With Uncle Tom,' The Century Magazine, Vol. 115, No. 3, January 1928, 333. Some performers went on to greater fame. The Little Evas on stage included Mary Pickford, Eva Tanguay, Pearl White, Marjorie Rambeau and a very young Raymond Hatton. David Belasco and George Bancroft portrayed Uncle Tom, while Laurette Taylor and Fred Stone appeared as Topsy. For general background, see Harry Birdoff, 'The World's Greatest Hit: Uncle Tom's Cabin,' (New York: S.F. Vanni, 1947), and Thomas F. Gassett, '"Uncle Tom's Cabin" and American Culture,' (Dallas: Southern Methodist University Press, 1985).
5 Lund, 331. Since the entire audience was familiar with the story, the acting broadened to keep audience interest. The artistic nadir was the novelty of two actors each playing the same role of Topsy, Uncle Tom and Marks. They appeared on stage simultaneously, either speaking in unison or alternating the lines.
6 Harriet Beecher Stowe, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly,' (New York: Vintage Books/The Library of America, 1991). All subsequent page references are to this edition.
7 Five key sequences: Volona Pilcher, 'The Varorum Stowe,' Theatre Arts Monthly, April 1926, 235-6. The various versions of the play are summarized in Linda Williams, 'Versions of Uncle Tom: Race and Gender in American Melodrama,' in Colin MacCabe, Duncan Petrie (eds.), 'New Scholarship from BFI Research' (London: British Film Institute, 1995), 111-139. Some additional information can be found in William L. Slout, 'Uncle Tom's Cabin in American Film History,' Journal of Popular Film, Spring 1973, Vol. 2, No. 2, 137-151. Ice floe sequence: Stowe, 78-79.
8 'Way Down East': 'Showmanship in Films, Not Lobbies,' The New York Times, 4 December 1927.
11 'Preliminary Sequences for Uncle Tom's Cabin Indicate Pollard-Jewel Will Rank as Outstanding Super of Decade,' draft press release for Universal Weekly, 6 May 1926. Uncle Tom's Cabin file, The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of the Performing Arts Research Center, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center. Nowhere in the book could I find an indication that any of the characters mentioned by Pollard are from the North.
12 Unsigned, undated carbon, Uncle Tom's Cabin file, The Billy Rose Theatre Collection.
13 Uncle Tom's Cabin Scenario, 26 August 1926, File No. 5220, Picture No. 4479, Microfilm reel No. 215, Universal Central Files, Universal City Studios. The term 'scenes' referred to individual shots, not sequences.
14 'Camera Histories of E.B. Du Par and John Stumar,' The American Cinematographer, July 1923, 15, 21. 'Pollard Engages Expert Cameramen to "Shoot" Atmospheric Scenes,' undated press release, Uncle Tom's Cabin file, The Billy Rose Theatre Collection.
15 Virgil Miller, 'Splinters From Hollywood Tripods: Memoirs of a Cameraman,' (New York: Exposition Press, 1964), 84-89.
16 Pollard stricken: 'Harry Pollard and Uncle Tom's Cabin Company Returns to Universal City to Shoot Interiors,' undated press release, Uncle Tom's Cabin file, The Billy Rose Theatre Collection. 'Company could not work': Assistant Director's Report for 17 April 1926, Folder 55, Gil Kurland Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
17 Pollard hospitalization: Hal K. Wells, 'Uncle Tom's Hollywood Bungalow,' Motion Picture Magazine, May 1927, 112. Paul Thompson, 'Uncle Carl Sells Uncle Tom Down the Movie River,' Motion Picture Classic, September 1927, 82. Lois Weber: 'The Bulletin Board,' Motion Picture Magazine, September 1926, 8. During her limited time on the picture, Weber drafted an alternate scenario for the picture. Permanently disfigured: 'News of the Camera Coasts,' Motion Picture Magazine, December 1927, 109. A second Ben-Hur: Edwin and Elza Schallert, 'Hollywood High Lights,' Picture-Play Magazine, December 1926, 60.
18 'Universal Company Under Harry Pollard at Plattsburg, N.Y. for Ice Scenes in Super Production of Uncle Tom's Cabin,' undated press release, Uncle Tom's Cabin file, The Billy Rose Theatre Collection.
19 Gilpin departure: Cal York [pseud.], 'East and West,' Photoplay, November 1926, 47. Slicked with grease: 'News of the Camera Coasts,' Motion Picture Magazine, December 1927, 109. Gilpin stage appearances: photo caption on picture of James B. Lowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin stills, Richard Anderson Collection, part of the Hollywood Museum Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Also see: Schallert, 'Hollywood High Lights.' Gilpin later appeared in Ten Nights in a Barroom (Colored Players Film Corp., 1926)
1 Lowe: 'A "Close-up" on James B. Lowe,' Amsterdam News, 7 September 1927, 12. 'Gilpin's complaints': Thomas Cripps, 'Slow Fade to Black,' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), 159. Cripps' source was Jimmie Smith, James Lowe's agent. Lowe's comments: Daniel J. Leab, 'From Sambo to Superspade,' (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976), 54.
1 I.G. Edmonds, 'Big U: Universal in the Silent Days,' (South Brunswick and New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1977), 149.
1 Kohner: 'News of the Camera Coasts,' Motion Picture Magazine, January 1927, 112. Schallert, 'Hollywood High Lights,' listed Betsy Ann Hisle as landing the prize role of Eva. Virginia Grey: Hal K. Wells, 'Uncle Tom's Hollywood Bungalow,' Motion Picture Magazine, May 1927, 112-113.
1 Pauline Frederick was to play Cassie. Madame Sul-te Wan: 'Colored Actress in Film,' Variety, 16 February 1927, 18.
1 Hal K. Wells, 'Uncle Tom's Hollywood Bungalow,' Motion Picture Magazine, May 1927, 33. See also Uncle Tom's Cabin Souvenir Program and Uncle Tom's Cabin Pressbook.
1 'People for Southern Trip,' Folder 55, Gil Kurland Collection.
1 Kate Adams: Contract, Delta Line Steamers, Inc. and Universal Pictures Corp., 15 October 1926, Folder 55, Gil Kurland Collection. The rental was $3500 per week for the ship, and $850 weekly for the crew; there was no charge for the time to outfit the boat. Filming began on 26 October, and was completed on 18 December.
1 '"Uncle Tom" Gets Walloped: Insult to Film Slavery Story Here, Forrest Chapter Says of Movie Plan,' The [Memphis] News Scimitar, 5 November 1926, 1.
1 Grace Kingsley, 'Way Down South With "Uncle Tom,"' Picture-Play Magazine, June 1927, 22.
1 Uncle Tom's Cabin Souvenir Program. Uncle Tom's Cabin Pressbook. Quality of Plattsburg footage: 'No Job Too Difficult for Master Minds of Pictures,' Variety, 25 June 1927.
1 Burning tires and other details: 'No Job Too Difficult for Master Minds of Pictures.' Woke at three: 'News of the Camera Coasts,' Motion Picture Magazine, December 1927, 109. Falling tree and general description of the location: Alice M. Williamson, 'Alice in Movieland,' (London: A.M. Philpot Ltd., 1927), 168-174.
1 Assistant Director's Log, Folder 56, Gil Kurland Collection.
1 'Greatest human drama': Uncle Tom's Cabin Pressbook. Financial figures: Universal ledger, "World Revenue- Grand Totals 1926/27 to 1930/31 Products." Courtesy Richard Koszarski. Laemmle admitted to a production cost of $1,404,412 in 'From the Inside: The Business of Motion Pictures,' 103. Wings (Paramount Famous Lasky, 1928) had a production cost of $1,992,000, more than Uncle Tom's Cabin, but it was produced later in the decade.
1 'World Premiere Uncle Tom's Cabin Big Hit,' Universal Weekly, Vol. 26, No. 15, 11. The 166 page piano part to Reisenfeld's score is held as JNG-75-60 by the Music Collection of the Performing Arts Research Center, The New York Public Library at Lincoln Center.
1 Letter, Director, State of New York Education Department, Motion Picture Division, to C.E. Fallis, Big 'U' Film Exchange, Inc., New York, 2 November 1927. New York State Archives, Series A1418 SED MPD Scripts, 004308-2635 Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927).
1 Letter, James Wingate, Director, State of New York Education Department, Motion Picture Division, to Carl Laemmle, Universal Picture Corp., New York City, 5 November 1927. New York State Archives.
1 'Eliminate': Letter, Director, State of New York Education Department, Motion Picture Division, to C.E. Fallis, Big 'U' Film Exchange, Inc., New York, 5 November 1927. New York State Archives. 'There are scenes': Mordaunt Hall, Uncle Tom's Cabin [review], The New York Times, 5 November 1927, 16.
1 New York grosses: 'Key City Grosses' in 'The Film Daily Yearbook of Motion Pictures [1928],' (New York: The Film Daily, 1927), 845, and 'The Film Daily Yearbook of Motion Pictures [1929],' (New York: The Film Daily, 1928), 876. These financial figures were provided to the Film Daily Yearbook by Variety. The film played through the week ending March 24, 1928.
1 'Piece of junk': Reports Department, Exhibitors Herald, quoted in advertisement, Carl Laemmle, 'The Folly of Fools,' 'The Film Daily Yearbook of Motion Pictures [1928],' 329.
1 Stowe, 281-282. Intertitles from 1928 general release version viewed at Motion Picture Broadcasting, Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress.
1 'With the merest suspicion': Uncle Tom's Cabin [review]. Marquis Busby, 'Novel Makes Notable Film,' Los Angeles Times, 29 March 1928. Pollard had dropped the death of Eva for the previews, but audience response demanded that the key scene from the play be included. Actress Carla Laemmle recalled portraying one of the angels in the sequence. Carla Laemmle to author, 30 June 1998.
1 'Real Negroes': Gwendolyn B. Bennett, 'The Ebony Flute,' Opportunity, April 1928, 122. Also see: Ivan H. Browning, 'Some European Notes,' Amsterdam News, 21 December 1927, 13. The article had a dateline of 3 December.
1 Los Angeles grosses: 'Key City Grosses' in 'The Film Daily Yearbook of Motion Pictures [1929],' 871. The grosses for Uncle Tom's Cabin was $5,100 the week of 7 April 1928. The following weeks were $4,450 and $3,500 respectively. The Patent Leather Kid (First National, 1927) with Richard Barthelmess opened with a $10,000 week, and was still grossing $6,000 in its fourth week before being replaced by Uncle Tom's Cabin.
1 Wilfred Beaton, 'Uncle Tom Has Music Now and Is Much Better,' The Film Spectator, 29 September 1928, 10, 11.
1 Laurence Reid, 'The Celluloid Critic,' Motion Picture Classic, January 1928, 52. St. Augustine: '"Uncle Tom" in Fla.,' Variety, 25 April 1928, 23.
1 Stowe family objections: 'Great Grand-Niece Has Grouch Over U's "Tom",' Variety, 29 August 1928, 7. Atlanta: 'Ban Uncle Tom's Cabin; Atlanta Deems Film Unwise,' The New York Times, 17 August 1928. Birmingham: 'Uncle Tom's Cabin Unfit for Alabama,' Amsterdam News, 21 November 1928, 8.
1 A memo from Universal's New York General Manager to the state Censorship Commission noted the songs included in Rapee's score were 'Rolling Home,' 'Good-bye Brother,' 'Lead Kindly Light,' 'Oh, Eliza,' 'Glory, Glory, Hallelujah,' and 'Nobody Knows What Trouble I've Had.' The letter concluded 'we reserve all legal rights to protect or question the right of the State authorities to require the submission of the songs or dialogue in Uncle Tom's Cabin for Censorship.'. Letter, E.W. Kramer, General Manager, Universal Pictures, to New York State Censorship Commission, 9 August 1928. New York State Archives. Although it had significantly less footage than the 13 reel premiere version, the general release version was mounted on 16 reels. Reels 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, and 12 were very short.
1 'I was prepared': Beaton, 11. Uncle Tom's Cabin Cutting Continuity, 11 November 1927, File No. 5220, Picture No. 4479, Microfilm reel No. 215, Universal Central Files, Universal City Studios.
1 Exhibitor reports: From the 'What the Picture Did for Me' Department of Exhibitors Herald-World, reprinted in 'The Motion Picture Almanac 1929,' (Chicago: Quigley Publishing Company, 1929), 208. Baltimore: 'Davies Gives Century New High of $27,000,' Variety, 12 September 1928, 8. Ticket prices were 25c to $1.00.
1 Financial figures: Universal ledger. Unlike most silent films, occasional reminders of Uncle Tom's Cabin appeared. Footage from the film appears in the opening scene of Universal's Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Cops (1955). A blubbering Lou Costello views the ice floe sequence in a Nickelodeon (circa 1907) where it is presented to an appreciative audience with piano accompaniment. The Shelby mansion still stands on the Universal backlot, where it has been in continuous use as an exterior since 1927, though it was later moved to a different location. The house can be seen in many Universal productions, including The Mummy's Tomb (1942), Son of Dracula (1943), The Time of Their Lives (1946) and This Island Earth (1954) .
1 Kleinerman: Letter, Joseph L. Stein, Sargoy and Stein, to Adolph Schimel, Universal Film Exchanges, Inc., 5 January 1954. The law firm of Sargoy and Stein handled film piracy investigations for members of the Motion Picture Producers Association. Underwood: 'U's Pirated "Uncle Tom," 25 Years Old, Hot B.O.; Court Impounds Prints,' Variety, 10 July 1952. Also see: 'The Product Shortage,' The Hollywood Reporter, 9 February 1953. Realart: Letter, F.T. Murray, Mgr. Branch Operations, Universal Film Exchanges, Inc., to Dr. Hugo M. Flick, State of New York Education Dept., Motion Picture Division, 8 April 1953. New York State Archives. Distributor Dave Friedman recalled in his autobiography and confirmed by telephone that Underwood had purchased a print of the film at a Railway Express auction. Dave Friedman with Don De Nevi, 'A Youth in Babylon: Confessions of a Trash Film King,' (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1990), 44-45.
1 Assignment of Copyright, Universal Pictures Company, Inc. to Colorama Features, Inc., 2 July 1958. Copyright Office Assignment Records, Vol. 1017, 362. Mortgage, Colorama Features, Inc. to Pathe Laboratories, Inc., 27 June 1958. Copyright Office Assignment Records, Vol. 1012, 89-93. This author purchased the rights to Uncle Tom's Cabin from Colorama Features, Inc. on 8 March 1996. Copyright Office Assignment Records, Vol. 3214, 253.
David Pierce, 'Carl Laemmle's Outstanding Achievement': Harry Pollard and the Struggle to Film Uncle Tom's Cabin, Film History, March 1916, pages 27-30.
© 1999, David Pierce
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