The Copperhead is a 1920 American silent historical drama film based on a novel by Frederick Landis and a 1918 play by Augustus Thomas. The star of this film is Lionel Barrymore who won acclaim in the play version on Broadway, and who appeared in the play and this film with his first wife Doris Rankin.[1][2][3] A print of this film has been screened in recent years.
| The Copperhead | |
|---|---|
 Newspaper advertisement | |
| Directed by | Charles Maigne |
| Written by | Augustus Thomas (play) Charles Maigne (scenario) |
| Based on | The Glory of His Country by Frederick Landis |
| Produced by | Adolph Zukor Jesse Lasky |
| Starring | Lionel Barrymore Doris Rankin |
| Cinematography | Faxon M. Dean |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7 reels; 6,351 feet |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
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Plot
editAt the beginning of the American Civil War Milt Shanks, who owns a farm in Illinois, is asked by President Abraham Lincoln to join the Copperheads, a clandestine quasi-political organization whose sentiments lie with the South. His family and friends unknowing of his mission call him a traitor.
His son later dies in a Civil War battle and his wife dies of heartbreak over the son's death. Shanks spends decades keeping silent about his involvement with the Copperheads until his granddaughter prepares to marry and he's forced to come clean about being involved in a secret Civil War Mission. With this understanding friends and family forgive him.
Cast
edit- Lionel Barrymore as Milt Shanks
- William P. Carleton as Lt. Tom Hardy
- Francis Joyner as Newt Gillespie (billed as Frank Joyner)
- Richard Carlyle as Lem Tollard
- Arthur Rankin as Joey
- Leslie Stowe as Brother Andrew
- Nicholas Schroell as Abraham Lincoln
- William David as Tom Hardy
- Harry Bartlett as Dr. James
- Jack Ridgeway as Theodore Roosevelt
- Mayor N.M. Cartmell as Captain Mercer
- Doris Rankin as Mrs. Shanks
- Carolyn Lee as Grandma Perley
- Anne Cornwall as Madeline
- Francis Haldorn as Elsie
Preservation
editThe film survives. It is available on DVD from at least one online source.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Copperhead at silentera.com
- ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Film Institute, c.1988
- ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Copperhead
- ^ The Copperhead available for DVD purchase online
External links
edit
- The Copperhead at IMDb
- The Copperhead synopsis at AllMovie
- lantern slide/coming attraction; "The Copperhead" w/Lionel Barrymore
- from Italian-Wikipedia, Lionel Barrymore in the 1918 play The Copperhead
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