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1919 Canadian drama film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Back to God's Country | |
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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 |
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Running time | 73 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
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, "Whapi, 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]
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.
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