Native Land
Native Land | |
---|---|
Directed by | Leo Hurwitz Paul Strand |
Written by | Leo Hurwitz Ben Maddow |
Produced by | Leo Hurwitz |
Starring | Paul Robeson (Narrator/Vocalist) Fred Johnson |
Cinematography | Paul Strand |
Edited by | Lionel Berman Leo Hurwitz Bob Stebbins |
Music by | Marc Blitzstein |
Release date | 11 May 1942 |
Running time | 79 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Native Land is a 1942 documentary film directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand.[1]
A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments, the film depicted the struggle of trade unions against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee's investigation of the repression of labor organizing.
Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist.
Cast[]
- Paul Robeson as Narrator and vocalist (voice)
- Fred Johnson as Fred Hill, a farmer
- Mary George as Hill's wife
- John Rennick as Hill's son
- Amelia Romano as Window scrubber
- Houseley Stevenson as White sharecropper
- Louis Grant as Black sharecropper
- James Hanney as Mack, Union president
- Howard Da Silva as Jim, an informer
- Art Smith as Harry Carlyle
- John Marley as Thug with crowbar
Restoration and re-release[]
A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, funded by the Packard Humanities Institute.[2]
The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.”[2]
The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011[2] and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver.[3]
References[]
- ^ Grant, Barry Keith and Jim Hillier. BFI Screen Guides: 100 Documentary Films, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. pp. 147–148.
- ^ a b c Jan-Christopher Horak. "UCLA Film & Television Archive: Native Land (1942)". Retrieved 2011-11-07.
- ^ "Recent Restorations: Treasures From The UCLA Festival Of Preservation » Native Land". Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
External links[]
- Native Land at IMDb
- English-language films
- 1942 films
- 1942 documentary films
- Black-and-white documentary films
- 1942 drama films
- American films
- American black-and-white films
- Documentary films about labor relations in the United States
- Paul Robeson
- American drama films
- American documentary films
- 1940s drama film stubs
- Documentary film stubs