The Copperhead
| 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) |
The Copperhead is a 1920 American silent film historical drama 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.
Plot[]
At 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[]
- 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[]
The film survives. It is available on DVD from at least one online source.[4]
See also[]
- Lionel Barrymore filmography
References[]
- ^ 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[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Copperhead (1920 film). |
- 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
 | This article about a silent drama film from the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
- 1920 films
- 1920s historical drama films
- American historical drama films
- American silent feature films
- Films directed by Charles Maigne
- Films based on American novels
- American films based on plays
- Paramount Pictures films
- American films
- American Civil War films
- Fictional depictions of Abraham Lincoln in film
- American black-and-white films
- Films based on adaptations
- 1920 drama films
- Surviving American silent films
- 1920s silent drama film stubs