Are We Civilized?

1934 film by Edwin Carewe
  • June 6, 1934 (1934-06-06)
Running time
70 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Are We Civilized? is an independently released 1934 pre-Code American social problem film directed by Edwin Carewe which constituted a veiled attack on Adolf Hitler.[1] The film was given a negative review by Time magazine upon its release.[2] Footage of dinosaurs in the film are recycled from the 1918 Willis H. O'Brien's film The Ghost of Slumber Mountain.

Plot

Paul is a European who served during the Great War, and has since emigrated to the United States. One day he returns to Europe and talks of freedom and liberty. The authorities (clearly based on German Nazis but unnamed) come down on him. It is their duty to spread racism and religious hatred. Paul gives the speech of a lifetime set against an epic series of films spread across the history of mankind.

Cast

  • William Farnum as Paul Franklin, Sr.
  • Anita Louise as Norma Bockner
  • Frank McGlynn Sr. as Abraham Lincoln, Felix Bockner
  • LeRoy Mason as Paul Franklin Jr.
  • Oscar Apfel as Dr. Leonard Gear
  • Stuart Holmes as Col. Salter
  • Alin Cavin as Moses
  • Conrad Seideman as Buddha
  • Sidney T. Pink as Confucius
  • Harry Burkhardt as Caesar
  • Charles Requa as Christ
  • J.C. Fowler as Mohammed
  • Bert Lindley as Christopher Columbus
  • Aaron Edwards as George Washington
  • William Humphrey as Napoleon

Notes

  1. ^ Doherty. pg. 99
  2. ^ Cinema: The New Pictures: Jun. 25, 1934, Time, June 25, 1934, accessed October 10, 2010

References

  • Doherty, Thomas Patrick. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934. New York: Columbia University Press 1999. ISBN 0-231-11094-4

External links

  • Are We Civilized? at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
  • Are We Civilized? is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive


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