Search - The Man Without a Country on DVD

Disenfranchised

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 05/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY is adapted from an 1863 Edward Everett Hale short story.

In it, Army lieutenant Philip Nolan (Herbert) is tried in 1807 as part of a treason conspiracy (the Aaron Burr scandal). His fate is sealed in court when an angry Nolan curses the USA, saying he hopes to never hear of the country again. Once a conviction is obtained, the trial judge acts on Nolan's ill-advised outburst and orders that he be held in the brigs of various Navy warships, a disenfranchised man with no place to call home and no knowledge of the land of his birth.


"Man Without a Country" has been remade three times since 1917, including as a 1937 Oscar-nominated Technicolor WARNER BROS. short starring John Litel. This 1917 edition was produced by pioneer THANHOUSER FILM CORPORATION of Portland, OR. MARENGO's THANHOUSER COLLECTION contains a half-dozen of their extremely rare short films.


JEF FILMS/TELEVISTA is an indie distributor of hard to find vintage silent and sound films, British comedies and more. Their product is usually of good quality, despite some film sources being 80 or more years old.

Also from JEF:
BURN 'EM UP BARNES (1921) is an early action flick about a young race car driver who also speeds recklessly on public streets.


The Man Without a Country (silent-1917) - Holmes Herbert/Florence La Badie/J.H. Gilmour/Ernst Howard/Carey L. Hastings/Charles Dunan/Wilbert Shields/George Marlo"