Back to God's Country

• Director: David M. Hartford
• AMG Rating:
• Genre: Drama
• Movie Type: Adventure Drama
• Themes: Heroic Mission, Survival in the Wilderness
• Release Year: 1919
• Country: CA

Plot

Nell Shipman stars in this handsomely mounted James Oliver Curwood production as Dolores LeBeau, a child of nature on a voyage to the Arctic circle with her new husband, Peter Burke (Wheeler Oakman). En route, she discovers to her horror that the Captain, Rydal (Wellington Playter), is none other than the escaped prisoner who killed her father (Ralph Laidlaw). Rydal threatens the girl to silence and then causes an "accident" that seriously injures Peter. Arriving at their destination, Dolores learns from trader Blake (Charles Arling), Rydal's accomplice, that the nearest doctor is at Fort Confidence, miles away across the inhospitable Barrens. Dolores, however, demands a team of dogs and the villains give in, secretly concocting a scheme to separate husband and wife along the route. "So that only the woman will return -- for you!" as Blake puts it in an inter-title. But Dolores manages to get a minor head start by shooting the trader, racing into the white wilderness with Rydal in hot pursuit. The killer is soon closing in on the fugitives by Dolores is saved in the nick of time by Wapi, a "half-breed" dog she had rescued from the brutal Blake. Husband and wife reach safety and Rydal pays for his sins with his life. Back to God's Country was filmed again in 1927, starring Renée Adorée, and a third time in 1953, starring Marcia Henderson. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Review

Beautifully restored by the National Archives of Canada, Back to God's Country remains the best example of the work of 1910s Renaissance woman Nell Shipman. Shipman, whose lifelong love for animals grew out her experiences while making this film, was one of the later silent era's few women auteurs, writing, producing and co-directing most of her films. A co-production between Nell's then-husband Ernest Shipman and author James Oliver Curwood (whose short story Wapi the Walrus was less important to the film than his name), Back to God's Country was filmed at Faust in Alberta, Canada, under grueling circumstances; at Kernville, CA; and at the Brunton Studios in Hollywood. Along the way, the company lost their leading man, Australian actor Ronald Byram, who succumbed to the harsh Canadian winter and died tragically from pneumonia in April of 1919. Wheeler Oakman replaced him and it is fun to see the future B-Western blackguard playing the hero for a change. Although author Curwood's name is front and center, his presence is really only felt in rather unrestrained inter-titles such as "Yearning for the wild things she loved, praying for the day when the forests will claim her again." The film itself, happily, remains much more Miss Shipman's vision and constantly displays her great fondness for the Great outdoors in general and wildlife fauna in particular. There are both dramatic and "cute" scenes and much of the excitement is generated by the presence of Tresore, Miss Shipman's four-legged co-star, a ferocious Great Dane only she could manage. At the time, much was made out of Shipman's brief nude swim in the Kern River, but today's audiences will probably be equally interested in cameraman Joseph Walker's quite well executed double exposures in a dream sequence. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Cast

Charles Arling - Blake; Wheeler Oakman - Peter Burke; Wellington Playter - Captain Rydal; Nell Shipman - Dolores LeBeau

Credit

David M. Hartford - Director, Joseph Walker - Cinematographer

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