Movie for a Sunday afternoon: "Unconquered"(1947)

You Tube ^ | 1947 | Cecil B. DeMille

[ReformationFan]

Today's feature is conservative Republican director Cecil B. DeMille's post-French and Indian War and pre-Revolutionary America epic adventure starring fellow conservative Republican Gary Cooper as a Virginia militiaman captain. Leading lady Paulette Goddard plays the indentured servant he buys and rescues illustrating the historical fact that not all slaves in American history belonged to one racial/ethnic group.

[ReformationFan]

ping

[greene66]

Goddard was also a conservative Republican.

[Fiji Hill]

The book on which the movie is based, Unconquered: A Novel of the Pontiac Conspiracy by Neil Swanson (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1947) is even more politically incorrect than the movie. For one thing, it describes the methods of extreme torture used by Indians to put a woman to death.

[ReformationFan]

She was? I figured that she was the another Hollywood liberal since she was one of Charlie Chaplin’s wives.

[greene66]

That would have been in the 1930s. A lot of them started out either Dem/liberal early on, but became staunch Republicans later on. Like Reagan.

Another Paramount babe and contemporary of Goddard’s, Dorothy Lamour, was also a conservative Republican.

[ReformationFan]

Interesting. As much as libs hate this fact of reality, truth is politically incorrect.

[katana]

Really? I always assumed the opposite based on her relationship with Charlie Chaplin. IMHO she was one of the sexiest actresses of that era.

[greene66]

Plus, she was also married in the early-1940s, I believe, to Burgess Meredith, who was a Democrat. I suspect it was indeed later on, in the post-war era, that she likely became a Republican. That was the case with many.

[gaijin]

Later

[CondorFlight]

IIRC, the movie ends with a shot of a quote by Ben Franklin:
“Where Liberty is, there is my country.”

A good thing to remember—that what really defines an American is a love of liberty, not an accident of birth.

[Polynikes]

Indentured servitude was not quite technically slavery insomuch as it usually had a 7 year limit. Prior to 1655 there were no legal slaves only indentured servants who could purchase 50 acres upon completion of their term of service. This even included blacks who were purchased from slavers. They became indentured servants and became eligible for 50 acres.

The problem with slavery occurring was when Anthony Johnston a Black from modern day Angola, was brought to the US in 1619 to work on a tobacco farm. Upon release from servitude he received 50 acres and eventually became a successful farmer with 5 Black indentured servants working for him.

One of them was John Casor who when he was due to be released from servitude was told by Parker that his term was being extended indefinitely. Casor left anyway and went to work for Robert Parker a White farmer. Johnston sued Parker in court in 1654. In 1655 the court decided in Johnstons favor that he could hold Casor indefinitely. By this the court had given judicial sanction for Blacks to own in effect slaves of their own race.

This made Anthony Johnston, a Negro, the first “legal” slaver owner and John Casor also a Negro, the first “legal” slave. Black slavery in America was started by blacks on blacks and abetted by British colonial courts. The rest is history altho this little part is usually conveniently overlooked.

[tumblindice]

And English actor Boris Karloff plays the frontier Frankenstein monster ...