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Film, Video The making of an American

digital viewing copy

About this Item

Title

  • The making of an American

Summary

  • This silent film follows an Italian immigrant who migrates to America but finds himself limited to working as a day laborer due to his lack of English proficiency. Unfortunately, he sustains an injury when he fails to comprehend a job safety warning. While recovering, he encounters a notice at the Post Office, written in multiple languages, urging immigrants to learn English at night school. Determined, he completes his classes and secures a supervisory role at Hartford Rubber Works, illustrating that learning English can significantly improve an individual's quality of life and chances for success.

Names

  • Hedlund, Guy, 1884-1964, film director
  • De Varny, E. J., actor
  • Worcester Film Corporation, production company
  • Connecticut. State Board of Education, contributor
  • Connecticut State Council of Defense. Department of Americanization, presenter

Created / Published

  • United States : Worcester Film Corporation, 1920.

Headings

  • -  United States--Emigration and immigration
  • -  Immigrants--United States
  • -  Immigrants--Employment
  • -  Immigrants--Language
  • -  Americanization

Genre

  • Educational films
  • Silent films
  • Short films
  • Fiction films

Notes

  • -  Intertitles in English.
  • -  Emile De Verny.
  • -  Wid's Daily lists the director as P.D. Hugon, cannot verify their relationship to this film.
  • -  Filmed in Hartford, Connecticut with location filming at the Hartford Rubber Works Company.
  • -  This film was selected for the National Film Registry.
  • -  LC also holds a restored 1/2 inch b&w video viewing copy of this title with intertitles in multiple languages in the LC Gift Collection.
  • -  Sources used: Eagan, D. America's film legacy, 2010, p. 70-71; Educational film magazine, 1920, p. 22, viewed online June 20, 2023 via the Media History Digital Library; Wid's Daily, July 11, 1920, p. 27, viewed online June 20, 2023 via the Media History Digital Library.

Medium

  • 1 video file (digital) (14 min.) : si., tinted.

Source Collection

  • AFI/Ruckdeschel Collection (Library of Congress)

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2023600540

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Hedlund, Guy, Film Director, E. J De Varny, Contributor Connecticut. State Board Of Education, and Presenter Connecticut State Council Of Defense. Department Of Americanization. The making of an American. produceds by Worcester Film Corporationuction Company United States: Worcester Film Corporation, 1920. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2023600540/.

APA citation style:

Hedlund, G., De Varny, E. J., Connecticut. State Board Of Education, C. & Connecticut State Council Of Defense. Department Of Americanization, P. (1920) The making of an American. Worcester Film Corporationuction Company, prod United States: Worcester Film Corporation. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2023600540/.

MLA citation style:

Hedlund, Guy, Film Director, et al. The making of an American. prod by Worcester Film Corporationuction Company United States: Worcester Film Corporation, 1920. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2023600540/>.