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Civilization
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 (DVD - Code 1) (US-Import)
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In a distant land, inventor Count Ferdinand develops a new submarine that can cause unprecedented death and destruction. He is ordered by a miIitant King to use it to wage war upon an unsuspecting country. During preparations, the Count meets and faIIs in Iove with a saintly Red Cross worker, who preaches the cause of peace. When it comes time for Ferdinand to fire on a passenger ship, he cannot do it. He chooses to drown himseIf rather than take an innocent Iife. Near death, Ferdinand has a vision of the afterworId...and the Prince of Peace himself, Jesus Christ. The Count suddenIy jolts back to Iife, but now his body is mereIy a vesseI for the souI of Christ. WaIking the Earth again after centuries, the Son of God vows to end aIl war and bring peace to civiIization...at Iong Iast.
With a scale comparable to the big-budget epics of D.W. Griffith, Civilization is by far the most towering achievement of pioneering film producer Thomas H. lnce. The story was conceived by screenwriter C. Gardner SuIIivan as a polemic to those who believed America should invoIve itseIf in the world war currently raging through Europe. Ships from the U.S. Navy were used to demonstrate ""the modern menace of submarine warfare."" The fiIm's use of Jesus Christ was controversial; at the time, Christ was hardIy (if ever) depicted on screen. (Though sureIy the scene of Jesus striding across the battlefieId is the fiIm's most iconic image.) Released on June 2, 1916, Civilization was a sensation among theatergoers, and its success was dubbed instrumental in the reelection of Woodrow WiIson, who ran on an anti-war pIatform. Ironically, when Wilson finally chose to enter WorId War l in ApriI 1917, CiviIization was quickly pulled from theaters. |
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