Native Land
title: "Native Land" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1942-films", "1942-documentary-films", "black-and-white-documentary-films", "1942-drama-films", "american-black-and-white-films", "documentary-films-about-labor-relations-in-the-united-states", "paul-robeson", "american-drama-films", "american-docudrama-films", "1940s-english-language-films", "1942-american-films", "1940s-independent-films", "english-language-drama-films"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Land" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Native Land |
| director | Leo Hurwitz |
| Paul Strand | |
| writer | Leo Hurwitz |
| Ben Maddow | |
| producer | Leo Hurwitz |
| starring | Paul Robeson (Narrator/Vocalist) |
| Fred Johnson | |
| cinematography | Paul Strand |
| editing | Lionel Berman |
| Leo Hurwitz | |
| Bob Stebbins | |
| music | Marc Blitzstein |
| studio | Frontier Films |
| distributor | Frontier Films |
| released | |
| runtime | 79 minutes |
| country | United States |
| language | English |
| :: |
| name = Native Land | image =
| caption = | director = Leo Hurwitz Paul Strand | writer = Leo Hurwitz Ben Maddow | producer = Leo Hurwitz | starring = Paul Robeson (Narrator/Vocalist) Fred Johnson | cinematography = Paul Strand | editing = Lionel Berman Leo Hurwitz Bob Stebbins | music = Marc Blitzstein | studio = Frontier Films | distributor = Frontier Films | released = | runtime = 79 minutes | country = United States | language = English Native Land is a 1942 docudrama film directed by Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand.
Synopsis
A combination of a documentary format and staged reenactments (influenced by the cinematic works of Sergei Eisenstein and Aleksandr Dovzhenko), the independently produced film depicted the struggle of trade unions against union-busting corporations, their spies and contractors. It was based on the 1938 report of the La Follette Committee's investigation of the repression of labor organizing.
Famous African-American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson participated as an off-screen narrator and vocalist.
Cast
- Paul Robeson as Narrator and vocalist (voice)
- Fred Johnson as Fred Hill, a farmer
- Mary George as Hill's wife
- John Rennick as Hill's son
- Amelia Romano as Window scrubber
- Houseley Stevenson as White sharecropper
- Louis Grant as Black sharecropper
- James Hanney as Mack, Union president
- Howard Da Silva as Jim, an informer
- Art Smith as Harry Carlyle
- John Marley as Thug with crowbar
Legacy
Restoration and re-release
A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, funded by the Packard Humanities Institute.
The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture negative, a 35mm safety duplicate negative, and a 35mm safety up-and-down track negative.”
The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 26, 2011
References
References
- Grant, Barry Keith and Jim Hillier. ''BFI Screen Guides: 100 Documentary Films'', Houndmills, [[Basingstoke]], [[Hampshire]]: [[Palgrave Macmillan]], 2009. pp. 147–148.
- [https://www.criterion.com/films/814-native-land The Criterion Collection]
- [https://leohurwitz.com/movie/native-land/ Leo Hurwitz]
- [https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2007/dvd/paul-robeson-portraits/ Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist (Criterion) – Senses of Cinema]
- [https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/26485/paul-robeson-portraits-of-the-artist-criterion-collection/?___rd=1 Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist - Criterion Collection - DVD Talk]
- Jan-Christopher Horak. "UCLA Film & Television Archive: ''Native Land'' (1942)".
- "Recent Restorations: Treasures From The UCLA Festival Of Preservation » Native Land".
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