Ashvegas movie history: ‘Conquest of Canaan’

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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As I was saying in an earlier post, Ashvegas’ movie history dates back to 1921, as far as I know, with the making of the black-and-white silent film “The Conquest of Canaan.”

It was filmed in downtown Asheville. It starred Doris Kenyon and Thomas Meighan, people you’ve never heard of but who worked with such stars as Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickfor and Rudolph Valentino.

The film was somewhat of a success and played at the Asheville Imperial theater, among others. It’s listed in the AFI catalog of silent films, according to UNCA, which has what may be the only remaining copy of the film. It’s in deep-freeze, but there’s a videotape copy. Here’s more from UNCA about the film:

Released by Paramount Pictures in August of 1921, this 35 mm black and white silent film is based on the Booth Tarkington (1869-1946) novel “The Conquest of Canaan,” written in 1905. The story follows the life of a small-town lawyer, Joe Louden, who endures alcholism and social exclusion, and public ridicule, only to prevail after he earns a law degree, inherits a fortune, and takes on corrupt city officials. [Also based loosely on the John Martin moral treatise, The Conquest of Canaan, (1811), which explores the natural and moral state of individuals in a small town who are both conquerors and conquered in a series of letters from a father to his son.]

 

The story was filmed in downtown Asheville, in and around Pack Square, the old Courthouse facing College Street and near the First Baptist Church at the corner of Spruce and College Streets. The old Swannanoa-Berkeley Hotel,later the Earle Hotel, was used as a backdrop and renamed the “Canaan City Hotel” for the film. Streetcars, signs, and other landmarks were re-named for the film and hundreds of extras were hired for the large scenes, particularly the mob-scene on Pack Square.

 

It is believed that the Asheville Historical Resources Commission’s copy stored at Ramsey Library is the only copy of the film. It was obviously re-copied onto CBEMA film stock at an unknown date. The AFI catalog notes that there were 7 reels in the original film. The reels at Ramsey Library number only 4.

The film was discovered in Russia in the 1980’s by William P. Banner who produced a special WLOS television program and used a section of the retrieved film. The Russians reportedly used the film with Russian sub-titles to demonstrate cultural aspects of the United States to their people.

The English sub-titles of the silent film were replaced by Russian sub-titles at an unknown time between 1921 and the early 1960’s. A video copy of the film has been mastered for preservation purposes and the original CBEMA general purpose film has been refrigerated in the D. H. Ramsey Library Special Collections.

Here’s the UNCA link.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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