''Toby's Bow'' is a 1919 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Harry Beaumont Harry Beaumont (10 February 1888 – 22 December 1966) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including 20th Century Fox, Fox, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn, Metro Pictur ...

and starring Tom Moore,

Doris Pawn Doris Pawn (born Doris Alice Pahn; December 29, 1894 – March 30, 1988) was an American silent era film actress. Early life Born and raised in Norfolk, Nebraska, Pawn spent her vacations on the ranch of an uncle. There, she learned to ri ...

, Macey Harlam, Arthur Housman, Colin Kenny, and

Augustus Phillips Augustus Phillips (August 1, 1874 – September 29, 1944) was an American actor. He appeared in 134 films between 1910 and 1921. After 11 years of performing in stock theater, vision problems led Phillips to begin acting in films for the E ...

. It is based on the 1919 play of the same name by John Taintor Foote. The film was released by

Goldwyn Pictures Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded on November 19, ...

on December 14, 1919.

Plot

Cast

* Tom Moore as Tom Blake *

as Eugenia *

Macey Harlam Macey Harlam (April 27, 1873 – June 17, 1923) was a stage and screen actor from New York. He performed on Broadway from 1901 to 1918 before switching to silent films, silent films. In films he appeared with Pauline Frederick, Douglas Fairbanks ...

as Dubois *

Arthur Housman Arthur Housman (October 10, 1889 – April 8, 1942) was an American actor in films during both the silent film era and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Career Arthur Housman was one of the first screen comedians known to the public by name, and on ...

as Bagby * Colin Kenny as Bainbridge *

as Paige *Catherine Wallace as Valerie *Violet Schram as Mona *

Ruby Lafayette Ruby Lafayette (July 22, 1844 – April 3, 1935) was an American film actress, known for ''Sue of the South'' (1919), ''Big Bob'' (1921) and ''The Man Trap'' (1917). She was married to John T. Curran. At age 82, Lafayette nearly died from inju ...

as Grandmother *

George Kuwa George Kuwa (born Keichii Kuwahara) was a Japanese and American Issei (Japanese immigrant) film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1931. He was the first actor to portray Charlie Chan on-screen in the 192 ...

as Jap *

Nick Cogley Nickolas P. J. Cogley (May 4, 1869 – May 20, 1936) was an American actor, director and writer of the silent films. He appeared in more than 170 films between 1909 and 1934. Biography Cogley was born in New York, New York. He attended St. ...

as Uncle Toby

Production

The role of the servant, Uncle Toby, was played by Nick Cogley in

blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...

. The use of blackface was not unusual in American silent films, and did not disappear in films until the 1930s when public sensibilities regarding race began to change and blackface became increasingly associated with racism and

bigotry Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that pers ...

.Kenrick, John
Blackface and Old Wounds
Musicals101.com. From ''Theatre Lover's Journal'', Nov. 2000.

Preservation

''Toby's Bow'' is now considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

.American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''Toby's Bow''
/ref>

References

External links

* 1919 drama films Silent American drama films 1919 films Lost American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Goldwyn Pictures films American films based on plays 1919 lost films 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub