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Home > Posters > CIVILIZATION (1916) - U.S. Half-Sheet Poster Style A (R-1919)
CIVILIZATION (1916) - U.S. Half-Sheet Poster Style A (R-1919)
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Item Number: P-CIVILIZATION-RHSA
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Vintage original 22 x 28 in. (55.9 x 71.1 cm.) U.S. half-sheet poster, R-1919, Style A, rolled, unrestored, near-fine condition.
The legendary producer/director Thomas H. Ince produced his epic pacifist production of Civilization in an attempt to keep America out of the Great War that had erupted in Europe. This beautiful full-color poster was printed for the film's late teens theatrical re-release and features a collage of images designed to evoke the emotion and feeling that the horrors of war have upon a country and her people. A large image of a young child with outstretched arms pleads for help on the left which is offset by a tranquil image of a serene Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, on the right. Both of these images are shown next to a vertical border of an Art-Nouveau-inspired floral motif. The center image depicts a man saying goodbye to his two children before leaving with the three soldiers behind him. The bottom third of the poster features a battle scene on the bottom left as men charge with their rifles extended while men lie dead on the ground all around them. The image on the bottom right depicts a dying man raising his arm as his fellow soldiers lie dead all around him.
This half-sheet poster is rolled as originally issued and is in near-fine unrestored condition. There are two light vertical creases, one approximately 9.5 in. from the left border and the other approximately 9.5 in. before the right border. There is a 1 in. diagonal chip on the top left corner, a 0.25 in. diagonal chip on the top right corner, a 0.75 in. diagonal chip on the bottom right corner and a 0.75 in. diagonal chip on the bottom left corner. There is a 2 in. area of jaggedness along the bottom edge approximately 4 in. to the left of the center and two 1/8 in. vertical tears on the center of the bottom border. There is a 2.75 in. area of wear along the left border above the bottom left corner. The colors are as fresh and vibrant as when this poster was printed and it is a beautiful piece when viewed in person.
Released in 1916, Civilization
is a pacifist allegorical film about a submarine commander who refuses to fire at a civilian
ocean liner supposedly carrying ammunition for his country's enemies. It was in production for nearly a year and reportedly cost $1,000,000 to make.
The film's screenwriter, C. Gardner Sullivan, said he received the inspiration for the film on Easter Sunday morning
in 1915. He wrote an outline on a single piece of typewriter paper,
originally calling it "The Mothers of Men." Sullivan showed the outline
to Ince, and Ince decided it was worth investing a million dollars. The
film was also the first to depict Jesus Christ as a character in a
motion picture, leading some to criticize the depiction as in "poor
taste." At the time of its release, it was described as
"the ultimate achievement of the Ince studios." The film included large
scale battle scenes, scenes of naval battles,
trench warfare, aerial battles, and the resulting devastation. Ships
from the United States Navy were utilized in the scenes depicting sea
battles. The film was a big-budget spectacle that was compared to both D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation and the paintings of Jean-Francois Millet. The film was a popular success and was credited by the Democratic National Committee with helping to re-elect Woodrow Wilson as the U.S. President in 1916.
Civilization; Triangle Film Corporation; 1916; dir: Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince, Raymond B. West; cast: Howard C. Hickman, Enid Markey, Lola May, Kate Bruce, J. Frank Burke, Claire Du Brey, George Fisher, Charles K. French, Herschel Mayall, Fanny Midgley, J. Barney Sherry, Jerome Storm, Ethel Ullman, John Gilbert, Lillian Reade, Alice Terry.
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Beautiful artwork highlights this rare reissue half-sheet from Thomas H. Ince's epic pacifist drama.
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