The Heart of a Hero
About The Heart of a Hero
In 1777 Nathan Hale is schoolmaster at the Union Grammar School in New London, Connecticut, and Alice Adams, one of his pupils, is his secret sweetheart. When the war starts he speaks for the colonists in class. The British want the schoolhouse for a King George rally. Hale joins the militia and becomes a captain, then volunteers as a spy against Alice's wishes. British colonel Guy Fitzroy, who wants Alice himself, invites her to an inn where Hale is posing as a loyalist among British soldiers. Her embrace gives him away. He is hanged as a spy.
Cast & crew
More about The Heart of a Hero
Émile Chautard directed. George Archainbaud was assistant director. Frances Marion adapted Clyde Fitch's 1898 play Nathan Hale. William A. Brady produced. World Film distributed. Moving Picture World of July 29, 1916 said Brady, after a screening, talked about releasing seven or eight reels instead of five. The release was six reels. Copyright LU9348, October 16, 1916.
Themes
Background
The picture was released while the United States was still officially neutral in the European war, and it retells a Revolutionary spy story from Fitch's stage play.
Look
Lucien Tainguy photographed the World Film production.
Preservation
Prints exist at the George Eastman Museum and the Library of Congress.
Notes
- Robert Warwick plays Hale. Gail Kane plays Alice Adams. Alec B. Francis plays Colonel Knowlton.
- George MacQuarrie plays Guy Fitzroy. Clifford Grey plays Tom Adams. Herbert Evans plays William Howe. Charles Jackson plays Thomas Jefferson.
- AFI length is 6,000 feet.
- Prints are at the George Eastman Museum and the Library of Congress.
Scenes
- Alice embraces Hale in the inn and the British soldiers see that he is not one of them.
- Hale is taken out to be hanged.
Influenced by
- Nathan Hale, the 1898 play by Clyde Fitch
Also available
- George Eastman Museum
- Library of Congress
