The Heart of Humanity
About The Heart of Humanity
Nanette, an American woman in a Canadian village, loves John Patricia, the eldest of five brothers. The war sends the family to Belgium and France. Nanette joins the Red Cross. Prussian lieutenant Eric von Eberhard terrorizes her. John has to get her away from him.
Cast & crew
More about The Heart of Humanity
Allen Holubar directed and wrote the script. Carl Laemmle produced for Universal, which released it as a Jewel production. The New York opening was December 22, 1918. General release in the United States was February 15, 1919.
Themes
Background
Universal released the film in the last weeks of the war in Europe and in the months after the Armistice. Von Stroheim plays a Prussian officer.
Look
Fred LeRoy Granville photographed the war picture.
Preservation
Prints are in the EmGee Film Library and in private collections. MoMA exhibited a copy in 2014.
Notes
- Dorothy Phillips plays Nanette. William Stowell plays John Patricia. Erich von Stroheim plays Eric von Eberhard.
- Walt Whitman plays Father Michael. Margaret Mann plays the Widow Patricia. Lloyd Hughes, Frank Braidwood, and George Hackathorne play three of the brothers.
- A copy is held by the EmGee Film Library and in private collections.
- The Museum of Modern Art screened it in 2014.
Scenes
- The brothers leave the Canadian village for France and Belgium.
- Von Eberhard corners Nanette in her work as a nurse, and John comes for her.
