''The Forgotten Village'' is a 1941 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

—some sources call it an

ethnofiction Ethnofiction refers to a subfield of ethnography which produces works that introduces art, in the form of storytelling, "thick descriptions and conversational narratives", and even first-person autobiographical accounts, into peer-reviewed academi ...

film—directed by Herbert Kline and

Alexander Hammid Alexandr Hackenschmied, born Alexander Siegfried George Hackenschmied, known later as Alexander Hammid (17 December 1907, Linz – 26 July 2004, New York City) was a Czech-American photographer, film director, cinematographer and film edito ...

. The film was written by

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck Jr. (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer and the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature winner "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social ...

, narrated by

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

, and with music by

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

. The film was released by the film distribution partnership of Arthur Mayer & Joseph Burstyn. The

New York State Board of Regents The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Depa ...

, acting as the state's board of censors, banned the film in New York due to the film's portrayal of childbirth and showing a baby at its mother's breast. The film depicts the conflicts between traditional life in a Mexican village, and outsiders who want to introduce modernization.

Cast

– Narrator

Censorship

The

Hays Office The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...

refused to approve the film. The distributors decided to release the film without the Hays Office's Seal of Approval. The

banned the film because of the inclusion of a lengthy childbirth scene. But the film’s distributor protested to the State Board of Regents who lifted the ban and allowed the uncut film to be shown in New York.

Restoration and re-release

A restored version of the film was released in 2011. The film was restored by the

UCLA Film & Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

, funded by the

Packard Humanities Institute The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) is a non-profit foundation, established in 1987, and located in Los Altos, California, which funds projects in a wide range of conservation concerns in the fields of archaeology, music, film preservation, an ...

. The new print was made “from the original 35mm nitrate picture and soundtrack negatives from the Stanford Theatre Foundation Collection and a 35mm nitrate fine grain master positive from MOMA.” The restoration premiered at the UCLA Festival of Preservation on March 14, 2011 and was screened at other North American cities in 2011 including Vancouver.

References

External links

* * *
''The Forgotten Village''
informational site at ''The Steinbeck Institute'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forgotten Village, The 1941 films 1941 documentary films American documentary films Black-and-white documentary films Ethnofiction films Films based on works by John Steinbeck Films set in the 1940s Social realism in film Spanish-language American films Films directed by Alexandr Hackenschmied American black-and-white films Films with screenplays by John Steinbeck 1940s English-language films 1940s American films

Cast

Censorship

Restoration and re-release

See also

References

External links