The Copperhead (1920)
(Charles Maigne, US 1920, 70 min., DCP)
Lionel Barrymore was at the height of his popularity when he re-created his stage role for the film adaptation of The Copperhead. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Milt Shanks (Barrymore), a farmer in a small Illinois town, is requested by President Lincoln to infiltrate the Copperheads, a secret organization in sympathy with the South, in order to dismantle them from within. His friends, wife and son Joey all consider him a traitor, yet he keeps his mission a secret. Through the tragedy of the war and for decades beyond, Shanks maintains his promise to the president, but when the future of someone he loves is threatened, the truth must be revealed.
Live piano accompaniment by Dr. Philip C. Carli.