"Deliverance" (1919). The mostly true story of Helen Keller.

[Big Silent Fan]

Discovered this amazing film about the life story of Helen Keller after reading about this today at Nitrateville. My friend and I really enjoyed such a well done telling of Helen Keller, even with the addition of a fictional character (Nadja) to tie it all together.
It tells Keller's story from birth, to the sickness 19 months later that robbed her of sight, sound and speech. This was a big production that even features both Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller, playing themselves in the final part. As the film moves toward it's conclusion, the grand finale underscores the effort made to tell her story.
For 1919, 90 minutes is long, but it told a clear story of a larger than life person.
A nice print from the Library of Congress (with music) is available on YouTube.

[Histogram]

I stopped posting about live online presentations of silent movies from Retroformat because they seemed not to be of interest. But, for reference, Retroformat presented "Deliverance" in November: viewtopic.php?f=12&t=30530&p=244295&hil ... ce#p244295

[Dave Pitts]

Thanks much for the notice. I watched Deliverance today. Years ago I'd read that Helen appeared in a few silents, but that they were lost. But here is a nice complete print of a 90 minute feature, with Helen playing herself in the last, roughly, 3 reels.
The film is good in stretches -- especially when you see the real Helen, the real Anne, and Helen's mother and brother. As a whole, it suffers from the disjointed narrative style you see in so many pre-1920 films. There is a subplot about a friend of Helen's -- I think they call her Nadja -- and her story bumps Helen off screen for several extended sequences. The Nadja story is tied to Helen at the end, but it's awkward.
Some spoilers:
I was hoping that the famous water pump scene, so familiar from The Miracle Worker, would show up, and it does, but without the cathartic power of Patty Duke's version. There are no scenes of Anne fighting with Helen to assert her dominance.
Quite a bit about Helen's college career -- justifiably. (The original NYT review, from August 1919, noted that at several points the Manhattan audience burst into cheers at Helen's major achievements. Also that Helen was going to appear in person at the Lyric Theater, until she heard that its owners were facing down a strike from employees at its other theaters, and she refused to appear while the strike was ongoing.)
Absolutely bizarre final shot -- the real Helen on horseback, leading a metaphorical army that is going to do battle with humanity's blindness. She's blowing on a horn as she rides.
Very interesting film, overall.

[Big Silent Fan]

Thanks much for the notice. I watched Deliverance today. Years ago I'd read that Helen appeared in a few silents, but that they were lost. But here is a nice complete print of a 90 minute feature, with Helen playing herself in the last, roughly, 3 reels.
Some spoilers:
I was hoping that the famous water pump scene, so familiar from The Miracle Worker, would show up, and it does, but without the cathartic power of Patty Duke's version. There are no scenes of Anne fighting with Helen to assert her dominance.
Quite a bit about Helen's college career -- justifiably. (The original NYT review, from August 1919, noted that at several points the Manhattan audience burst into cheers at Helen's major achievements.
Absolutely bizarre final shot -- the real Helen on horseback, leading a metaphorical army that is going to do battle with humanity's blindness. She's blowing on a horn as she rides.
Very interesting film, overall.

Glad you enjoyed this. I've listened to Helen Keller's autobiography on line and much of what was seen was also revealed there. In her book, Helen mentioned the shame of being accused of plagiarism, and how it might have been possible, but never intentional. It was a devastating experience. She also wrote about visiting the Chicago Exposition with some of her famous friends.
In the Silent film, water is the first word Anne Sullivan was able to teach Helen (by pressing fingers into her hand). I can't remember (I never really cared for this), but wasn't this where we hear Helen say wawa in the Patty Duke version? That would seem incorrect. Speech would come much later.
The film indicates Helen discovered Anne Sullivan's will was stronger than hers, but she was rewarded for accepting Anne's guidance. She learned quickly that Anne would become her only link to the World around her. For much of their lives, there were inseparable.

Yes, the grand finale was amazing (and certainly unexpected). Who could believe a deaf, dumb and blind person would lead a group on horseback and be blowing a trumpet at the same time? This was a major picture and I only learned about it last Monday! It's a real tribute to those who planned this film more than 100 years ago. The music went well with the video.
Seeing the scene where Helen's brother supposedly flies the areoplane Helen rides in was interesting and a surprise to see.
Helen Keller is a mystery. My biggest dilemma is trying to imagine how Helen could have accomplished so much? We know her affliction began during her second year, so how could so many, never seen before things be understood by her?
In the beginning, she would have been limited by Anne Sullivan's knowledge. How could she learn so many different languages if she wasn't able to articulate properly even in English? As my friend said, "How could Helen be expected to understand what a Roman Column is?" Imagine the difficulty of explaining so many things clearly, to a mind, hungry to understand everything.
Helen Keller truly was a natural wonder to ponder. It's humbling to compare oneself to her.

[Dave Pitts]

I thought "wawa" was her residual memory of having a baby's vocabulary before the fever wiped out her sight and hearing. As to how accurate that is, it's too long since I've read an authoritative account.
Yes, the miraculous nature of her learning "wawa" and then a few years later commencing on studies of Latin, Greek, mathematics...more than I use my brain and senses!