Deliverance (1918)

[Danny]

It came as a surprise to me to learn that Helen Keller made a film of her life story called DELIVERANCE in 1918. According to the source I read, it was dressed up with fantasy footage of Helen as Joan of Arc, or some such nonsense. It was supposedly an incredible failure at the box office, despite the popularity of Keller at the time. Even if it no longer exists, the mere concept of Helen Keller "the movie star" is something to contemplate.

Does anybody have any more information?

Danny

[Mike Gebert]

There are clips and some info about it here:

[Nosferatu]

Sounds much better than the later inbred gay rapist movie.

[David Denton]

The Library of Congress has DELIVERANCE. I saw roughly the first half; I don't remember any scenes of Keller as Joan of Arc, but that might be in the part I did not see. I thought it typical of the time, maybe a little slow.

[David Menefee]

You can read the entire saga of Helen's journey into filmmaking with Deliverance in the recent book, Falling Stars: 10 Who Tried to be a Movie Star, available in print and Kindle editions from Amazon.com or order through any bookstore.

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[Harlowgold]

I remember a clip from the movie shown many years ago (possibly the 1980's) on some television biography profile of Miss Keller or some other sort of tv documentary). According to the IMDb message board for the film, the American Foundation for the Blind also owns a print. What a potential fund raiser for them!!

It's unfortunate the lone IMDb "review" is by a infamous and now deceased silent buff of dubious truthfulness. Surely this is one silent movie that cries for a dvd release and/or TCM airing and surely would have much more public interest than most silent films with the general public. And of course it's public domain given the year.

[Harlowgold]

The Library of Congress has DELIVERANCE. I saw roughly the first half; I don't remember any scenes of Keller as Joan of Arc, but that might be in the part I did not see. I thought it typical of the time, maybe a little slow.

I vaguely recall a clip of the film used in a tv documentary with Ms. Keller standing on a horse (!!!) in a "warrior" type pose, possibly some though this Joan of Arc-esque.