Originally released in 1924, this silent film “Wolfe and Montcalm” was part of an educational series of movies produced by the Yale University Press. It was directed by Kenneth Webb. The film portrays the “Conquest of New France” — the historic struggle of the British and French for supremacy on the North American continent. The climax is reached in the death of General Wolfe, while leading the British troops to victory in the battle of the Plains of Abraham which preceded the fall of Quebec to the English in 1759.
The well-produced film stars Arthur Hohl as General James Wolfe and Juan De La Cruze as the Marquis de Montcalm and was directed by Kenneth Webb. It was based on George McKinnon Wrong’s history book, “Conquest of New France.” Arthur Hohl (May 21, 1889 – March 10, 1964) was an American stage and motion-picture character actor. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and began appearing in films in the early 1920s. He played a great number of villainous or mildly larcenous roles, although his screen roles usually were small, but he also played a few sympathetic characters. Juan de la Cruz was born on June 4, 1881 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for The Flirt (1916), Miss V from Moscow (1942) and The Gentleman from Indiana (1915). Kenneth Seymour Webb (16 October 1885 New York City – 6 March 1966 Hollywood, California) was an American film director, screenwriter, and composer noted for directing a number of films in the early age of the American film industry. He helped write the Gay Divorce along with Samuel Hoffenstein.
Chronicles of America is the title of a fifty volume series of books on American history. Originally printed in 1918, the volumes were written by historians of the time about various aspects of American History. The series was edited by Allen Johnson and published by Yale University.In 1923, Yale decided to create a series of films based on the books. Fifteen films were ultimately produced.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
