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''The Vanishing American'' (1925) is a silent film western produced by Famous Players-Lasky in the United States, and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by George B. Seitz and starred Richard Dix and Lois Wilson, recently paired in several screen dramas by Paramount. The film is based on the 1925 novel, ''The Vanishing American'', by Zane Grey. The story first appeared in November 1922 as a serial in ''Ladies' Home Journal''. Harper & Brothers planned the book's publication to coincide with the film's release but Christian missionaries feared public criticism. Harper editors thus altered the story before publication.〔Angela Aleiss, "Hollywood Addresses Indian Reform: ''The Vanishing American'', ''Studies in Visual Communication'', 10(4) (Fall 1984), pp. 53-60.〕 ==History of Adaptation== Grey’s serialized novel, published in Ladies’ Home journal in 1922-1923, was the first piece of literature produced that offered a harsh portrayal of American government agencies towards Native Americans Grey depicted the white settlers as missionaries who preyed upon the subordinate race, forcefully converting them into Christianity and altering their way of life. This depiction sparked a lot of backlash in the form of angry letters from readers once the novels were published〔 According to Zane Grey’s biographer, Thomas Pauly, “The magazine was deluged with angry letters from religious groups, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs vehemently denounced his depiction of their efforts.” 〔 In response to critics of the novel, Lasky persuaded Grey to dilute the American’s portrayal in the film. Grey agreed, and instead of American’s as a whole demonstrating contempt towards Native Americans, the script placed most of the blame on the corrupt individual character of Booker.〔 According to an interview with Lasky in September 1925, the idea for adapting Grey’s novel into a feature-film originated in 1922 when he and Lucien Hubbard, the editorial supervisor for Zane Grey Productions, received an invitation from Grey to visit Navaho Mountain and Rainbow Bridge in northern Arizona. The reservation’s stark and boundless desert scenery captivated Lasky, and after spending nearly two months there, suggested they used the vast ranges as the background for a motion picture.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Vanishing American」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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