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A Daughter of Dixie
Also known as [A Daughter in Dixie]
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 900 feet
Directed by Sidney Olcott
Cast: Gene Gauntier [Miss Betsy]
Kalem Company, Incorporated, production; distributed by Kalem Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Gene Gauntier, from a screen story by Gene Gauntier. / Released 27 July 1910. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: War: Civil War.
Synopsis: [From Kalem promotional materials] The “Daughter of Dixie’s” leading part is played by Miss Gene Gauntier, the popular heroine of the Kalem “Girl Spy” series, and it is the same sweet-faced, old-fashioned girl in hoop skirts whom we see in the “Daughter of Dixie.” The opening scenes take place just as the war was being declared. Miss Betsy, the heroine, has two lovers, one of Southern tendencies, the other loyal to the North. The Northern young man has been previously favored by the girl, but when he has announced his choice he is cast aside and leaves to join the Northern army with the idea that his sweetheart is lost to him forever. As the war is about to close, however, the action brings his regiment into the neighborhood of the girl’s home, and while on special duty he is pursued by Confederates and is forced to take refuge in the girl’s house. The girl, wavering between love and duty, yields to the former, and the fugitive is hidden in an old linen chest while his pursuers are turned off the track. He is captured later on, however, and condemned, and is about to die as a spy when the news comes that the war is ended. Convinced by the girl’s interference in his behalf that she still loves him, he returns to her home and claims her hand. He is not wrong in his surmise. She loves him as much as before, and he is again accepted, although not before he and his former rival, the Confederate captain, have shaken hands and pledged to forget the past and renew the friendship of the Blue and the Gray.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 6 August 1910, page 15] A love story with incidents of the Civil War as a background. Perhaps its most striking feature is the fact that the Southern girl, who turns her lover away when he decided to go with the North, accepts him after the war is over. And a further sentimental touch is added when the Union man and the Confederate shake hands and forget the past. Melodramatic in construction, this picture is interesting and perhaps more honestly represents the feelings of those actually engaged in that combat than almost anything seen in a considerable time. It is an interesting picture, but underlying the interest is a sentiment that is worth remembering and cultivating even now.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 4 May 2025.
References: Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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