The Crisis

The Crisis is a 1916 American silent historical drama film produced by William N. Selig and directed by Colin Campbell. The film is based on the American Civil War novel The Crisis by American novelist Winston Churchill. The novel was adapted into a play and produced on Broadway in 1902.[1]

A copy of this film is preserved at the Library of Congress.[2][3][4][5]

The Crisis sought to mine the success of 1915's The Birth of a Nation.[6] It was popular in theatres, but the United States' entry into World War I in April 1917 effectively ended interest in another Civil War film in light of the new war.[7]

The production was shot in part in Mississippi and St. Louis, Missouri. Actor Matt B. Snyder was a real-life Civil War veteran having served in the Union Navy on the gunship USS Essex. Snyder and Sam D. Drane, who portrayed Abraham Lincoln in the film, died prior to its general release in 1917. [citation needed ]