"On the Cover" : On the set of Evangeline
A behind-the-scenes capture of the team behind the 1929 film, "Evangeline"
Edwin Carewe, producer-director of the 1929 film Evangeline starring Dolores Del Rio, with Robert Kurrle, A.S.C. filming a dusk shot; from the June 19, 1929 issue of American Cinematographer
In 1929, Texas director Edwin Carewe set out to create a silent film version— starring Mexican actress Dolores del Río—of Cleveland Broadway producer Arthur Hopkins’s play, which was adapted from New England poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem Evangeline. To this day, Longfellow’s poem remains the best-known work of art concerning the experience of the Acadians during the Deportation and ultimate journey to Louisiana.
Almost a century later, Lafayette filmmaker Cory St. Ewart decided that he wanted his Southern Gothic version of the Evangeline story to be told by Louisianans—and subsequently gave the role of the iconic character to a French-speaking Cajun musician, who sings one of her original songs about conjuring magic in the Louisiana wilderness.
It’s true that 2023 has been a difficult year for the film industry nationwide, but we are honored to use this issue to celebrate the work of local stories, told in film, by Louisianans.