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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 1628

Making an American Citizen

191214 minUnited States

Synopsis

An immigrant husband arrives in America still treating his wife as a servant. Encounters with strangers, neighbors and the law challenge his behavior, making their marriage the center of a series of lessons about equality.

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Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs: 14:08
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Alice Guy-Blaché · Public domain

Cast

Blanche Cornwall

Lee Beggs

DirectorsAlice Guy-Blaché

Historical context

Alice Guy-Blaché's Solax production links immigration and citizenship to a woman's treatment within the home. Its reform message reflects the period's idealized view of American assimilation.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Wikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 22, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Blanche Cornwall — Uncredited; https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturesto04moti#page/n189/mode/2up · Public domain

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