The Unconquered (1954)
55 min
Narrated by actress Katharine Cornell and filmed in black and white, it spends the first 24 minutes introducing viewers, through newsreels, interviews, and old photographs, to the story of the deaf and blind disabled-rights pioneer. News footage shows her international appearances and visits with heads of state, including President Eisenhower allowing her to feel his face. The second half takes a day-in-the-(exceptional)-life approach to Keller's existence circa 1955. Made just 13 years before her death, Keller's famed tutor-translator-friend Anne Sullivan had already died, leaving her live-in replacement, Polly Thomson, to share the film's focus. From the time Keller takes her morning walk along the 1,000-foot handrail around her yard through her workday to her nightly reading of her Braille Bible, her serene acceptance of her life will amaze and inspire. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.
- Release date
- June 15, 1954
- Country of origin
- United States
Cast
- Katharine Cornell as Self - Narrator
- Helen Keller as Self
- Polly Thompson as Self - Helen Keller's companion
- Dwight D. Eisenhower as Self - Face felt by Helen Keller
- Martha Graham as Self - At her dance studio
- Jascha Heifetz as Self - Plays for Helen Keller
- Robert Helpmann as Self - Demonstrates for Helen Keller
- Gertrude Stein as Self - In Louis Braille procession
- Anne Sullivan as Self
Crew
- Dwight D. Eisenhower · Archive footage
- Martha Graham · Archive footage
- Jascha Heifetz · Archive footage
- Robert Helpmann · Archive footage
- Gertrude Stein · Archive footage
- Anne Sullivan · Archive footage
- Nancy Hamilton · Director
- Nancy Hamilton · Writer
- James L. Shute · Writer
- Nancy Hamilton · Producer
- Morgan Lewis · Composer
- Joe Lipkowitz · Cinematographer
- James L. Shute · Editor