New-York tribune., 1920-01-18
Amusement News and Stage Door Chat for the Paygoer
How Frederick Lands
Happened to Originate
Famous ''Copperhead''

Famous ''Copperhead''
When Frederick Lands first began
the story "The Glory Of His Country"
which, as "The Copperhead." Para
mount special with Lionel Barrymore
in the leading role, will soon reach the
screen, he did not suppose that his
work would have circulation beyond
the circle of his acquaintances. In
deed, the first draft Of the book, which
later Augustus Thomas dramatized as
"The Copperhead" and John D. Will
Jams produced with Lionel Barrymore
in the same role he plays in the film
version, was merely a series of rem
iniscences of political campaigns in
which he had figured, together with
few brief character studies of the
people he had encountered while
"stumping" the rural districts of In
diana.
Mr.. Landis was a member of the
58th and 59th Congresses, represent
ing the 11th Indiana District. He is
! brother Of Judge Kenesaw Mountain
Lands, who in 1907 imposed fine of
S29,240,000 on the Standard Oil Com
pany. In a recent interview Mr..
Landis tells the story of the growth
of his audience from the small group
OF his friends in Indiana to an audi
ence in every quarter of the world.
I'm common with almost everybody
else in the United States, l always
wanted to write. But up till 1905 | did
almost everything else-worked on a
farm, in a drug store, in a newspaper
office, then studied law and was ad-
mitted to the bar. and then took a
JOY ride in politics. When in 1905
failed to get votes enough to go back
to Congress, / returned to Indiana and
resolved to take a year off and try
to write something, comforted by the
reflection that the experiment could
not be wholly Improbable, inasmuch
system, if nothing more
II started to write the diary Of a
candidate for Congress from Indiana
and when it was done. l took it to q
publisher, who advised me to turn 1t
into romance-all Of which was
good deal like advising a man to turn
'whatnot' into dining room set.
well, l came home and took the pins
out of my structure and let it fall inro
it's ori ginal elements. Out of these
elements arose a possibility. It was
the character of an old man who was
very queer He insisted on OBTAINING
strangers and telling them how he
and not General Grant-captured
vicksburg. In the diary l had intro
duced him merely as one Of the quaint
characters encountered along the po-
litical highway; he was only a blasted
oak in a rural landscape. had never
met man like him. He was rather an
embodiment of number Of old men,
given to exaggerating the Importance
Of their services during the Civil War.
had given him the name of Milton
Shanks because it seemed to hang on
to him like an old slouch hat.
"Well, as l was saying, l didn't pick
Shanks out as the main pole Of the new
structure | was to build; he seemed to
pick himself out, and, coming forward,
offered his strange and at times IRA
tional tale as q clew to heroic posi-
bilities-and I set out to follow the
clew. 1t must originate in something
related to the Civil War; his mind
must have been shattered by some ex-
perience related to it. Then l thought
Of the reasonable activities Of the
perheads-as they were called. Shanks
could not be traitor, of course, for
that would ruin his chances to go out
in good society, and l wanted him to
succeed socially-and then, again,
needed the money. He had to be a
hero, so l made him Union spy, who
kept watch on traitors for President
Lincoln.
"Wth this settled, the rest was COM
paratively easy. The other characters
just dropped in as naturally as people
enter dairy lunch establishment.
Shanks was the whole thing and all the
course, there had to be love interest,
and Shanks was too old for this and
had too much rheumatism, so it was
necessary to present him with grand
daughter, and this was very fortunate,
for later on they proved to be very
congenial.
"Then there had to be Romeo and
some other things.
LAS to the scene at the White House
between President Lincoln and Milton
Shanks, | relied on memories of the
Presidents office as had seen it while
newspaper correspondent in Wash
ington before that office was removed
to the present Executive building, and
on my reading of The Great Emancipa-
tor
"One Of the hardest things to do was
to write the letter from Mr. Lincoln
which Shanks digs up from the roots Of
his life in the climax. 1t had to be per-
fectly straight and simple--not one
word tco many and not word to spare
and it had to suggest the great Amer
leans gratitude for the sacrifice Shanks
had made and yet it did not dare splash
with sentiment.
"There was great Joy in the writing
Of The Glory Of His Country as the
book was called. Milton Shanks got to
be very real character during the
long winter nights with him up in my
attic at Logansport, and then when at
last Augustus Thomas robed the old
fellow in his dramatic genius and Lilo
mel Barrymore stepped into Shankss
skin and achieved his great triumph,
and New York audience gave that un-
forgettable reception-it all seemed
like q dream: the old companion of
my attic had walked into the heart of
the great metropolis"