Just as the "Tom Shows" of the late 19th century absorbed minstrel dances, the cakewalk, jubilee singers, animal and circus acts into the performance of Stowe's story, so film versions of the novel also incorporated new popular genres. At least, many sequences in this 1914 film, beginning with this one, resemble in their setting and shooting the "Westerns" that were such a staple of the early motion picture industry.