War Brides (1916 film)

1916 film by Herbert Brenon

War Brides

Theatrical poster

Directed by| Herbert Brenon
Written by| Herbert Brenon (scenario)
Based on| War Brides (play)
by Marion Craig Wentworth
Produced by| Herbert Brenon
Starring| Alla Nazimova
Charles Bryant
Cinematography| J. Roy Hunt
Edited by| James MacKaye
Music by| Robert Hood Bowers
Distributed by| Selznick Pictures

Release date

* November 12, 1916 (1916-11-12)

Running time

| 72 minutes
Country| United States
Language| Silent (English intertitles)
Box office| $300,000[1]
Ad for film

War Brides is a lost[2] 1916 American silent war drama film directed by Herbert Brenon and starring Alla Nazimova. The film marked Nazimova's debut in motion pictures.[3][4]

The film's lost status makes it a sought-after title.[citation needed]

## Plot

[edit]

The film was based on the eponymous one-act play by the poet, playwright, and suffragist Marion Craig Wentworth (1872–1942).[5] A newlywed soldier is sent to the front and killed. When his young widow learns of his death she considers committing suicide, but decides against it because she is pregnant. The King of her country (unnamed in the original; Germany in the later version) decrees that women must bear more children to fight in future wars. Soon afterwards, as the King is passing through her village, the pregnant widow leads a procession of women to protest the war. Soldiers try to hold her back, but she manages to come face to face with the King, and kills herself in front of him. The title card reads, "If you will not give us women the right to vote for or against war, I shall not bear a child for such a country!"[6]

## Cast

[edit]

* Alla Nazimova as Joan
* Charles Hutchison as George
* Charles Bryant as Franz
* William Bailey as Eric
* Richard Barthelmess as Arno
* Nila Mac as Amelia (*Nila Mack)
* Gertrude Berkeley as The Mother
* Alex Shannon as The King
* Robert Whitworth as Lt. Hoffman
* Ned Burton as Captain Bragg
* Theodora Warfield as Minna
* Charles Chailles as A Financier

## Reception

[edit]

War Brides was one of the most successful plays of 1915.[7] It opened in January at B.F. Keith's Palace Theatre in New York City, with Alla Nazimova in the lead role, and toured the country for several months. The play was so much in demand that a second production toured the South, with Gilda Varesi in the lead.[8]

In 1916 the play was made into a silent film, also starring Nazimova in her first onscreen role. The film did very well in the United States, bringing the studios a profit of $300,000, and was widely acclaimed by critics. Because of its pacifist message, it was banned in some cities and states. For example, while it had been showing in Maryland, once the United States entered the war the film was banned as its pacifist message might affect military recruitment.[9] In 1917 it was withdrawn from circulation on the grounds that "The philosophy of this picture is so easily misunderstood by unthinking people". Later that year the producer, Lewis Selznick, had the film edited to give it an anti-German slant, and re-released it to American theaters.[6] It was not shown in any other Allied countries.[8]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Terry Ramsaye (January 1925). "The Romantic History of the Motion Picture". Photoplay. p. 120.
2. ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: War Brides
3. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: War Brides at silentera.com
4. ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: War Brides
5. ^ Sutphen, Joyce (2006). To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-Territorial Days to the Present. New Rivers Press. p. 232\. ISBN 9780898232325.
6. ^ a b Hollander, Neil (2013). Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I. McFarland. p. 213\. ISBN 9780786478910.
7. ^ Tylee, Claire M. (1995). "The Great War in Modern Memory: What is Being Repressed?". Women's Studies Quarterly. 4 (4): 65–77. JSTOR 40003501.
8. ^ a b Cardinal, Agnes; Turner, Elaine; Tylee, Claire M. (2013). War Plays by Women: An International Anthology. Routledge. p. 13\. ISBN 9781136357251.
9. ^ "War Brides Banned By Maryland Court". Exhibitors Herald. 6 (25). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 16. June 15, 1918. The court upheld a state censor board ruling in 1917.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Wentworth, Marion Craig (1915). War Brides: A Play in One Act. Century Company.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to War Brides.

* War Brides at IMDb
* AllMovie.com

* v
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Films directed by Herbert Brenon

* Ivanhoe (1913)
* Neptune's Daughter (1914)
* The Kreutzer Sonata (1915)
* The Heart of Maryland (1915)
* The Clemenceau Case (1915)
* The Two Orphans (1915)
* Sin (1915)
* The Soul of Broadway (1915)
* A Daughter of the Gods (1916)
* War Brides (1916)
* Whom the Gods Destroy (1916)
* The Eternal Sin (1917)
* The Lone Wolf (1917)
* The Fall of the Romanoffs (1917)
* Empty Pockets (1918)
* The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1918)
* Victory and Peace (1918)
* Quinneys (1919)
* 12.10 (1919)
* Beatrice (1919)
* The Mysterious Princess (1920)
* Little Sister (1921)
* The Passion Flower (1921)
* The Stronger Passion (1921)
* The Sign on the Door (1921)
* The Wonderful Thing (1921)
* Any Wife (1922)
* A Stage Romance (1922)
* Shackles of Gold (1922)
* Moonshine Valley (1922)
* The Custard Cup (1923)
* The Rustle of Silk (1923)
* The Woman With Four Faces (1923)
* The Spanish Dancer (1923)
* Shadows of Paris (1924)
* The Breaking Point (1924)
* The Side Show of Life (1924)
* The Alaskan (1924)
* Peter Pan (1924)
* The Little French Girl (1925)
* The Street of Forgotten Men (1925)
* A Kiss for Cinderella (1925)
* The Song and Dance Man (1926)
* Dancing Mothers (1926)
* Beau Geste (1926)
* The Great Gatsby (1926)
* God Gave Me Twenty Cents (1926)
* The Telephone Girl (1927)
* Sorrell and Son (1927)
* Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928)
* The Rescue (1929)
* Lummox (1930)
* The Case of Sergeant Grisch (1930)
* Beau Ideal (1931)
* Transgression (1931)
* Girl of the Rio (1932)
* Wine, Women and Song (1933)
* Royal Cavalcade (1935)
* Honours Easy (1935)
* Living Dangerously (1936)
* Someone at the Door (1936)
* The Dominant Sex (1937)
* Spring Handicap (1937)
* The Live Wire (1937)
* Housemaster (1938)
* Yellow Sands (1938)
* Black Eyes (1939)
* The Flying Squad (1940)

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