Yankee Doodle in Berlin is a 1919 American silent comedy and World War I film from producer Mack Sennett. A five-reel feature, it was Sennett's most expensive production up to that time. Hiram Abrams was the original State's Rights marketer before the film's release, but producer Sol Lesser bought the rights in March 1919.[1][2]
| Yankee Doodle in Berlin | |
|---|---|
 ad for film | |
| Directed by | F. Richard Jones |
| Written by | Mack Sennett (story) |
| Produced by | Mack Sennett |
| Starring | Bothwell Browne |
| Cinematography | Fred Jackman J.R. Lockwood |
Production company | Mack Sennett Comedies |
| Distributed by | Sol Lesser on State's Rights basis |
Release date |
|
Running time | 5 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Bothwell Browne was a famous cross-dresser from Northern Europe. At the time this movie was produced he was the European rival of famous American cross-dresser Julian Eltinge, who starred in very similar plotted World War I propaganda film The Isle of Love (original title Over the Rhine).
The film was later condensed for rerelease and titled The Kaiser's Last Squeal.
The film is preserved by the Library of Congress.[3] Copies also held by Museum of Modern Art, BFI Film and Television, Cinematheque Royale de Belgique, Academy Film Archive Bev. Hills.[4]
Plot
editCaptain Bob White, an American aviator behind enemy lines, disguises himself as a woman in order to fool and steal an important map from the members of the German High Command, including the Kaiser himself.[5]
Cast
edit- Bothwell Browne as Captain Bob White
- Ford Sterling as The Kaiser
- Malcolm St. Clair as The Crown Prince
- Bert Roach as Field Marshal Von Hindenburg
- Charles Murray as Irish Soldier
- Marie Prevost as Belgian Girl
- Chester Conklin as Officer of Death's Head Hussars
- Heinie Conklin as Prussian Guard Drill Leader
- Eva Thatcher as The Kaiserini
- Joseph Belmont as Von Tirpitz
- Phyllis Haver as Minor Role (uncredited)
- James Finlayson as Commander's Officer (uncredited)
Production and promotion
editMovie distributor Lesser released the picture in tandem with The Mack Sennett Bathing Beauties in Why Beaches Are Popular (1919), a promotional short or trailer presented during vaudeville road shows featuring Bothwell Browne and the Sennett Bathing Beauties. Why Beaches are Popular was “paired “ with Yankee Doodle in Berlin to introduce some of the characters in Yankee Doodle in Berlin and is composed of a number of unrelated comic skits.[6] Film historian Ruth Anne Dwyer notes that “the trailer was false advertising” as none of the Bathing Beauties appear in 5-reel feature Yankee Doodle in Berlin.[7]
Notes
edit- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: Yankee Doodle in Berlin at silentera.com
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 181: Filmography
- ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, (<-book title) p.213 c.1978 by The American Film Institute Retrieved November 3, 2017
- ^ The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Yankee Doodle in Berlin Retrieved November 3, 2017
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 181: Filmography, plot synopsis
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 13, p. 28, p. 181-182: Filmography
- ^ Dwyer, 1996 p. 14
References
edit- Dwyer, Ruth Anne. 1996. Malcolm St. Clair: His Films, 1915-1948. The Scarecrow Press, Lantham, Md.and London. ISBN 0-8108-2709-3
External links
edit- Yankee Doodle in Berlin at IMDb
- Yankee Doodle in Berlin available for free download at Internet Archive