''Friendly Enemies'' is a 1942 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

starring

Charles Winninger Charles J. Winninger (May 26, 1884 – January 27, 1969) was an American stage and film actor, most often cast in comedies or musicals. Life and career Winninger was born in Athens, Wisconsin, the son of Rosalia (Grassler) and Franz Winninger ...

Charlie Ruggles Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...

, James Craig, and

Nancy Kelly Nancy Kelly (March 25, 1921 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress in film, theater and television. A child actress and model, she was a repertory cast member of CBS Radio's ''The March of Time'' and appeared in several films in the late 1 ...

. The film was directed by Allan Dwan, adapted from a 1918 play of the same name by

Aaron Hoffman Aaron Hoffman (October 30, 1880, in St. Louis, Missouri – May 27, 1924) was an American writer and lyricist, whose work was in wide use among vaudeville comedians. He wrote material for numerous performers, including Lew Dockstader and Weber an ...

and Samuel Shipman. It was nominated an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in the category of Best Sound Recording (

Jack Whitney Jack Whitney (February 21, 1905 – November 2, 1992) was an American sound engineer. He won two Academy Awards, one for Best Sound Recording and the other for Best Visual Effects. He was nominated six more times in the category Best Soun ...

Plot

A New York City brewer by the name of Karl Pfeiffer takes a stand against

President Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Demo ...

's decision to send troops to Europe to support the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in World War I. Karl is a native German who doesn't want his birthplace destroyed in the war. Trying to find another way to help stop the war, Karl is an easy target for the cunning saboteur Anton Miller. Miller meets Karl posing as propaganda expert named George Stewart, and can persuades Karl to donate $50,000 to the cause of stopping the war. The check will be ready for picking up the day after at Karl's home on Manhattan. That same evening Karl attends a dinner in honor of Henry Block, who is the father of June, who is about to marry Karl's son. When it comes to politics, Henry's views are opposite of Karl's and they often start to argue when they meet. Because of Karl's views and bad temper the rest of the family have kept it a secret that his son William has joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. At the dinner Karl is told about this and reacts as expected with an outburst. He leaves the apartment in anger, but tries to persuade his son to change his mind the following day. Miller is interested when he hears that the famously wealthy Henry is soon to be related to Karl, and wants to meet up with him. William stands by his decision to fight in the war, and soon he embarks with a military transport ship out of the New York City harbor. On the way to Europe the ship is sunk by saboteurs and Karl gets a message from Miller that the money he donated was well spent. Realizing his mistake in trusting Miller, the devastated Karl decides to avenge his son by killing Miller. Henry comes to his aid, and together they come up with a plan to disclose Miller as a saboteur instead. They arrange a meeting between Miller and Henry, at which Miller is forced to reveal his identity and is arrested by the police. Later, it turns out that William wasn't killed when the ship sunk, and he comes home to reunite with his family and wife. Having learnt his lesson, Karl decides to give up his political beliefs and care for his family instead. The fact that he has become a true American patriot is displayed in full when he sings "My country 'tis of thee" together with his family.

Cast

as Karl Pfeiffer *

as Heinrich Block * James Craig as Bill Pfeiffer *

as June Block * Otto Kruger as Anton Miller *

Ilka Grüning Ilka Grüning (born Ilka Henriette Grunzweig; 4 September 1876 – 11 November 1964) was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to fle ...

as Mrs. Pfeiffer *

Greta Meyer Greta Meyer (7 August 18838 October 1965) was a German actress in motion pictures beginning in the silent film era. Biography Meyer belonged to a German family that was comparable to the Barrymore family in America. At age 3 she debuted on sta ...

as Gretchen * Addison Richards as Inspector McCarthy * Charles Lane as Braun * John Piffle as Schnitzler * Ruth Holley as Nora *

Murray Alper Murray Alper (January 11, 1904 – November 16, 1984) was an American actor. He appeared in numerous television series, films, and Broadway productions. Biography Born in New York City in 1904, Alper worked on Broadway from 1927 to 1940 in a nu ...

as Delivery man

Production

The movie was based on a play which had been very popular during World War I and filmed in 1925 under the same title. Edward Small bought the rights in 1942. Filming started in early February 1942.

Reception

Reviews were average. Small said he wanted to reunite the two stars in ''Batter Up'', but the film was never made.

Radio adaptation

''Friendly Enemies'' was presented on ''

Philip Morris Playhouse ''Philip Morris Playhouse'' is a 30-minute old-time radio dramatic anthology series.Terrace, Vincent (1981), ''Radio's Golden Years: The Encyclopedia of Radio Programs 1930–1960''. A.S. Barnes & Company, Inc. . P. 214. The program " nerally .. ...

'' June 26, 1942. Ruggles and Winninger reprised their roles.

References

External links

* {{Edward Small 1942 films 1940s English-language films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Western Front (World War I) films Films directed by Allan Dwan 1942 drama films Films produced by Edward Small American drama films Films based on works by American writers 1940s American films