''The Enemy'' is a 1927 American
silent 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 ...
directed by
Fred Niblo
Fred Niblo (born Frederick Liedtke; January 6, 1874 – November 11, 1948) was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer.
Biography
He was born Frederick Liedtke (several sources give "Frederico Nobile", apparently erroneously) in Yo ...
and starring
Lillian Gish,
Ralph Forbes
Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States.
Early life
Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Eth ...
and
Ralph Emerson. The film was thought to have been
lost for years until a copy was discovered at the MGM library, now owned by
Turner Entertainment
Turner Entertainment Company is an American multimedia company founded by Ted Turner in 1986. Purchased by Time Warner in 1996 as part of its acquisition of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), the company was largely responsible for overseeing th ...
. However, the film is still missing its final
reel
A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...
.
Actor
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...
made an early appearance as an extra.
Plot
Newlywed Carl (Ralph Forbes) goes to war where he endures major suffering. Back home, wife Pauli (Lillian Gish) starves, becomes a
prostitute to survive, and their baby dies.
Cast
*
Lillian Gish as Pauli Arndt
*
Ralph Forbes
Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States.
Early life
Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Eth ...
as Carl Behrend
*
Ralph Emerson as Bruce Gordon
*
Frank Currier
Frank Currier (September 4, 1857 – April 22, 1928) was an American film and stage actor and director of the silent era.
Career
Similar to Theodore Roberts, Kate Lester, Ida Waterman, and William H. Crane, Currier had a long and succe ...
as Professor Arndt
*
George Fawcett
George Fawcett (August 25, 1860 – June 6, 1939) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era.
Biography
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1860, Fawcett graduated from the University of Virginia. His initial inclination was to ...
as August Bejremd
*
Fritzi Ridgeway
Fredericka Berneice "Fritzi" Ridgeway (April 8, 1898 – March 29, 1961) was an American silent film actress, vaudeville performer, and hotelier. Though she starred in numerous films, she is perhaps best known for her work in silent Western films ...
as Mitzi Winkelmann
*
Hans Joby
Hans Joby (3 August 1884 – 30 April 1943) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in 63 films between 1920 and 1944. He was also billed as "Captain John Peters", and often played aristocratic Prussian-types, memorably in Laurel and Hardy ...
as Fritz Winkelmann (credited as John S. Peters)
*
Karl Dane as Jan
*
Polly Moran
Pauline Theresa Moran (June 28, 1883 – January 25, 1952) billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and comedian.
Career
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started in vaudeville, and widely toured North A ...
as Baruska
* Billy Kent Schaefer as Kurt
*
Louise Emmons (uncredited)
* Betty Jane Graham as Little girl (uncredited)
*
Joel McCrea
Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...
as Extra (uncredited)
Censorship concern
The
Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
, formed by the film industry in 1922, regulated the content of films through a list of subjects that were to be avoided. While Lillian Gish portrayed a prostitute in ''The Enemy'', this was acceptable as prostitution was not explicitly barred so long as it was not forced (i.e.,
white slavery
White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the slavery of Europeans, whether by non-Europeans (such as West Asians and North Africans), or by other Europeans (for example naval galley slaves or the Vikings' t ...
) and aspects of her work were not shown in the film.
See also
*
List of American films of 1927
This is a list of American films released in 1927, All films on this list are in the Public Domain since 2023.
1927 Academy Award nominees
The 1st Academy Awards were presented in Los Angeles on May 16, 1929 at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. ...
*
Lillian Gish filmography
*
List of incomplete or partially lost films
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
*
*
Stillsas silentfilmstillarchive.com
1927 films
1927 drama films
1920s rediscovered films
Silent American drama films
American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Fred Niblo
Films set on the Austro-Hungarian home front during World War I
Films set in Austria
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Rediscovered American films
1920s American films
Silent war films
{{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub