''The Monroe Doctrine'', also known as ''The Venezuela Case'',^:52 is an 1896 American propaganda film. It features an allegorical fight over national determinism between the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Plot

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter- ...

arrives at a shoreline that represents Venezuela and starts attacking it with guns, overwhelming the country.^:27

Uncle Sam Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...

arrives from the back of the image and grabs Bull by the neck. Defeating and making an example of him, Sam forces Bull to his knees and has him remove his hat for Venezuela.^:viii Sam has stood up for the principles of the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile ac ...

.^:27

Cast

* Charles F. Walton, known for performing in boxing films and for his lanky physique, as

.^:27 * John Mayon, a replacement of Walton's rival John Slavin known for being stout, as

.^:27

Background and release

The film was made by the Edison company as a release film for their

Vitascope Vitascope was an early film projector first demonstrated in 1895 by Charles Francis Jenkins and Thomas Armat. They had made modifications to Jenkins' patented Phantoscope, which cast images via film and electric light onto a wall or screen. The Vi ...

in 1896.^:viii It depicted a political dispute that stemmed from a longstanding disagreement over land sovereignty between

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

and Venezuela. Miners from Venezuela had begun exploiting the disputed land, and the British warned them off with threats of armed intervention. The United States, in its assumed role as the protector of Latin America from European political forces, mediated to prevent a conflict.^:52 Film historian

Charles Musser Charles John Musser (born 16 January 1951) is a film historian and documentary film maker. Since 1992 he has taught at Yale University, where he is currently a professor of Film and Media Studies as well as American Studies and Theater Studies. H ...

wrote that the film was "doubtlessly inspired by a political cartoon" depicting the same conflict published earlier in the year,^:52 and was made in April 1896.^:26 It was premiered at the release of the Vitascope at

Koster and Bial's Music Hall Koster and Bial's Music Hall was an important vaudeville theatre in New York City, located at Broadway and Thirty-Fourth Street, where Macy's flagship store now stands. It had a seating capacity of 3,748, twice the size of many theaters. Ticket pr ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on April 23, 1896; according to the ''

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

'' the audience were "delighted" by the film and the American dominance shown.^:viii^:116 The film selection for the premiere had been curated by Raff & Gammon.^:26 In July of the same year, it became the first picture to be shown in Venezuela, where the people of

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

were reportedly "moved" that a film representing their country was made.^:43-44

Analysis

''The Monroe Doctrine'' is described by Musser as a "comic allegory" that was "overtly political".^:viii This has been noted particularly in its first context, occupying the fifth spot in the running order at the Vitascope's premiere; it came after ''Walton & Slavin'', a burlesque boxing match between allegorical Uncle Sam and John Bull figures, and ''Band Drill'' (a section of ''Milk White Flag''),^:viii in which American soldiers march off to war.^:27 Musser also compared it to the second film shown that night, ''Sea Waves at Dover'', which shows detail of the waves at

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

in England battering the shore, reflecting the allegorical imagery used in this film.^:27 The choice of patriotic narrative in the films may have been selected to allegorically fight an expected influx of similar devices to the Vitasope from European projection manufacturers,^:27^:viii or to warn the French film companies away from expanding their market into the Americas.^:52 Media historians James Chapman and

Nicholas J. Cull Nicholas J. Cull (born 1964) is a historian and professor in the Master's in Public Diplomacy program at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. He was the founding director of this prog ...

refer to it as "probably the first propaganda film".^:1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monroe Doctrine, The (1896 film) 1896 films American propaganda films about Venezuela Films set in Venezuela 1896 film