''The Service Star'' (aka ''The Flag of Mothers'') is an American silent film directed by Charles Miller. The film stars

Madge Kennedy Madge Kennedy (April 19, 1891 – June 9, 1987) was a stage, film and TV actress whose career began as a stage actress in 1912 and flourished in motion pictures during the silent film era. In 1921, journalist Heywood Broun described her as "the ...

as a young woman who pretends to be the fiancée of a famous flying ace during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The film was copyrighted under the title ''The Flag of Mothers'' and was released in July 1918, four months before the end of the conflict.

Plot

Marilyn March (

), a plain young girl from the country, lonely and unhappy because she alone of all the girls in her town does not have a soldier sweetheart, When she moves to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

at the outbreak of World War I, she begins to pretend to be the fiancée of John Whitney Marshall (Clarence Oliver), a famous combat aviator, and places a

service star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or se ...

in her window. When Mrs. Marshall (

Maude Turner Gordon Maude Turner Gordon (November 10, 1868 – January 12, 1940) was an American actress who appeared in 81 films between 1914 and 1938. Biography Born in Franklin, Indiana, Gordon was the daughter of Alexander and Nancy Wright Turner. She wa ...

) the flyer's mother, learns of the "engagement," she accepts the girl as her future daughter-in-law, just in time for complications to arise in the form of the truth. John is also harboring a secret; he is a chemist and is still in the United States working on a

chemical weapon A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a ...

for the government. The combat flyer who is in France is an

imposter An impostor (also spelled imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else, often through means of disguise. Their objective is usually to try to gain financial or social advantages through social engineering, but also often for purposes ...

he sent. Marilyn is torn over her affection for John and revealing to the

Selective Service The Selective Service System (SSS) is an independent agency of the United States government that maintains information on U.S. citizens and other U.S. residents potentially subject to military conscription (i.e., the draft) and carries out contin ...

board that he is a fraud. Events transpire that turn John into a legitimate hero that Marilyn can accept as her true love.

Cast

as Marily March * Clarence Oliver as John Whitney Marshall *

as Mrs. Marshall *

Mabel Ballin Mabel Ballin (née Croft; January 1, 1885 – July 24, 1958), was an American motion-picture actress of the silent film era. Early life and career Mabel Croft was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on January 1, 1885. Some sources give 1887 as h ...

as Gwendolyn Plummer *

Victory Bateman Victory Bateman (April 6, 1865 in Philadelphia – March 2, 1926 in Los Angeles) was an American silent film actress. Her father, Thomas Creese, and her mother, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Creese, were both actors. On stage, Ms. Bateman appeared in the ...

as Aunt Judith *

Tammany Young Tammany Young (September 9, 1886 – April 26, 1936) was an American stage and film actor. Early life Born in New York City, Young appeared on Broadway in ''The Front Page'' (1928) by Ben Hecht and ''The New Yorkers'' (1930) by Herbert Fields ...

as Blinky * William Bechtel as Finkelstein *

Jules Cowles Jules Cowles (October 18, 1877 – May 22, 1943) was an American film actor.Munden p.193 He was also billed as J. D. Cowles and Julius D. Cowles. Born in Farmington, Connecticut, Cowles attended Yale and was a writer in addition to being an actor ...

as Jefferson * Zula Ellsworth as Martha * John A. Hemmingway as Civil War Veteran * Phineas Billings as Civil War Veteran * Isaac Wentworth as Civil War Veteran * David Schuyler as Civil War Veteran

Production

According to publicity for ''The Service Star'', some scenes were shot in

, as well as in various towns in northern

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and on Long Island, New York. While on location in Long Island, a parade of

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

veterans who gave a tribute to drafted boys leaving for boot camp was incorporated into the film.

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Service Star'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, in Reel 5, the Chicago Board of Censors cut the shooting of the chemist. ''The Service Star'' is a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

. During its original release, it was paired with a short

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary '' Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film c ...

comedy in some theaters.''The Fredericksburg Daily Star'', Fredericksburg, Virginia, September 11, 1918. Retrieved: August 14, 2012.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Edwards, Paul M. ''World War I on Film: English Language Releases through 2014''. Jefferson, North Carolina: 2016. .

External links

*
allrovi/synopsis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Service Star, The 1918 films 1910s war drama films American silent feature films American war drama films American black-and-white films Films set in France Films set in Washington, D.C. World War I aviation films Films set on the United States home front during World War I Lost American films Goldwyn Pictures films 1918 lost films Lost drama films 1918 drama films Films directed by Charles Miller Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York (state) Films about chemical war and weapons Films shot in Washington, D.C. Western Front (World War I) films American World War I films 1910s American films Silent American drama films Silent war drama films 1910s English-language films