''To Hell with the Kaiser!'' is a

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

1918 American silent Great War propaganda comedy film produced by Screen Classics Productions and distributed by

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leas ...

. It was directed by George Irving and starred

Lawrence Grant Percy Reginald Lawrence-Grant (30 October 1870 in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England – 19 February 1952 in Santa Barbara, California, USA) was an English actor known for supporting roles in films such as ''The Living Ghost'', '' I'll Tell ...

as the

Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...

. Made toward the close of

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 ...

, this film falls in line with other films of this popular genre, ''the wartime propaganda film'', made at the same time i.e. ''

The Kaiser, Beast of Berlin ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', '' The Prussian Cur'', ''

The Claws of the Hun ''The Claws of the Hun'' is a 1918 American silent drama film directed by Victor Schertzinger and written by Ella Stuart Carson and R. Cecil Smith. The film stars Charles Ray, Jane Novak, Robert McKim, Dorcas Matthews, Melbourne MacDowell, an ...

'', ''

Yankee Doodle in Berlin ''Yankee Doodle in Berlin'' is a 1919 American silent comedy and World War I propaganda film from producer Mack Sennett. It was Sennett's most expensive production up to that time. Hiram Abrams was the original State's Rights marketer before th ...

'', ''

Civilization A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Ci ...

'', ''

Hearts of the World ''Hearts of the World'' (also known as ''Love's Struggle'') is a 1918 American silent film, silent World War I propaganda film written, produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. In an effort to change the American public's neutral stance regardin ...

'', ''

The Heart of Humanity ''The Heart of Humanity'' is a 1918 American silent war propaganda film produced by Universal Pictures and directed by Allen Holubar. The film stars Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell, and Erich von Stroheim. Overview The film "follows the gen ...

'', ''

Over the Rhine Over-the-Rhine (often abbreviated as OTR) is a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Historically, Over-the-Rhine has been a working-class neighborhood. It is among the largest, most intact urban historic districts in the United Sta ...

'', ''

The False Faces ''The False Faces'' is a 1919 American silent action film written and directed by Irvin Willat, based on the novel by Louis Joseph Vance, and starring Henry B. Walthall as Michael Lanyard, the " Lone Wolf," and Lon Chaney as Karl Ekstrom, th ...

'', ''

The Unpardonable Sin ''The Unpardonable Sin'' is a 1919 American silent drama/propaganda film set during World War I. The film was produced by Harry Garson, directed by Marshall Neilan, written by Kathryn Stuart, and stars Neilan's wife, Blanche Sweet, who portrays ...

'', ''

My Four Years in Germany ''My Four Years in Germany'' is a 1918 American silent war drama film that is notable as being the first film produced by the four Warner Brothers, Harry, Sam, Albert, and Jack, though the title card clearly reads "My Four Years In Germany Inc. ...

'', and ''

The Sinking of the Lusitania ''The Sinking of the Lusitania'' (1918) is an American silent animated short film by cartoonist Winsor McCay. It is a work of propaganda re-creating the never-photographed 1915 sinking of the British liner RMS ''Lusitania''. At twelve minut ...

'' to name a few.

Plot

Lawrence Grant, who spent his lengthy career playing odious villains, appeared in the dual role of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his look-alike, German actor Robert Graubel. Terrified of being assassinated, the Kaiser hires Graubel to impersonate him at various political functions. In the film, the Kaiser achieves military success through an infernal pact with Satan. Once this is established, the film concentrates on the seemingly endless tally of misdeeds perpetrated by the Kaiser during his quarter-century reign over Germany. His "partner in crime" is the Crown Prince (Earl Schenck), who thinks nothing of casually raping convent girls and gunning down protesting nuns. The Crown Prince's latest conquest is Ruth Monroe (Betty Howe), the daughter of an American inventor. When Ruth's father protests this outrage, he is brutally murdered, whereupon Ruth's sister Alice (Olive Tell) vows revenge. Using her father's newest invention, a wireless machine whose coded messages cannot be intercepted, Alice directs a battalion of planes to bomb the small German village where the Kaiser is hiding. Captured by the Allies, the Kaiser is ignominiously dumped in a POW camp, but not before enduring a well-aimed sock on the jaw from a pugnacious doughboy. In despair, the Kaiser commits suicide and sends his soul to hell. In hell, the devil (Walter P. Lewis) gives up his throne, confessing that the Kaiser is far more sinister than he could ever hope to be.

Cast

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''To Hell with the Kaiser!'' was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors cut, in Reel 2, the intertitle "Give the men — you know what that means", Reel 3, the three intertitles "These quarters are not so bad — all but the girls, of course", "I'll take the first choice", and "Morning — the lust of the war gods", and, Reel 5, the intertitle "You came here willingly" etc.

References

External links

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Lobby poster
Wayback Machine) {{DEFAULTSORT:To Hell with the Kaiser! 1918 films American World War I propaganda films American silent feature films Lost American films Films directed by George Irving 1918 comedy films Western Front (World War I) films Cultural depictions of Wilhelm II Cultural depictions of Otto von Bismarck American black-and-white films Silent American comedy films Metro Pictures films 1918 lost films Lost comedy films 1910s American films Silent war films