AFI and KPMG Consulting present AFI Catalog of Feature Films
ABOUT THE AFI CATALOG | FAQ | CONTRIBUTORS
 
Search For:
Search In:
Using:
Limited To:
Video Availability
Advanced Search


Movie Detail
Name Occurs Before Title Offscreen Credit Print Viewed By AFI Stub Record
War Brides
Director: Herbert Brenon (Dir)
Release Date:   12 Nov 1916
Duration (in reels):   8
Print this page
Display Movie Summary
Cast:   Alla Nazimova (Joan)  
    Charles Hutchinson (George)  
    Charles Bryant (Franz)  
    William Bailey (Eric )  
    Richard S. Barthelmess (Arno)  
    Nila Mac (Amelia)  
    Gertrude Berkeley (The mother)  
    Alex K. Shannon (The King)  
    Robert Whitworth (Lieutenant Hoffman)  
    Ned Burton (Captain Bragg)  
    Theodora Warfield (Mina)  
    Charles Chailles (A financier)  
Summary: In an imaginary kingdom, four brothers are drafted and go to war, leaving behind their mother, their sister Amelia, and Joan, the wife of the eldest. News arrives of a great battle in which all four brothers were killed, and Joan is prevented from taking her own life only by her responsibility to her unborn child. When the government decides that unmarried women should be compelled to marry departing soldiers to provide a fresh supply of manpower in future years, Joan becomes an activist against the edict and is sent to jail. During the king's visit to her town, Joan escapes from prison and leads a contingent of women to meet the king, vowing that she shall not bear her child unless the king promises an end to war. The king tells the women that there will always be war, and Joan forthwith shoots herself. The women raise her body on their hands and continue their struggle. 
Production Company: Herbert Brenon Film Corp.  
Distribution Company: Lewis J. Selznick Enterprises, Inc.  
  Selznick Pictures Corp.  
Director: Herbert Brenon (Dir)
Producer: Herbert Brenon (Pres)
  Herbert Brenon (Prod)
Writer: Herbert Brenon (Scen)
  Marion Craig Wentworth (Scen)
Photography: J. Roy Hunt (Cam)
Art Direction: George Fitch (Tech dir)
Film Editor: James McKay (Ed)
Music: Robert Hood Bowers (Mus accompaniment selected by)
Country: United States
Source Text: Based on the one act play War Brides by Marion Craig Wentworth (production undetermined).
Authors: Marion Craig Wentworth
Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
Herbert Brenon Film Corp. 22/11/1916 dd/mm/yyyy LP9585
Physical Properties: b&w:
  Si:
 
Genre: Drama
Sub-Genre: Social
 
Subjects (Major): Mythical lands
  Pacifism and pacifists
  Self-sacrifice
  War
  Widows
 
Subjects (Minor): Brothers
  Imprisonment
  Law (Concept)
  Military service, Compulsory
  Pregnancy
  Prison escapes
  Royalty
  Suicide
Note: Wentworth's playlet became popular in vaudeville. Several cities and states banned or threatened to ban the film because of its alleged pacifism, and in 1917 Selznick had the film re-edited to give it an anti-German bias. This was Nazimova's first film appearance. Exteriors for the film were shot at Lake Waramang, CT. 
Bibliographic Sources:   Date   Page
ETR   9 Dec 16   p. 52.
Motog   25 Nov 16   p. 1200.
MPN   25 Nov 16   p. 3331.
MPW   28 Apr 17   p. 635, 681
MPW   2 Dec 16   p. 1343.
NYDM   23 Sep 16   p. 21.
NYDM   11 Nov 16   p. 24.
NYDM   18 Nov 16   p. 26.
New York Times   13 Nov 16   p. 11.
Variety   17 Nov 16   p. 25.
Display Movie Summary 


© 2010 American Film Institute

all rights reserved

terms of use