Friendly Enemies (1925 film)

Last updated

Friendly Enemies
Silent film actor Lew Fields in "Friendly Enemies" (SAYRE 178).jpg
Still with Lew Fields
Directed by George Melford
Written by Alfred A. Cohn
Josephine Quirk
Based on Friendly Enemies
by Aaron Hoffman and Samuel Shipman
Produced by David Belasco
Starring Joe Weber
Lew Fields
Virginia Brown Faire
Cinematography Charles G. Clarke
Production
company
Belasco Productions
Distributed by Producers Distributing Corporation
Release date
  • March 16, 1925 (1925-03-16)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Friendly Enemies is a 1925 American silent comedy thriller film directed by George Melford and starring Joe Weber, Lew Fields and Virginia Brown Faire. It is based on a 1918 play of the same title, and was part of a cluster of World War I-themed films released during the mid-1920s. [1] [2] It was remade as a sound film Friendly Enemies in 1942.

Contents

Plot

Two German immigrants have grown prosperous in the United States. However, when World War I breaks out Carl Pfeiffer remains sympathetic to the German Empire, even after America has entered the war. While his friend is steadfastly loyal to America, Pfeiffer provides funds and assistance to a German espionage ring. He unwittingly helps them plan to sabotage a troopship on which his own son is travelling to Europe to fight the Western Front. Pfeiffer has a dramatic change of heart and with the help of his friend and the American intelligence services he thwarts the plan and rounds up the enemy spy ring.

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of Friendly Enemies located in any film archives, it is a lost film. [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Big Parade</i> 1925 film

The Big Parade is a 1925 American silent war drama film directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Tom O'Brien, and Karl Dane. Written by World War I veteran, Laurence Stallings, the film is about an idle rich boy who joins the US Army's Rainbow Division and is sent to France to fight in World War I, becomes a friend of two working class men, experiences the horrors of trench warfare, and finds love with a French girl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lew Fields</span> American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer (1867-1941)

Lew Fields was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber. He also produced shows on his own and starred in comedy films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Brown Faire</span> American actress (1904–1980)

Virginia Brown Faire was an American silent film actress, appearing in dramatic films and, later, in sound westerns.

<i>A Son of His Father</i> 1925 film

A Son of His Father is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Victor Fleming. The screenplay, by Anthony Coldeway, was based on Harold Bell Wright's novel. The film stars Bessie Love, Warner Baxter, Raymond Hatton, and Walter McGrail. It was produced by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

<i>Lord Jim</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

Lord Jim is a 1925 American silent drama film starring Percy Marmont, Noah Beery, and Duke Kahanamoku. The film was directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 novel Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad.

<i>Friendly Enemies</i> (1942 film) 1942 film by Allan Dwan

Friendly Enemies is a 1942 American drama film starring Charles Winninger, Charlie Ruggles, James Craig, and Nancy Kelly. The film was directed by Allan Dwan, adapted from a 1918 play of the same name by Aaron Hoffman and Samuel Shipman. It was nominated an Academy Award in the category of Best Sound Recording.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilka Grüning</span> Austrian-Hungarian actress

Ilka Grüning was an Austrian-Hungarian actress. Born in Vienna in the old Austrian-Hungarian Empire, she was one of many Jewish actors and actresses that were forced to flee Europe when the Nazis came to power in 1933. A respected and famous actress of her time in the German-language area, she was forced to play bit parts in Hollywood.

The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 216 West 44th Street in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It opened and operated for three years as the Weber and Fields' Music Hall. Its rooftop theatre, the Nora Bayes Theatre, presented many productions of the Federal Theatre Project in the mid 1930s. Its basement club became the famed Stage Door Canteen during World War II.

<i>Sporting Life</i> (1918 film) 1918 American film

Sporting Life is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur. It is the first film for sisters Faire Binney and Constance Binney, from the Broadway stage. Tourneur would re-film this story again in 1925.

<i>Sporting Life</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

Sporting Life is a 1925 American silent comedy drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur and a remake of Tourneur's 1918 film of the same title based on Seymour Hicks's popular play. Universal Pictures produced and released the film.

Atlantic Convoy is a 1942 American war film directed by Lew Landers. The story follows naval patrols based on the Icelandic coast battling the German U-boats during World War II, and the German efforts to infiltrate their operations with spies and saboteurs.

<i>Tracked by the Police</i> 1927 film by Ray Enright

Tracked by the Police is a 1927 silent film produced and distributed by the Warner Bros. with a story written by Darryl Zanuck. It stars dog actor Rin Tin Tin. Ray Enright directed with 'Rinty's' costars being Jason Robards, Sr. and Virginia Brown Faire. The film may have had a Vitaphone sound effects/music track that is now lost. The film is preserved at the Library of Congress.

<i>Pleasure Before Business</i> 1927 film

Pleasure Before Business is a 1927 silent film comedy directed by Frank R. Strayer and starring Max Davidson and Virginia Brown Faire. The film was produced and distributed by then upstart studio Columbia Pictures.

Santa Fe Pete is a 1925 American silent Western film starring Pete Morrison. The film is a low-budget independent western made in the East.

<i>The Baby Cyclone</i> 1928 film

The Baby Cyclone is a lost 1928 American comedy silent film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and based upon the 1927 play by George M. Cohan, adapted for the screen by F. Hugh Herbert and Robert E. Hopkins. The film stars Lew Cody, Aileen Pringle, Robert Armstrong, Gwen Lee and Nora Cecil. The film was released on September 27, 1928, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>The Spirit of 17</i> 1918 American film

The Spirit of '17 is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and written by Judge Willis Brown and Julia Crawford Ivers. The film stars Jack Pickford, Clarence Geldart, Edythe Chapman, L.N. Wells, Charles Arling, and Virginia Ware. The film was released on January 26, 1918, by Paramount Pictures and, like several other films released shortly after the American entry into World War I, had a patriotic theme. Several of the intertitles of this film had messages at the bottom which encouraged young men to enlist.

<i>Chip of the Flying U</i> 1926 film

Chip of the Flying U is a 1926 American silent Western comedy film based on a novel by Bertha Muzzy Sinclair. It was directed by Lynn Reynolds and starred Hoot Gibson. Universal Pictures produced and released the film.

Undressed is a lost 1928 silent film drama directed by Phil Rosen and starring David Torrence, Hedda Hopper and Virginia Brown Faire. It was produced and released by independent Sterling Pictures.

<i>Recompense</i> (film) 1925 film

Recompense is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Harry Beaumont and written by Dorothy Farnum. It is based on the 1924 novel Recompense by Robert Keable. The film stars Marie Prevost, Monte Blue, John Roche, George Siegmann, Charles Stevens, and Virginia Brown Faire. The film was released by Warner Bros. on April 26, 1925.

<i>Broadway Billy</i> 1926 film

Broadway Billy is a 1926 American silent sports film directed by Harry Joe Brown and starring Billy Sullivan, Virginia Brown Faire and Jack Herrick. The film was once thought to be lost, but as of February 2021 it was noted by the Library of Congress as recently found.

References

  1. Solomon, Aubrey. The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography. McFarland, 2011. p. 83. ISBN   978-0-7864-6286-5.
  2. Progressive Silent Film List: Friendly Enemies at silentera.com. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  3. Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Friendly Enemies Library of Congress Retrieved November 19, 2022.

Bibliography