Cohen Saves the Flag
About Cohen Saves the Flag
Cohen and his rival Goldberg join the Union army. Goldberg gets a lieutenant's commission. Cohen is a sergeant. At Gettysburg, Cohen throws an enemy grenade back and picks up a fallen flag, becoming a hero by accident. Goldberg arranges a firing squad. Cohen's girlfriend Rebecca rides in, tells the general what Cohen did on the field, and stops the execution. Cohen then gets his own back on Goldberg.
Cast & crew
More about Cohen Saves the Flag
Mack Sennett directed and produced the one-reeler. Mutual released it on 27 November 1913. Ford Sterling plays Cohen, Henry Lehrman plays Goldberg, and Mabel Normand plays Rebecca. Sennett set the company up beside Thomas H. Ince's feature The Battle of Gettysburg and photographed his slapstick on the edge of Ince's battle scenes, keeping his own cast out of Ince's frame.
Themes
Background
Keystone in 1913 was still a Mutual release. The Civil War setting here is a backdrop for a rivalry between two sergeants-and-officers comics, not a battle film.
Making
Sennett did not build a Gettysburg of his own. He waited at the margin of Ince's set and turned the other company's smoke and troops into the background of a one-reel farce.
Preservation
The short survives. It also preserves background shots from Ince's lost feature The Battle of Gettysburg.
Notes
- Ince's The Battle of Gettysburg is lost. The battlefield views Sennett grabbed beside that production are what remain of it.
- The short belongs to Sennett's Cohen series, which built the jokes on Jewish caricature.
- Nick Cogley plays the general.
- Normand's character is billed as Mabel in some cast lists and called Rebecca in the plot.
Scenes
- Cohen throws the grenade back and lifts the flag in the middle of the battle.
- Rebecca rides in and stops the firing squad.
- Ince's troops and smoke fill the background behind Sennett's comics.
Also available
- Internet Archive (CohenSavesTheFlag1913)
