Yankee Doodle in Berlin
About Yankee Doodle in Berlin
Captain Bob White, an American pilot played by Bothwell Browne, is dropped behind the lines to learn the Kaiser's plans. He does it in women's clothes, playing the Kaiser, the Crown Prince, and Von Hindenburg against one another. A Belgian girl, played by Marie Prevost, helps him. He gets the message out, and the attack follows.
Cast & crew
More about Yankee Doodle in Berlin
F. Richard Jones directed from a story by Mack Sennett, who also produced. It was Sennett's most expensive picture to that date. Hiram Abrams first held the states-rights sale; Sol Lesser bought the rights in March 1919. The premiere was March 2, 1919, at the Tivoli Theatre in San Francisco. A later short version was titled The Kaiser's Last Squeal.
Themes
Background
Sennett released the comedy after the 1918 armistice, in the cycle of American anti-Kaiser farces that also included The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin and To Hell with the Kaiser.
Reviews
Variety praised the rivalry scenes and the captions. The Los Angeles Evening Post-Record called the San Francisco opening a triumph of Yankee heroism against Prussian cowardice.
Look
Fred Jackman and J. R. Lockwood photographed the five-reel comedy, including Browne's disguise inside the Kaiser's circle.
Preservation
The Library of Congress preserves a print. Copies are also at the Museum of Modern Art, the British Film Institute, the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique, and the Academy Film Archive.
Notes
- Ford Sterling plays the Kaiser, Malcolm St. Clair the Crown Prince, Bert Roach plays Von Hindenburg, and Eva Thatcher plays the Kaiserin.
- Bothwell Browne was a European female impersonator then billed against Julian Eltinge, who made the similarly plotted Over the Rhine.
- Turner Classic Movies lists a New York opening on June 29, 1919, and a running time of 59 minutes for the five-reel feature.
- Wikipedia reports a gross of $125,000.
- Chester Conklin, Charles Murray, and Ben Turpin have smaller parts.
Scenes
- Bob White, dressed as a woman, sets the Kaiser, the Crown Prince, and Von Hindenburg against one another.
Also available
- Internet Archive (yankeedoodleinberlinvideoqualityupgrade)
- Wikimedia Commons (Yankee Doodle In Berlin 1919.ogv)
