The Heart Of Humanity ('18) Wwi Dorothy and 50 similar items

Vintage original 11 x 14 in. US lobby card from the classic and infamous teens WWI-themed silent film war drama, THE HEART OF HUMANITY, released in 1918 by Jewel Productions, Inc. and directed by Allen Holubar. An American woman (Dorothy Phillips) is terrorized by the ravages of war and a lecherous Prussian lieutenant (Erich von Stroheim) when she becomes a Red Cross nurse overseas during the Great War. The cast includes William Stowelll, Robert Anderson, Walt Whitman, Margaret Mann, Erich von Stroheim, Lloyd Hughes, Frank Braidwood, George Hackathorne, Pat O'Malley, William Welsh, and Lieutenant Smith. The Heart of Humanity pulled no punches at the Germans and this is the somewhat infamous film in which Erich von Stroheim appears as a Prussian Lieutenant who, during the film's much talked-about rape scene with Dorothy Phillips, is distracted by a crying baby in the room and he angrily picks it up and throws it out of the second story window, then continues with his attack on Dorothy Phillips. This was very shocking at the time and is still as effective today. The image depicts Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell and Margaret Mann outside of their cabin. It is unrestored in very fine condition as shown. A copy of the film is preserved at the EmGee Film Library and in private collections. It was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 2014. The pre-release title of this film was The Dawn of Reckoning. To film a war scene, trenches were partly filled with water pumped in from the Los Angeles riverbed. Fourteen hundred feet of pipe were used, with thirteen hundred feet of fire hose attached. Working 24-hours a day, the pump, powered by a gas engine, drew 1,500,000 gallons of water into the trenches. Director Allen Holubar and his wife, Dorothy Phillips (the star of the film), appeared at the New York premiere on Dec. 22, 1918. The film opened in several cities, including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Cleveland, Denver and Chicago before its Feb. 15, 1919 national release. MPN noted that the film presented "3,000 soldiers, Marines, refugees, civilians, etc." Some sources give a length of nine or ten reels. The film also was reviewed as Hearts of Humanity. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker praised the film after a National Press Club showing on Jan. 20, 1919. The film "follows the general theme and construction of the D. W. Griffith film, Hearts of the World, and, in places, parallels [its] plot". The film was made toward the end of World War I and is known for showcasing von Stroheim as a lecherous 'Hun'. The New York Times criticized the "theatricalities and sentimental artificialities of his plot" but characterized "some of [Holubar]'s battle panoramas [as] among the most comprehensive and vivid ever reproduced on the screen." It pointed out that "children add to the charm and effectiveness of some of the scenes, and their costumes and acting reveal that intelligence and care in direction elsewhere evident in the production. One receives the impression, however, that the making of a few of the scenes in which the children appear was not very good for the children." Modern sources list Erich von Stroheim as technical advisor and include Tom London in the cast; others give the name of the character played by von Stroheim as ?Oscar Strang,? though existing prints give the character's name as ?Eric Von Eberhard.? Before working as director, von Stroheim worked as a actor, his roles were mostly gangster, during the war, his role were of a very nasty German officer, raping girls, etc. With this role, he became the first actor that everybody hated. His wife at that time told in a documentary about silent movies that they were dining in a restaurant and a woman spitted on him.