To Hell with the Kaiser! (lost WWI propaganda film; 1918)
Poster for the film.
Status: Lost
To Hell with the Kaiser! is a lost silent WWI propaganda film produced in 1918 by Metro Pictures, one of the predecessor companies to MGM studios. The plot featured the Kaiser of Germany, Wilhelm II as a villain, perpetrating war crimes throughout Europe with his military. It was similar to other contemporary wartime films such as The Kaiser, Beast of Berlin (1918), and The Prussian Cur (1918), both also now lost.[1]
Background
After the outbreak of war in 1914, the United States remained neutral, though public opinion and political camps remained divided on whether or not America should join. Following Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare campaign and the emergence of the Zimmerman Telegram, a secret German communique intended for Mexico, the United Sates declared war on Germany in April 1917.
Many film studios capitalized on the initial euphoria of the nation's entry into the war and began work on anti-German propaganda films that mixed melodrama, romance and adventure. These films usually featured Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany's monarch, as a war mongering , bloodthirsty villain who brings devastation, brutality and suffering to Europe. In the early months of the war, the German army was accused of committing war crimes in Belgium and Northern France, and these stories informed many propaganda films of the time, including the similarly themed The Hearts of the World, The Kaiser, Beast of Berlin, The Heart of Humanity, My Four Years in Germany and The Prussian Cur.
Plot
The film depicts the Kaiser (played by Lawrence Kent) as he rules over Germany, and it begins with him forming a pact with the Devil at the start of his reign. We are also shown numerous horrific acts of rape and terror perpetrated by his son, the Crown Prince (though similarly named, it presumably is not meant to depict Crown Prince Wilhem, the Kaiser's actual oldest son, who was never accused or associated with any actual crimes).
With the arrival of war in 1914, the Kaiser and the Crown Prince (Earl Schenck) begin spreading a reign of terror over Europe. The Crown Prince assaults a young woman named Ruth (played by Betty howe) who's father is an inventor who's been working on a wireless device that can send unbreakable coded messages. While attempting to defend his daughter from being outraged, he is killed, and Ruth's sister vows revenge for all that has been inflicted on her family. Using her father's invention she alerts planes of the Western allies to the Kaiser's location, and the village in which he's hiding is bombed. The Kaiser is captured and sent to a POW camp, where he commits suicide and descends to Hell. When he arrives, the Devil vacates his throne, stating that the Kaiser is far more evil than him. [2]
Availability
The film does not appear to have had any re-releases after 1918, and the subject matter and themes would have been socially out-of-date following the war. If any copies survived, none are publicly available today; however, several stills, posters and lobby cards have survived.
Whether intentional or not, a similarly plotted film about the Devil being "out-eviled" by Germany's leader was made during the Second World War as well, 1942's The Devil with Hitler.
Gallery
One of the few surviving stills from the film.
A lobby card for the film.
