''Friendly Enemies'' is a 1925 American silent

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre. ...

directed by

George Melford George H. Melford (born George Henry Knauff, February 19, 1877 – April 25, 1961) was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMil ...

and starring Joe Weber,

Lew Fields Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) 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 come ...

and

Virginia Brown Faire Virginia Brown Faire (born Virginia Cecelia Labuna; June 26, 1904 – June 30, 1980) was an American silent film actress, appearing in dramatic films and, later, in sound westerns. Early years Virginia Cecelia Labuna was born in Brooklyn, New Yo ...

. It is based on a 1918 play of the same title, and was part of a cluster of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

-themed films released during the mid-1920s. It was remade as a sound film '' Friendly Enemies'' in 1942.

Plot

Two German immigrants have grown prosperous in the United States. However, when

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 A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

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 A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

.Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''Friendly Enemies''

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

Retrieved November 19, 2022.

References

Bibliography

*Parish, James Robert & Pitts, Michael R. ''The Great Spy Pictures''. Scarecrow Press, 1974. .

External links

*
Stills
at silenthollywood.com 1920s comedy thriller films 1925 lost films American silent feature films American comedy thriller films American black-and-white films Films directed by George Melford Producers Distributing Corporation films 1925 comedy films 1920s American films Silent American comedy films Silent thriller films 1920s English-language films {{1920s-US-film-stub