''The Unbeliever'' is a 1918 American silent propaganda film made towards the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. It was directed by Alan Crosland for the Edison Company towards its last days as a functioning film-making company. It stars Raymond McKee and Marguerite Courtot, who married a few years later, and Erich von Stroheim.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, Philip Landicutt has always held the people of the lower classes as being far beneath him. He also is prejudiced against anyone with German blood and does not believe in God. He joins the Marine Corps and goes to France where constant association with the men in his battery and nearly answering the call from above during an action makes him see things differently. He returns home, crippled, but with a better knowledge of man and God. During a raid he rescued a Belgian girl who is later sent to stay with his mother. When he comes home and sees her, he finds himself in love.

Cast

* Marguerite Courtot as Virginie Harbrok * Raymond McKee as Philip Landicutt * Erich von Stroheim as Lieutenant Kurt von Schnieditz * Kate Lester as Margaret Landicutt *Frank de Vernon as Uncle "Jemmy" Landicutt *Mortimer Martine as Eugene Harbrok (credited as Mortimer Martini) * Blanche Davenport as Madam Harbrok *Harold Hollacher as Pierre Harbrok (credited as Harold Hallacher) * Darwin Karr as "Lefty" * Earl Schenck as Emanuel Muller * Gertrude Norman as Marianne Marnholm *Lew Hart as Hoffman * Thomas Holcomb as The Commanding Officer (credited as Major Thomas Holcomb) *Lieutenant J. F. Rorke as Lieutenant Terence O'Shaughnessy *Sergeant Moss Gill as Albert Mullins *Major Ross E. Rowell *Captain Thomas Sterett *Percy Webb *Corporal Bob Ryland

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Unbeliever'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required a cut, in Reel 4, of executing a woman and child and two views of man pulling young woman's waist down.

Preservation

A print is preserved at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. As a still-surviving feature from Edison, ''The Unbeliever'' can be found on Kino's omnibus of Edison Company shorts and features; it is the last film on the final DVD. with a new score by Donald Sosin. Alpha Video also has released a DVD version.The Unbeliever on dvd by Alpha Video
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References

External links

* *Andrews, Mary Raymond Shipman (1915),
The Three Things; the Forge in Which the Soul of a Man Was Tested
', Boston: Little, Brown and Company, on the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Unbeliever, The 1918 films 1918 drama films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films American black-and-white films American silent feature films American World War I propaganda films Edison Manufacturing Company films English-language drama films Films based on American novels Films directed by Alan Crosland Films produced by George Kleine Silent American drama films Silent American war films Surviving American silent films English-language war films