Beware
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
William Nigh
Maurine Powers
Regina Quinn
Leslie Ryecroft
William Nigh
Frank Norcross
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Kaiser Wilhelm, on trial before an international commission, defends himself by saying he was serving God and following his ancestors. One of these, William the Fat, provokes his son Frederick through terror into becoming the militarist leader later known as Frederick the Great. The barbarity of Attila the Hun is shown to be similar to that of the Kaiser. A German officer kills a French woman and her son, and rapes her daughter. Later, the daughter, who has become a Red Cross nurse, treats the officer and stops him from suicide. A deranged British soldier, tells of his POW experiences with an American and Frenchman, the Frenchman being knifed by a wounded German soldier he was helping. Documents are brought into evidence supporting the testimony. The German officer warns the court to beware of still-existing militaristic Prussianism. The Kaiser finally shows his true colors by yelling that God demands the destruction of all that oppose him.
Director
William Nigh
Cast
Maurine Powers
Regina Quinn
Leslie Ryecroft
William Nigh
Frank Norcross
Julia Hurley
Halbert W. Brown
Herbert Standing
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Germany on Trial. The scenario was tentatively known as "I Tried the Kaiser." The film was shot at the Biograph Studio in New York. It had its premiere in Detroit on June 1, 1919. James W. Gerard was the U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 1913 until 1917. His book My Four Years in Germany was the basis of a 1918 film also produced by Warner Brothers. No information has been located to determine if cast member Herbert Standing was the actor born in 1846 or his son, of the same name, who was born in 1887. According to studio records, Gerard stipulated that ten percent of the gross taken in for exhibition of this film was to be given to charity.
