War on Three Fronts
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Synopsis
Fighting during World War I from the viewpoint of the Austrian side of the Russian, Balkan and Italian fronts is shown. Included are scenes shot from an airplane showing panoramas of the three fronts, including the devastation of Belgrade; scenes from the deck of a U-boat showing the operations of another; cavalry in pursuit of Russians; the burning of Brest-Litovsk by Russians; the despair of the peasants who are turned out of Brest-Litovsk and caught between the two forces; the building of bridges; operations of mine sweepers in the Adriatic Sea; the armies of Hindenburg in the second Russian campaign; and action in the trenches in which Austrian soldiers are shot and killed.
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Captain Frank E. Kleinschmidt, an American explorer, filmmaker and lecturer, was invited by the Crown Prince of Austria to lecture and show his motion pictures of his Arctic expedition. He was then provided with a staff and facilities to shoot footage of the Austrian army at the three fronts. Seven thousand feet of the film were shown to trade reviewers in April 1916 in a version not yet subtitled. The film was shown publicly in December 1916 in Chicago, in either late 1916 or early 1917 on the Pacific Coast and in New York in February 1917. Proceeds from the Chicago screening went to the German-Austro-Hungarian Relief Association. One reviewer of the New York showing noted that the film was about 9,000 feet at that time. After the United States entered the war, Selznick Pictures acquired the film and released it to exhibitors nationwide in April 1917 in six reels. Some reviewers found the film flagrantly offensive because of the pro-Austrian stance in its pictures and subtitles. Kleinschmidt later told Moving Picture World that soon after the April 1917 showings, the government stopped the film's exhibition. The Moving Picture World article also related that on November 24, 1917, Kleinschmidt was taken into custody in New York for possession of a loaded revolver and was placed under surveillance.
