Little American, The

2195.THE LITTLE AMERICAN (1917-usa). With Mary Pickford, Jack Holt, Raymond HATTON. Produced by CECIL B. DE MlLLE. Karl Von Austreim is a German subject. Count Jules du Destin is a Frenchman. Both are courting Angela Moore, a lovely and proud young American. Karl is the victor in this battle for Angela’s affections. But he is called back to Germany on the eve of a declaration of war between his country and France. De Destin also returns home. Months pass and Angela decides to set sail for France to look after an elderly aunt. She sails aboard the steamer Veritania, which is torpedoed by a German submarine. Angela eventually reaches her aunt’s chateau only to learn that the old lady has died. How Angela becomes involved in the hostilities and re-enters the lives of Karl and Jules is recounted in this impassioned drama of cruelty and courage amid “The War To End All Wars.” The sequence in which Angela and her fellow passengers frolic at a party just before the sinking of the Veritania is especially stirring. Shots of the revelers are intercut with those of the Germans as they prepare their attack. The torpedoes hit, and the festivities instantly become a living nightmare. This is one of the outstanding sequences in the early career of the legendary master movie showman Cecil B. De Mille. “For the scene,” he wrote in his autobiogÂraphy, “we built almost an entire deck of an ocean liner and mechanically tipped it so that the pasÂsengers were seen actually slipping into the water. I believe that this had not been done in films before.” “Silent” film with music score. 81 minutes ÒSilentÓ Drama