Samuel Shipman (1881-1937)
was a successful writer of vaudeville sketches when he pitched a Broadway
producer with a storyline for a full-length play. The producer liked the idea
but wanted to read the finished script within a few days. Shipman needed a
collaborator in order to write the script quickly. Aaron Hoffman (1880-1924) another
writer whose work was popular with vaudeville comedians became the other half
of the team. The two writers went to a hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey and in
five and a half days wrote Friendly
Enemies. A few week later the play was ready to open for preview
performances in Washington, D.C.
Act I of Friendly Enemies is set in the living
room of the Pfeiffers’ New York City “old, substantial, brownstone house.” It
is 5:30 P.M. in the Fall of 1917. (All three acts of the play take place in
this same room.)
The significant backstory
is that Karl Pfeiffer and Henry Block are very close friends. They were born and raised in the same German
town and they immigrated together to the United States when they were young
men. Karl has always maintained the German culture in his home while Henry has
adopted the American way of life. Karl’s son William is
engaged to marry Henry’s daughter June.
Act One: Karl, who is a
German patriot, has been very unhappy since the United States entered the war against
Germany. He promises Walter Stuart that
he will donate fifty thousand dollars to reduce anti-German propaganda. Stuart,
unbeknownst to Karl, is a German agent who will use the money to sabotage
American war endeavors.
The major segment of this
act consists of Karl and Henry arguing about the war and the German way of life. They are both waiting for William to return
home. Karl believes his son has been at
college, but William has been in basic training since his enlistment in the
United States Army. Karl’s wife, Marie,
has kept her son’s secret as has June.
William returns home and tells Karl the truth. Karl is very upset and
leaves the house.
Marie Karl Henry June
Act II, Scene 1 takes
place the next morning. The couple decided to marry today before William leaves
on a transport ship for France. Karl returns home, but he refuses to go to City
Hall for the wedding. Scene 2. The
family members leave for the wedding. Stuart arrives for the promised money and
Karl gives it to him. Once everyone returns to the house except William who has
boarded his ship, Karl receives a telephone call. Stuart wants to share his
good news--a ship has been sunk two miles from New York City harbor with five
thousand American soldiers aboard. The ship is the one that William boarded
after the wedding.
Act III. Evening of the
same day. A few minutes after eight
o’clock. While everyone is heartbroken over the tragic news, it becomes known that
Stuart is a German spy as well as saboteur. William has survived the sinking of
the ship and he arrives home. Henry, who has important friends, arranges for
William to be credited with Stuart’s arrest.
Marie William Karl June Henry
This is the barest of
plot outlines and it does not attempt to describe the humor in this play. Since
Friendly Enemies was written by two
writers with vaudeville credits, the characters of Karl and Henry have scenes of
broad comic interaction regarding each man’s position about American culture.
Another consideration
relating to the plot of this play is that it tackled a very serious problem
that was being played out in the United States once it entered World War One.
There were more than 1.7 million German-born immigrants living in the United
States when President Wilson declared war.
Germans comprised the largest non-English speaking immigrant group in America.
There were hundreds of German language publications printed in the United
States and many of them and their readers were pro Germany. A large percentage
of their readership as well as the publications asserted their Germanness and
did not support the United States being in the war. As a result, an anti-German
sentiment developed on the home-front.
Friendly
Enemies allowed American audiences to gain new insights as
well as laugh at this serious situation. The two old friends on stage allowed
the audiences to understanding their joys as well as their emotional
attachments to family and country. During the preview performance on March 4,
1918 President Wilson rose in his box at the National Theatre in Washington,
D.C. and said of Friendly Enemies:
“All that I can say has already been said most admirably in this beautiful
play. All the sentiments I could express
have been admirably represented----sentiments that I hope will soon grip the
world.”
Friendly
Enemies opened in New York City at the Hudson Theatre on July
22, 1918. It played for 440 performances. It starred Louis Mann (1865-1931) as Karl
Pfeiffer and Sam Bernard (1863-1927) who was an English-born American vaudeville
comedian as Henry Block.
The Washington Post reported on April 27, 1919 that as of that date
there were three touring companies presenting Friendly Enemies in the United States and Canada as well as three
companies touring in England. The play was a tremendous success.
Friendly
Enemies opened with the new title of Uncle Sam in London, England at the Haymarket Theatre on February
11, 1919. Apparently, the play’s
original title was initially misunderstood by Londoners prior to its opening. The Globe newspaper reported on February 12,
1919 that the play “had to combat an unfortunate belief that it was
“pro-German.” Uncle Sam was acted by an entirely American company which occurred
for the first time in a London production. Uncle
Sam was received with enthusiasm and played for more than 250 performances.
Two films were made of
this play using its original title of Friendly
Enemies. The first one was released in the United States in March 1925. It
starred Lew Fields (1867-1941) as Karl Pfeiffer and Joe Weber (1867-1942) as
Henry Block. This duo was the well-known comic team of Weber and Fields that
were one of the most popular and profitable acts in vaudeville. This film was
released in the United Kingdom in June 1926. The two actors were billed in
England as “the greatest burlesque comedians of all time” and the film was successful on both sides of the Atlantic.
The second film was made
by United Artists in 1942. It starred
Charles Winninger (1884-1969) as Karl Pfeiffer and Charles Ruggles (1886-1970)
as Henry Block. Winninger had a vaudeville background and Ruggles was known for
his numerous comedic film roles. This
film did not get released in the United Kingdom until December 1946.
Interest in Friendly Enemies was revived during the
World War II years. The theatrical presentations tended to be produced by community
theatres and other nonprofessional groups. This play obviously served to
delight audiences throughout two grueling periods of war.
PHOTOS from the New York 1918 production appear in the script published by Samuel French, New York, 1923.
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