Johanna Enlists is a strikingly different and very personal war story. Instead of the guns, cannons and Huns audiences were getting used to in 1918, Mary plays a young woman living quietly with her family on an isolated farm, wondering how she will ever meet a potential husband. When an entire battalion of soldier’s march in to be bivouacked on the land, the war is brought home and she suddenly is faced with a wide choice of suitors. Johanna Enlists served as an important means of encouraging enlistments that were still needed even as the film was released only a few months before the war’s end.
Cast Mary Pickford, Fred Huntley, Anne Schaefer, Monte Blue, Douglas MacLean, Emory Johnson, John Steppling, Wallace Beery, June Prentis, Jean Prentis
Director William Desmond Taylor ; Frank Richardson (Credited as Assistant Director)
Bonus Features Commentary track by Marc Wanamaker, author and film historian
Liner Notes Pictorial Booklet written by the Mary Pickford Foundation
Extensive Photo Gallery
A Beast at Bay, an American Biograph short film released May 27th, 1912. Newly mastered in HD with an original score by Dan Light
Format Blu-ray, DVD
Audio Stereo and 5:1 Surround Sound
Aspect Ratio 1080P / 1.37:1 with Pillar Bars
Rating NR
Runtime 95
Year 1918
Color BW
UPC 089859909627
SRP $29.95
SKU VCI9096
Miss Pickford gives a winsome portrayal of the neglected little drudge, whom the good things in life had passed by on the other side, but who proves as sweet and lovable as other girls when a little kindness is extended. The role is another revelation of the fine character acting abilities of Miss Pickford as distinguished from her long-admired charms as an ingenue.
- Los Angeles Evening Express, September 16th, 1918
Miss (Frances) Marion knows every one of Mary’s good points as an actress, and she never permitted one to escape her. Does anybody in pictures give us better, sweeter, more wholesome, and natural comedy than Mary Pickford?
- Los Angeles Times, September 16th, 1918
Mary Pickford is admittedly the foremost motion picture actress in the world. She has attained this distinction by her talents, her winsome personality, her delightful artistry, her perseverance, and un-grudging efforts to give to her admirers the best that genius has to offer. Miss Pickford’s artistry is unrivaled in the exceptional field in which she shines, and in every role, she essays and exhibits that effervescence of youth which is a source of constant delight to her audiences.
In “Johanna Enlists”, Miss Pickford creates a new and delightful role and one which will serve to endear her the more, if that be possible, with the motion-picture loving public.
- The Houston Post, October 27th, 1918