Corporal Kate

Corporal Kate
Corporal Kate
	Lobby card
Directed by	Paul Sloane
Written by	Albert Shelby Le Vino; John Krafft(titles)
Based on	an original story by Zelda Sears and Marion Orth
Produced by	C. Gardner Sullivan
Starring	Vera Reynolds; Julia Faye
Cinematography	Henry Cronjager
Production; company	De Mille Pictures Corp.
Distributed by	Producers Distributing Corporation
Release date	December 6, 1926;
Running time	1hr. 20mins; 8 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Corporal Kate is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Paul Sloane and starring Vera Reynolds and Julia Faye.^[1] The film was produced by C. Gardner Sullivan, with production at De Mille Pictures Corp., and released by Producers Distributing Corporation.^[2]

Plot

In World War I, Brooklyn manicurists Kate Jones (Vera Reynolds) and Becky Finkelstein (Julia Faye), work up a song-and-dance act that they intend to take overseas to entertain the troops. Through the influence of a friend, the girls are assigned to the French front. Both girls fall in love with Jackson Clarke (Kenneth Thompson), a rich playboy, who is in the American Expeditionary Forces, along with Williams (Harry Allen), his valet. Evelyn (Majel Coleman), a friend of Jackson's, also goes to France as a Red Cross nurse, Jackson falls for Kate and is jealous of Evelyn, but, unknown to any of them, Evelyn loves an American aviator. When the Germans advance, Becky is killed, dying in Jackson's arms. Kate loses her arm in a selfless and heroic action, and Jackson, still greatly in love with her, proposes that they spend the rest of their lives together.

Cast

Vera Reynolds as Kate Jones
Kenneth Thomson as Jackson Clarke (credited as Kenneth Thompson)
Julia Faye as Becky Finkelstein
Majel Coleman as Evelyn Page
Harry Allen as Williams, Clarke's Valet
Walter Tennyson as Captain Sir Howard Wellington
Fred Kelsey as Unsympathetic Sergeant (uncredited)
Scott Seaton as Colonel (uncredited)
Harry Semels as Doughboy (uncredited)

Production

Although not directly an aviation film, Corporal Kate featured a number of stunt pilots, including Frank Clarke and Leo Nomis flying a Standard L 6 and Thomas-Morse aircraft.^[3] ^{[N 1]}

Reception

Film reviewer Hal Erickson, in his review of Corporal Kate, noted, the girls "...encounter all manner of merry misadventures. Things get serious, however, when both Kate and Becky fall in love with the same doughboy, Private Jackson (Kenneth Thompson). This romantic triangle is rather bluntly resolved when tragedy strikes on the battlefield."^[4] However, while the depiction of the relationship between the two women in a war zone is to be commended, modern viewers may be less comfortable with the many scenes featuring overt sexual harassment by the male lead.^[5]

Preservation

Corporal Kate is preserved in the Library of Congress collection and UCLA Film and Television Archive.^[6]^[7]

References

Notes

^ For Cecil B. DeMille, Corporal Kate was, in part, a showcase for Julia Faye, DeMille's longtime "secret" girlfriend.^[4]

Citations

^ Progressive Silent Film List: Corporal Kate at silentera.com, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.
^ "Detail view: 'Corporal Kate'." The AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.
^ Farmer 1984, p. 300.
^ ^a ^b Erickson, Hal. "Review: 'Corporal Kate'." allmovie.com, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.
^ Kramer, Fritzi (May 15, 2016). "Corporal Kate (1926) a Silent Film Review". Movies Silently. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, 1978, p. 35.
^ "Catalog: 'Corporal Kate'." The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.

Bibliography

Catalog of Holdings, The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute, 1978. ISBN 978-0-8018-5315-9.
Farmer, James H. Celluloid Wings: The Impact of Movies on Aviation (1st ed.). Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books 1984. ISBN 978-0-83062-374-7.

External links

[5] For Cecil B. DeMille, Corporal Kate was, in part, a showcase for Julia Faye, DeMille's longtime "secret" girlfriend.^[4]

[1] Progressive Silent Film List: Corporal Kate at silentera.com, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.

[2] "Detail view: 'Corporal Kate'." The AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.

[3] Farmer 1984, p. 300.

[All-4] Erickson, Hal. "Review: 'Corporal Kate'." allmovie.com, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.

[6] Kramer, Fritzi (May 15, 2016). "Corporal Kate (1926) a Silent Film Review". Movies Silently. Retrieved December 25, 2023.

[7] Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, 1978, p. 35.

[8] "Catalog: 'Corporal Kate'." The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog, 2019. Retrieved: June 30, 2019.

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