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To Hell with the Kaiser, the 1918 George Irving silent World War I (WWI) anti-German melodrama ("A thrilling indictment of Germany's war lord in seven parts"; "Scenario by June Mathis"; "Produced under the person supervision of Maxwell Karger") starring Lawrence Grant (in the title role as The Kaiser/Robert Graubel), Olive Tell, Betty Howe, John Sunderland, Earl Schenck, Karl Dane, and Walter P. Lewis (as Satan). Note that World War I began in 1914, but the U.S. did not enter the war until April 1917. There are many theories on why this was, some of them very cynical about the U.S. wanting to continue to supply both sides. President Wilson was able to "overlook" many incidents, including the sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans, during which many Americans lost their lives, but finally, the U.S. DID enter the war in April 1917, and immediately, Hollywood made a series of anti-German movies, specifically focused on Kaiser Wilhelm, portraying him as pure evil, and this is one of those movies! In this one, when the Kaiser is finally captured, he commits suicide and goes to hell, where Satan abdicates his thrown because the Kaiser is far worse than him. Note that this is a "lost" film, which means that no surviving copies are thought to exist.
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Important Added Info: Note that this is a complete set of 12 8x10 lobby cards that were made to promote this movie. It has a "title card" with incredible artwork of German's Kaiser depicted as an octopus with a woman in his mouth, and his tentacles are encircling the entire world. There is a card with a text description of this movie, calling the Kaiser "Wilhelm, the Monster", and telling how he has "signed a pact with Satan for mastery of the world". One of the remaining ten scene cards shows that very scene, with the Devil reminding the Kaiser that his soul is now "mine"! Also note that movie paper of any sort from this 1918 movie is beyond scarce. In all our years of auctioning, we have only auctioned a single 11" x 14" lobby card until we were consigned this wonderful 12-card 8x10 lobby card set. Note that, in the early days of movie making, when lobby cards were first made (around 1915), studios would issue sets of the cards in two sizes; the regular 11" x 14" size, and a smaller 8" x 10" size. The cards were identical in every way except for the different size. This practice continued through the early 1920s, at which point the studios abandoned the smaller lobby cards, likely because theaters either ordered 11" x 14" lobby cards or 8" x 10" stills, and did not order enough of the 8" x 10" lobby cards to justify them continuing to make them.

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