The Common Cause

The Common Cause
The Common Cause
	Advertisement
Directed by	J. Stuart Blackton
Written by	Anthony Paul Kelly
Based on	play, Getting Together, by Ian Hay, J. Hartley Manners, and Percival Knight
Produced by	J. Stuart Blackton
Starring	Effie Shannon; Irene Castle; Marjorie Rambeau
Cinematography	George Brautigan
Production; company	J. Stuart Blackton Feature Pictures
Distributed by	Vitagraph Company of America
Release date	January 5, 1919;
Running time	7 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Common Cause is a lost^[1] 1919 American silent comedy film directed and produced by J. Stuart Blackton and distributed by Vitagraph Company of America.^[2] It is based on a play, Getting Together, by Ian Hay, J. Hartley Manners, and Percival Knight.^[3]

Plot

As described in a film magazine,^[4] Helene Palmer (Breamer) is estranged from her husband Orrin (Rawlinson) due to the attentions paid to her by a man about town. After the United States enters World War I, she takes up war work and pleads with men from all walks of life on the steps of the New York City public library to enlist. Her husband joins his company and goes abroad, and she induces her male friend to also join the colors. She then goes to France where she ministers to the sick and destitute. The Germans invade the town and she remains behind with those too ill to be moved. A German officer goes to her room and is about to assault her when the American troops arrive, and she is saved by her husband. There is a reconciliation between them. The film has a prologue where actresses representing Britannia, Italy, and the United States answer the call of Belgium and France, and the film ends with an epilogue with a "league of nations" tableau.