The Lost Battalion

This drama offers a different twist to the usual war story -- and it had to, since World War I had ended ten months before its release and most moviegoers wanted to put its memory behind them. The film takes one of the war's most momentous events -- the siege in the Argonne Forest -- and builds a fictional story around the soldiers involved. Some of the men who actually fought are also featured. Nancy Crystal (Marion Coakley), the ward of a man named Merwin, is in love with a private in the 77th division. Merwin's son, Harry (Gaston Glass), loves his father's stenographer (Helen Ferguson). Harry joins the 77th division, as do a host of other men from all walks of life, even a burglar and a pair of Chinese men from warring Tongs. They all make up the lost battalion, who are ultimately rescued. Nancy's sweetheart makes it back alive, as does Harry Merwin.