The Great War Day by Day

To commemorate the centennial of the first exhibition on November 28, 1915 of Wilbur Durborough's World War I film On the Firing Line with the Germans weblog The Great War Day by Day has dedicated two remarkable illustrations to this movie which has been recently restored by the Library of Congress. The illustrations were drawn by a Dutch artist, Tim Broekhuizen. You will find more information on this historical World War I feature documentary in this weblog, as well as in our latest book American Cinematographers in the Great War.

28 November 1915 - ‘With the Germans on the Firing Line’ by W.H. Durborough

The film opened in Milwaukee on November 28, 1915. It opened in Chicago on December 6, 1915. The net profits of the showings at the Park Theater in Chicago were to go to the American Red Cross for use in war-stricken countries without discrimination. Durborough lectured during some of the showings.

6 December 1915 - ‘Meet Miss Jane Addams of Chicago in Berlin’

Wilbur Durborough presents ‘With the Germans on the Firing Line’ in his hometown Chicago (see 28 November), with surprising images of the suffragettes Jane Addams and Aletta Jacobs in Berlin as envoys of the Hague Women’s Congress in 1915, on their way to peace talks with government leaders. The film, sponsored by a consortium of Chicago businessmen, was the first independent war documentary in history.