Johanna Enlists (1918)

Constantly threatened with a “larruping” if she steps out of line, “Johanna” (Mary Pickford) lives with her ma (Anne Schaefer) and pa (Fred Huntley) on their farm in the middle of nowhere. She’s bored and a bit hormonal and so imagine her delight when an whole army regiment turns up nearby to do some training. Instantly, she proves to be a bit of an hit and takes a bit of a shine to “Pte. Vibbard” (Monty Blue) but it’s not that simple. “Lieut. Le Roy” (Emory Johnson) takes an interest in her and, well she’s not so keen on him. What now ensues sees a bit of a struggle emerge between the two soldiers vying for position - seemingly regardless of her fairly obvious choice. Aside from Pickford owing the screen and Schaefer enthusiastically dishing out her beatings, this is all a rather unremarkable drama that disappointingly peters out. It even borders on the propagandist as it heads towards a distinctly “let’s get the germ out of Germany” conclusion. On that score, there are two to pick from so stick around after the credits. As a story about a young person devoid of company and excitement it works fine, but there’s not enough action and the comedy is just too predictable to make it stick in the mind.