The Enemy

Plot synopsis:
A man attends an erotic show at an underground club that culminates with a naked woman on the verge of crushing a live tarantula under her platform high-heel. Elsewhere, a pregnant young woman sits alone on a bed.
Adam Bell, a solitary college history professor, rents a movie, Where There's a Will There's a Way, on the recommendation of a colleague. Adam sees an actor briefly; the man at the show. Verifying online, Adam identifies the actor as Daniel St. Claire, the stage name for Anthony Claire. Adam rents the other two films in which Anthony has appeared and develops an interest in the man, who appears to be his physical doppelgänger.
Adam's girlfriend Mary becomes troubled by the change in his behavior. Adam stalks Anthony, visiting his office and calling him at home. Everyone, including Anthony's pregnant wife Helen, confuses both.
Adam and Anthony eventually meet in a hotel room and discover they are perfectly identical; a scar both have appears on the left abdomen above the pancreas, but Adam is reserved and bookish while Anthony is hot-headed and sexual. In a separate dream-like image, a giant spider lurks among the Toronto skyline. After following Mary to work, Anthony confronts Adam, accuses him of impregnating Helen, and demands Adam's clothes and car keys in order to stage a sexual liaison with Mary, promising to disappear forever afterwards. Adam complies, and Anthony takes Mary to the hotel where the two men met. Meanwhile, Adam breaks into Anthony's apartment. Helen, although realizing her partner is different, asks Adam to stay and sleeps with him.
At the hotel, Mary panics when she sees Anthony's ring mark and demands to know who he is, as Adam does not wear a ring. She forces Anthony to drive her home, but the two get into a fight, and the car is involved in a high-speed crash, which presumably kills them both.
The next day Adam dresses in Anthony's clothes and finds the club key in a jacket pocket, ready to begin life as Anthony. Helen gets out of the shower and enters the bedroom. Adam asks Helen if she is doing anything that night and follows up the question by telling her he will be busy then. As he enters the bedroom, he beholds the now room-sized tarantula cowered against the rear wall. Adam, with a resigned look, sighs.

Tags: anti war

Review:
Lillian Gish Is Stunning. THE ENEMY would probably be regarded as a major silent film if the final reel could be found.Lillian Gish stars as a young German bride who endures the hardships of World War I. The film also examines the friendship of her husband (Ralph Forbes) and his English friend (Ralph Emerson) after the outbreak of war.But this is a Gish film, and she is stunning. At age 34 she easily passes as a twenty- something bride. As always, Gish is the consummate actress, going here from blushing bride to desperate mother to sorrowful prostitute.After the success of THE BIG PARADE, MGM was anxious for another anti-war hit. This film was based on the 1925 hit Broadway play that starred Fay Bainter. Supporting cast is quite good here with Frank Currier solid as the professor, Karl Dane as Jan, and Polly Moran as the brusque housekeeper. Joel McCrea appears as an extra.For those who persist in thinking that Gish only played frail virgins, this film is a real eye opener.. Margaret Booth's film editing is a work of art. Following such prestige projects as LA BOHEME (1926) and THE SCARLET LETTER (1926), THE ENEMY was Lillian Gish's fifth and final film for MGM (it was completed after, but released before, THE WIND). Based on a play by Channing Pollock, this is a vehemently anti-war film, well-directed by Fred Niblo and expertly edited by Margaret Booth. Though it is difficult to tell where Niblo's direction ends and Booth's editing begins (or to what degree they were close collaborators), it must be stated that the fluid, eloquent visual language of the silent cinema is exemplified here -- as in so many other films of the late 1920s -- at its apogee. This film certainly must be counted among Booth's finest artistic work (for film editing is indeed an art) -- and her resumé is indeed impressive.For some, the unrelenting pacifist message of the film may lack subtlety. Today's viewer certainly needs an appreciation for historical context in order to understand properly the impact this film would have had on contemporary audience. The time period is the Great War (WWI), and the impact of that senseless carnage on ordinary people's lives. The setting is Austria, and the main characters are Austrian (plus an Englishman who suddenly becomes "the enemy" among former friends), yet it really could take place anywhere, at any time. The ironies of propaganda, through which all parties invoke the name of God to assist their cause against "the enemy," are emphasized here, as are the absurdities of a blind nationalism which causes friends to accuse each other of being unpatriotic. Actually, the messages of this film are not so far removed from our own time as one might think.The performers all turn in convincing portrayals. Lillian Gish and Ralph Forbes are the newlyweds whose wedding march is interrupted by the drums of war. Their last night together before he is summoned to the front is a tenderly poetic interlude, as is the scene in the train station when she narrowly misses the chance to see her husband again. Frank Currier is especially sympathetic in the role of the principled, anti-war Professor Arndt ("I shall never teach that legalized murder is a glorious thing," he says at one point); and George Fawcett even manages to instill some humanity in his war-profiteer character. Karl Dane and Polly Moran are on hand to lend their usual brand of comic relief.It is unfortunate that the last reel to this film is apparently lost. This will probably prevent the film from being screened on television or released to DVD -- which is unfortunate, since this is a work that deserves to be seen and appreciated as a fine example not only of late-silent movie-making, but also of the anti-war film.