Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget is a 1918 American World War I espionage drama silent film directed by Leonce Perret and produced by and starring Rita Jolivet. The film was released by the Metro Pictures company. While the picture is essentially a spy film, it may also be considered a propaganda film popular during World War I.[1][2]

The film was a live action film about the 1915 Lusitania sinking (as opposed to Windsor McKay's animated film The Sinking of the Lusitania (1918)). Actress Rita Jolivet was a survivor of the sinking and much of what is known about the last moments of her producer/employer Charles Frohman is related from her. This film made famous his last words, "..Why fear death for it is the most beautiful adventure in life."

Like many American films of the time, Lest We Forget was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required cuts of, in Reel 1, the intertitle "Why marry her?", Reel 3, that part of the scene in the telegraph office where officer throws young woman over table and is shown bending over her, Reel 4, the intertitle "Go, all of you — I will avenge this", and, Reel 7, the cutting of telephone wires.[3]

The film survives in a fragment at George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection with more complete copies at the Library of Congress and Cinémathèque Française.[4][5]