Bud’s Recruit is one of ten short films written and produced by Judge Willis Brown that were directed by King Vidor. These were filmed at Boy City Film Company in Culver City, California and released by General Film Company between January and May 1918.
Bud’s Recruit is unique in that it is the only film from the Judge Willis Brown series that survives. This film is the only one of the series in which Judge Willis Brown did not appear.[3]
Theme
Brown was a Salt Lake City juvenile court judge who specialized in “rehabilitating juvenile offenders.” He based the series on his experiences operating his “Boy’s Cities” (not to be confused with Boys Town). The movies depict “inter-ethnic” city youth facing and resolving social and moral challenges constructively.[4]
Written and filmed shortly after the United States entered WWI in 1917, the Bud’s Recruit alludes to the isolationist impulses that affected recruitment efforts. The movie is pro-intervention, though Vidor presents a tough-in-check portrayal of the under-age brother (Bud) pro-enlistment enthusiasm. His chastening ultimately served to overcome his mother’s and older brothers’ resistance to supporting the war effort. His older brother (Reggie) is “Bud’s Recruit”.
[5]
^Durgnat and Simmon 1988 p. 333: “All Vidor’s films prior to 1920 are presumed lost, except for The Intrigue and reel 1 of Bud’s Recruit And p, 24: only film without Brown appearing.
^Baxter 1976 p. 8 Durgnat and Simmon 1988 p. 25, p. 335
^Durgnat and Simmon 1988 p. 24: “Bud subverts both his draft-age brother and society mother’s “peace advocacy” [isolationism].” And p.65 and p. 69: The subject of “anti-interventionist” attitudes toward participating in the European conflict reflected a “traditional American attitude….”
References
Baxter, John. 1976. King Vidor. Simon & Schuster, Inc. Monarch Film Studies. LOC Card Number 75-23544.
