Joan of Plattsburg on AllMovie

Comedienne Mabel Normand came a cropper trying to play it straight in the WWI propaganda piece Joan of Plattsburg. Inspired by the legend of Joan of Arc, modern-day orphan girl Joan (Normand) becomes the "darling" of the Army training camp in Plattsburg, New York. One night, in emulation of her heroine, Joan overhears voices while in the basement of the orphanage. But these are not the voices of saints: Joan has stumbled into a nest of German spies. Taking matters in her own hands, Joan brings the spies to justice and earns the undying gratitude of the "Plattsburg Boys." Based on a play by Porter Emerson Browne, Joan of Plattsburg was almost universally panned by the critics: In the words of one observer, "To expect an actress who has scored her biggest success in broad farce to illuminate the face of a modern Joan with the divine fire of the Maid of Orleans is to look for a miracle."