All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film)

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All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster by Karoly Grosz [1]
Directed by Lewis Milestone
Written by
Based on All Quiet on the Western Front
1929 novel
by Erich Maria Remarque
Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr.
Starring Lew Ayres
Louis Wolheim
Cinematography Arthur Edeson
Edited byEdgar Adams
Milton Carruth (International Sound Version) [2]
Music byDavid Broekman
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • April 21, 1930 (1930-04-21)(US) [2]
Running time
152 minutes [2]
133 minutes (restored)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.2 million [3]
Box office$3 million [4] (worldwide rentals)

All Quiet on the Western Front is a 1930 American pre-Code epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by German novelist Erich Maria Remarque. Directed by Lewis Milestone, it stars Lew Ayres, Louis Wolheim, John Wray, Arnold Lucy, and Ben Alexander.

Contents

All Quiet on the Western Front opened to wide acclaim in the United States. Considered a realistic and harrowing account of warfare in World War I, it made the American Film Institute's first 100 Years...100 Movies list in 1997. A decade later, after the same organization polled over 1,501 workers in the creative community, All Quiet on the Western Front was ranked the seventh-best American epic film. [5] [6] In 1990, the film was selected and preserved by the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [7] [8] The film was the first to win the Academy Awards for both Outstanding Production and Best Director. It is the first Best Picture winner based on a novel. Due to being a film published in 1930, it will enter the public domain on January 1, 2026, following the expiration of the copyright on the novel in 2024. [9] [10]

Its sequel, The Road Back (1937), portrays members of the 2nd Company returning home after the war.

Plot

Professor Kantorek gives an impassioned speech to his German students about the glory of serving in the Army and "saving the Fatherland". On the brink of becoming men, the boys in his class, led by Paul Bäumer, are moved to join the army as the new 2nd Company. Their romantic delusions are quickly broken during their brief but rigorous training under the abusive Corporal Himmelstoss.

The new soldiers arrive by train at the chaotic combat zone. One in the group is killed before the recruits can reach their post, to the alarm of one of the new soldiers (Behn). The new soldiers are assigned to a unit composed of older, unwelcoming veterans. Having not eaten in days, they pay cigarettes to Corporal "Kat" Katzinsky (who has stolen a slaughtered hog from a field kitchen) in exchange for a meal.

The recruits' first trip to the trenches with the veterans is a harrowing experience, during which Behn is killed. A depiction of trench warfare follows with many casualties on both sides. Eventually, they are sent back to the field kitchens to get their rations; each man receives double helpings, simply because of the number of dead.

Ad with book cover art in The Film Daily, 1929 All Quiet on the Western Front ad in The Film Daily, Jul-Dec 1929 (page 149 crop).jpg
Ad with book cover art in The Film Daily , 1929

They hear that they are to return to the front the next day and begin a semi-serious discussion about the causes of the war and of wars in general.

One day, Corporal Himmelstoss arrives at the front and is immediately spurned because of his bad reputation. He is forced to go over the top with the 2nd Company and is promptly killed. In an attack on a cemetery, Paul stabs a French soldier and is distraught as he spends the night trapped in a hole with the dying man. He tries and fails to save him, and begs for forgiveness. Later, he returns to the German lines and is comforted by Kat.

Going back to the front line, Paul is severely wounded and taken to a Catholic hospital, along with his good friend, Albert Kropp. Kropp's leg is amputated and Paul is taken to the bandaging ward, from which, according to its reputation, nobody has ever returned alive. Still, he later returns to the normal rooms triumphantly, only to find Kropp in depression.

Paul is given a furlough and visits his family at home. He is shocked by how uninformed and optimistic everyone is about the war's actual situation. When Paul visits the schoolroom where he was originally recruited, he shares his experiences and disillusionment with the war to Professor Kantorek and his young students, who call him a "coward".

Disillusioned and angry, Paul returns to the front and comes upon another 2nd Company filled with new young recruits, who are now also disillusioned. He discusses the people's inability to comprehend the futility of the war with Kat. Kat's shin is broken when a bomb dropped by an aircraft falls nearby, so Paul carries him back to a field hospital, only to find that a second explosion has killed Kat. Crushed by the loss of his mentor, Paul leaves.

In the final scene, Paul is back on the front line. He sees a butterfly just beyond his trench. Smiling, he reaches out for the butterfly. While reaching, however, he is shot and killed by an enemy sniper. The final sequence shows the 2nd Company arriving at the front for the first time, fading out to the image of a cemetery.

Cast

Original trailer for the American film All Quiet On The Western Front (1930)

Production

In the film, Paul is shot while reaching for a butterfly. This scene is different from the book, and was inspired by an earlier scene showing a butterfly collection in Paul's home. The scene was shot during the editing phase, so the actors were no longer available and Milestone had to use his own hand as Paul's.

Noted comedienne ZaSu Pitts was originally cast as Paul's mother and completed the film but preview audiences, used to seeing her in comic roles, laughed when she appeared onscreen so Milestone re-shot her scenes with Beryl Mercer before the film was released. The preview audience remains the only one who saw Pitts in the role, although she does appear for about 30 seconds in the film's original preview trailer.

The film was shot with two cameras side by side, with one negative edited as a sound film and the other edited as an "International Sound Version" for distribution in non-English speaking areas.

A great number of German Army veterans were living in Los Angeles at the time of filming and were recruited as bit players and technical advisers. Around 2,000 extras were utilized during production. [11] Among them was future director Fred Zinnemann ( High Noon , From Here to Eternity , A Man for All Seasons , Julia ), who was fired for impudence.

Releases

The original version of this all talking picture, lasting 152 minutes, [2] was first previewed in Los Angeles on April 21, 1930, and again in New York on April 25, 1930. [12] The film was edited and some scenes reshot after these previews due to inappropriate laughter coming from audiences whenever ZaSu Pitts appeared on the screen. All scenes with ZaSu Pitts had to be reshot and she was replaced with Beryl Mercer. The re-edited all talking version of the film went on general release in the US on August 24, 1930. [2] A 147-minute version was submitted to the British censors, which was cut to 145 minutes [13] [14] before the film premiered in London June 14, 1930. [12] The sound version was re-released in 1939, though cut down to ten reels. [2] This same version, running 102 minutes, was re-released very successfully by Realart Pictures in 1950, and Universal-International brought it back to theaters in 1958.

On its initial release, Variety wrote: [15]

The League of Nations could make no better investment than to buy up the master-print, reproduce it in every language, to be shown in all the nations until the word "war" is taken out of the dictionaries.

Some of the credit for the film's success has been ascribed to the direction of Lewis Milestone:

Without diluting or denying any ... criticisms, it should be said that from World War I to Korea, Milestone could put the viewer into the middle of a battlefield, and make the hellish confusion of it seem all too real to the viewer. Steven Spielberg noted as much when he credited Milestone's work as partial inspiration for Saving Private Ryan ... Lewis Milestone made significant contributions to [the genre of] the war film. [16]

Later re-releases were substantially cut and the film's ending scored with new music against the wishes of director Lewis Milestone. [17] Before he died in 1980, Milestone requested that Universal fully restore the film with the removal of the end music cue. Two decades later, Milestone's wishes were finally granted when the United States Library of Congress undertook an exhaustive restoration of the film in 2006. This version incorporates all known surviving footage and is 133 minutes long. [14]

Home media

Various edited versions have been distributed on video, including a Japanese subtitled Laserdisc with a running time of 103 minutes. The US Laserdisc from 1987 and the first US DVD, released in 1999, use the same unrestored 131-minute British release print. Since 2007, there have been numerous international releases of the 2006 Library of Congress restoration on DVD and Blu-ray. [18] The latter format additionally contains a 133-minute restoration of the International Sound Version, albeit mislabeled as the "silent version". [19]

Reception

Critical response

"17 London Papers Go Wild!" All Quiet on the Western Front ad from The Film Daily, 1930 17 London papers go wild! All Quiet on the Western Front ad from The Film Daily, Jul-Dec 1930 (page 207 crop).jpg
"17 London Papers Go Wild!" All Quiet on the Western Front ad from The Film Daily , 1930

All Quiet on the Western Front received tremendous praise in the United States. In the New York Daily News , Irene Thirer wrote: "It smack [sic] of directional genius—nothing short of this; sensitive performances by a marvelous cast and the most remarkable camera work which has been performed on either silent or sound screen, round about the Hollywood studios. [...] We have praise for everyone concerned with this picture." [20] Variety lauded it as a "harrowing, gruesome, morbid tale of war, so compelling in its realism, bigness and repulsiveness". [15]

In a retrospective review, American film critic Pauline Kael commented, "The year 1930 was, of course, a good year for pacifism, which always flourishes between wars; Milestone didn't make pacifist films during the Second World War—nor did anybody else working in Hollywood. And wasn't it perhaps easier to make All Quiet just because its heroes were German? War always seems like a tragic waste when told from the point of view of the losers." [21]

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 97% based on 77 reviews, with an average rating of 9.2/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Director Lewis Milestone's brilliant anti-war polemic, headlined by an unforgettable performance from Lew Ayres, lays bare the tragic foolishness at the heart of war." [22] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 91 out of 100 based on 16 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [23]

Controversy and bannings

However, controversy would attend the film's subject matter elsewhere. Due to its anti-war and perceived anti-German messages, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party opposed the film. During and after its German premiere in Berlin on December 4, 1930, Nazi brownshirts under the command of Joseph Goebbels disrupted the viewings by setting off stink bombs, throwing sneezing powder in the air and releasing white mice in the theaters, eventually escalating to attacking audience members perceived to be Jewish and forcing projectors to shut down. They repeatedly yelled out "Judenfilm!" ("Jewish film!") while doing this. [24] [25]

Goebbels wrote about one such disruption in his personal diary:

Within ten minutes, the cinema resembles a madhouse. The police are powerless. The embittered crowd takes out its anger on the Jews. The first breakthrough in the West. 'Jews out!' 'Hitler is standing at the gates!' The police sympathize with us. The Jews are small and ugly. The box office outside is under siege. Windowpanes are broken. Thousands of people enjoy the spectacle. The screening is abandoned, as is the next one. We have won. The newspapers are full of our protest. But not even the Berliner Tageblatt dares to call us names. The nation is on our side. In short: victory!

The Nazi campaign was successful and German authorities outlawed the film on December 11, 1930. A heavily cut version was briefly allowed in 1931, before the Nazis came to power in 1933 and the film was outlawed again. The film was finally re-released in Germany on April 25, 1952, in the Capitol Theatre in West Berlin.

Between 1930 and 1941, this was one of many films to be banned in Victoria, Australia, on the ground of 'pacifism', by the Chief Censor Creswell O'Reilly. [26] However, it was said to enjoy "a long and successful run" in other states, though the book was banned nationally. [27] The film was also banned in Italy and Austria in 1931, with the prohibition officially raised only in the 1980s, and in France up to 1963. [28]

Awards and honors

Carl Laemmle holding the Outstanding Production Best Picture Oscar Carl Laemmle holding an Oscar trophy, 1930.jpg
Carl Laemmle holding the Outstanding Production Best Picture Oscar

1929–1930 Academy Awards

CategoryReceptorResult
Outstanding Production Universal (Carl Laemmle Jr., Producer)Won
Best Director Lewis Milestone Won
Best Writing George Abbott, Maxwell Anderson and Del Andrews Nominated
Best Cinematography Arthur Edeson Nominated

It was the first talkie war film to win Oscars.

Other wins:

American Film Institute recognition

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Nourmand, Tony (2013). 100 Movie Posters: The Essential Collection. London: Reel Art Press. pp. 276–277. ISBN   978-0-9572610-8-2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 All Quiet on the Western Front at the American Film Institute Catalog
  3. ↑ Box Office Information for All Quiet on the Western Front, Box Office Mojo; retrieved April 13, 2012.
  4. ↑ All Quiet on the Western Front, Overview Archived March 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine . Movie Guy 24/7. Retrieved April 14, 2013
  5. ↑ American Film Institute (June 17, 2008). "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 11 Classic Genres". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved June 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ "Top 10 Epic". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 19, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2008.
  7. ↑ Gamarekian, Barbara; Times, Special To the New York (October 19, 1990). "Library of Congress Adds 25 Titles to National Film Registry". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Complete National Film Registry Listing". Library of Congress. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  9. ↑ Hirtle, Peter B. (January 3, 2020). "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States". Cornell University Library Copyright Information Center. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Public Domain Day 2024 | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu.
  11. ↑ TCM Notes
  12. 1 2 IMDb: All Quiet on the Western Front - Release Info Linked March 24, 2014
  13. ↑ "All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)". BBFC.
  14. 1 2 IMDb: All Quiet on the Western Front - Technical Specifications Linked March 24, 2014
  15. 1 2 "Review: 'All Quiet on the Western Front'". Variety. May 7, 1930. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  16. ↑ Mayo, Mike: War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film, Visible Ink Press, 1999
  17. ↑ American Movie Classics' segments on film preservation that aired in the mid-1990s.
  18. ↑ "All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) DVD comparison". DVDCompare.
  19. ↑ "All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) Blu-ray comparison". DVDCompare.
  20. ↑ Thirer, Irene (April 30, 1930). "Raging war and soldiers struggle back home in 'All Quiet on the Western Front': 1930 review". New York Daily News . Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  21. ↑ Kael, Pauline (1991). 5001 Nights at the Movies. New York, N.Y.: Picador. p. 18. ISBN   978-0-8050-1367-2 . Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  22. ↑ "All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  23. ↑ "All Quiet on the Western Front Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  24. ↑ David Mikies "Hollywood’s Creepy Love Affair With Adolf Hitler, in Explosive New Detail", Tablet, June 10, 2013
  25. ↑ Sauer, Patrick (June 16, 2015). "The Most Loved and Hated Novel About World War I". Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution . Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  26. ↑ Higham, Charles. Select List of Banned Films in "Film censorship: the untold story". The Bulletin , November 20, 1965, p.18.
  27. ↑ "Sydney Letter". The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder . Vol. 18, no. 1548. New South Wales, Australia. September 12, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved July 2, 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  28. ↑ German Film Institute Archived February 9, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

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