All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Writers:

Erich Maria Remarque (novel)
Maxwell Anderson (adaptation)

Release Date:

24 August 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

At last....the motion picture!

Plot:

A young soldier faces profound disillusionment in the soul-destroying horror of World War I.

Plot Keywords:

German | Soldier | Wound | Eyes | Heroism

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Louis Wolheim	...	Kat Katczinsky
Lew Ayres	...	Paul Bäumer (as Lewis Ayres)
John Wray	...	Himmelstoss
Arnold Lucy	...	Professor Kantorek
Ben Alexander	...	Franz Kemmerich
Scott Kolk	...	Leer
Owen Davis Jr.	...	Peter
Walter Rogers	...	Behn (as Walter Browne Rogers)
William Bakewell	...	Albert Kropp
Russell Gleason	...	Mueller
Richard Alexander	...	Westhus
Harold Goodwin	...	Detering
Slim Summerville	...	Tjaden (as 'Slim' Summerville)
G. Pat Collins	...	Lieutenant Bertinck (as Pat Collins)
Beryl Mercer	...	Mrs. Bäumer - Paul's Mother

Runtime:

UK:145 min (cut) | UK:147 min (BBFC submission before censorship) | Germany:136 min | USA:133 min (restored version: Library of Congress) | 138 min (copyright length) | Spain:128 min (DVD edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | Austria:(Banned) (1931-1945) | Germany:(Banned) (1931-1945) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2003) (uncut) | UK:PG (video rating) (1986) | USA:Unrated | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

RKO-Pathé Studios - 9336 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Made for the then considerable sum of $1.25 million, the production utilized over 2,000 extras. The knowledge that production began only a few months after the 1929 stock market crash puts into perspective the enormous gamble taken by Universal Pictures in making this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the film, when Bäumer is reaching for the fatal butterfly, he is reaching with his left hand. When he is shot an instant later, it is on a close-up of his outstretched right hand.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man cleaning doorknob: Thirty thousand.
Maid: From the Russians?
Man cleaning doorknob: No, from the French. From the Russians we capture more than that every day.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hogan's Heroes: Guess Who Came to Dinner? (#4.9)" (1968)

Soundtrack:

All Quiet on the Western Front

A very powerful film.

Considering the censored era in which the film was made, it is an extremely powerful film. Based on one of my favourite books, whose author fled Nazi Germany, the film simply portrays the characters. The huge gulf between the attitudes held by the soldiers and civilians is excellently displayed in the scene where Paul's Father insists on taking him out, and they say that the Army should go on to Paris. "They just don't realise" Paul tells his friend Kat when he returns. So true of all nationalities.