All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

“All Quiet on the Western Front” is a 1930 pre-Code epic anti-war film directed by Lewis Milestone, written by Maxwell Anderson (adaptation & dialogue), Del Andrews (adaptation), George Abbott (screenplay) and C. Gardner Sullivan (supervising story chief), based on the 1929 novel of the same name by German novelist Erich Maria Remarque.

During World War I, Paul Bäumer and his classmates at a German high school decide to enlist voluntarily in response to their teacher's patriotic speeches urging them to defend their country and cover themselves in glory. Some are enthusiastic, others simply don't want to stand out. The teenagers quickly realize that war is not all good: absurd discipline, disorganization at the front, malnutrition, unbearable waiting under deadly bombardments, cruel fighting, enormous losses. There are not enough doctors, and the wounded, added to the dead, end up dying.

When Paul returns after three years at the front, the teacher who convinced these young people to go to war is motivating others. Paul tells him that there are no good sides to war and tells the young people present not to listen to the teacher. Then he returns to the front, which has become his only reason for living.

Cast:

• Louis Wolheim – Corporal Stanislaus “Kat” Katczinsky, an older soldier who was a cobbler
• Lew Ayres – Paul Bäumer, a student and writer, who is the leader of the boys
• John Wray – Himmelstoss, a mailman who becomes the boys’ drill sergeant
• Arnold Lucy – Professor Kantorek, who encourages the boys to enlist
• Ben Alexander – Franz Kemmerick, the boy who is blown up, has his leg amputated, and dies
• Scott Kolk – Leer, the boy whose ultimate fate is not shown
• Owen Davis Jr. – Peter, the boy who is shot in the head and killed after getting Kemmerick’s boots from Mueller
• Walter Browne Rogers – Behn, the boy who is blinded and then shot and killed in no man’s land
• William Bakewell – Albert Kropp, the boy who is hit by shrapnel and has his leg amputated at the same time Paul is injured and hospitalized
• Russell Gleason – Mueller, the boy who is injured by shrapnel shortly after getting Kemmerick’s boots
• Richard Alexander – Haie Westhus, an older soldier who was a peat-digger, who Paul is told died trying to save a messenger dog
• Harold Goodwin – Detering, an older soldier who was a farmer with a cherry orchard
• Slim Summerville – Tjaden, an older soldier who makes it to the end
• G. Pat Collins – Lieutenant Bertinck, an officer in Paul’s company
• Beryl Mercer – Frau Bäumer, Paul’s mother
• Edmund Breese – Herr Meyer, a friend of Paul’s father
• William Irving – Ginger, an army cook
• Raymond Griffith – Gérald (or Gérard) Duval, a French soldier who Paul stabs and then watches die for hours when trapped in a shell-hole
• Yola d’Avril – Suzanne, the French woman who sleeps with Paul
• Poupée Andriot – the blonde French woman, who sleeps with Leer
• Renée Damonde – the brunette French woman, who sleeps with Albert
• Heinie Conklin – Joseph Hammacher, a soldier with a head injury who Paul and Albert meet in the Catholic hospital
• Bertha Mann – Sister Libertine, a nurse at the Catholic hospital
• Marion Clayton – Erna Bäumer, Paul’s sister
• Edwin Maxwell – Herr Bäumer, Paul’s father

At the time of his death in December 2014, Arthur Gardner, who appeared uncredited – a student, was the last surviving member of the film’s cast or crew.

„Im Westen nichts Neues“ (Im Westen nichts Neues) ist ein epischer Antikriegsfilm aus dem Jahr 1930 unter der Regie von Lewis Milestone, geschrieben von Maxwell Anderson (Adaption & Dialoge), Del Andrews (Adaption), George Abbott (Drehbuch) und C. Gardner Sullivan (leitender Story-Chef), basierend auf dem gleichnamigen Roman des deutschen Schriftstellers Erich Maria Remarque aus dem Jahr 1929.

Während des Ersten Weltkriegs beschließen Paul Bäumer und seine Klassenkameraden an einem deutschen Gymnasium, sich freiwillig zum Militärdienst zu melden, nachdem ihr Lehrer sie in patriotischen Reden dazu aufgefordert hat, ihr Land zu verteidigen und sich mit Ruhm zu bedecken. Einige sind begeistert, andere wollen einfach nur nicht auffallen. Die Teenager erkennen schnell, dass der Krieg nicht nur Gutes mit sich bringt: absurde Disziplin, Desorganisation an der Front, Unterernährung, unerträgliches Warten unter tödlichen Bombardements, grausame Kämpfe, enorme Verluste. Es gibt nicht genug Ärzte, und die Verwundeten sterben, ebenso wie die Toten.

Als Paul nach drei Jahren an der Front zurückkehrt, motiviert der Lehrer, der diese jungen Menschen zum Kriegseintritt überredet hatte, andere. Paul sagt ihm, dass Krieg nichts Gutes habe, und rät den anwesenden Jugendlichen, nicht auf den Lehrer zu hören. Dann kehrt er an die Front zurück, die zu seinem einzigen Lebensinhalt geworden ist.