Based on the 1929 book by German novelist Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) is an anti-war film directed by Lewis Milestone. The film, released only twelve years after the end of World War I, is considered a realistic envisioning of the war and a faithful adaptation of the novel that follows a group of German schoolboys who are inspired by their professor to enlist only to be disillusioned by the harsh realities of battle. The film stars Lew Ayres as Paul, Louis Wolheim as “Kat” Katczinsky, John Wray as Corporal Himmelstoss, Arnold Lucy as Professor Kantorek, and Ben Alexander as Kemmerich. 

Made just a few months after the stock market crash of 1929, All Quiet on the Western Front was a huge risk for Universal Pictures with a budget of $1.25 million. It was made as both a sound and silent film; as a sound film, it did not employ any music soundtrack, as an effort to not take away from the seriousness of the story. Director Milestone strove for a realistic and authentic production, employing German Army veterans who were then living in the Los Angeles area as some of the 2,000 extras used. Several members of the cast and crew were military veterans from before and during World War I, and many went on to serve in the Army during World War II. But Ayers became a conscientious objector. As the film is pre-Hays code, it features rather explicit gore and sexuality for the time period. 

The film received tremendous praise in the United States as a commercial and critical success. Perceived to be “anti-German” by the Nazi party, the film was banned in Germany until after World War II, though cinemas were packed in the neighboring countries of Switzerland, France, and the Netherlands. Labeling it as anti-war propaganda and pacifist, the film was banned in other countries, including Italy and Australia, for many years. The film was also boycotted by the American Legion.

All Quiet on the Western Front is the first Best Picture winner based on a novel and also the first to win Academy Awards for both Outstanding Production (Best Picture) and Best Director. It was also nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay.

The film holds a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes

Nolan’s Thoughts

All Quiet on the Western Front was very powerful from the very beginning with the shots of the boys being convinced to enlist, to the sequence of the boys walking off to war overlaid on a shot of a huge field of gravestones at the very end.

The editing was much faster paced than a lot of other films during this period, especially during the battle sequences. I loved the use of fast moving camera shots panning down the trenches mixed with quick reaction shots of the soldiers. It really added to the panic and rawness of the war.

The sheer scale of this film was quite impressive. The production design utilizing great camera work, a huge amount of extras, and the violent images and explosions filling entire fields really immersed me in the war and made me feel for the young kids who were shell shocked and terrified.

The story was very moving. Scenes like the main character traveling back home and trying to reconnect with people after the war felt very real and heartbreaking. The scene in the bar with old men reducing the war to a simple strategy game in front of the younger men that dealt directly with the terrors of the fighting, was enormously frustrating. 

It was a raw and harsh look at the war on a large scale that still really connected the audience to the characters through intimate emotional moments. 

I really respect the risk they took to make such a heavy anti war film at this time in history.

I give it 7/10

Krissen’s Thoughts

It’s taken me a few years to appreciate, let alone stomach, war movies. And after having seen and thoroughly enjoyed more recent war movies like Dunkirk and 1917, I can see the impact All Quiet on the Western Front had and continues to have on cinema. Just a few years into sound in films and this made full use of it with gun and grenade sound effects. The cinematography and editing are utilized well to capture the frenzy of warfare in excellent trench sets on the large scale production. There are montages and voiceovers, and the ending scene, superimposing the march of young troops over a cemetery, is harrowing and brilliant.

To make All Quiet on the Western Front so soon after the First World War, and so vividly, would have been impactful on contemporary audiences — I think it still holds power today. And to think of what was still yet to come, in less than a decade’s time, is poignant. The story keeps true to the source material of the book, showing the gruesome realities of war and how the young soldiers become disillusioned with national pride and the glory of combat. 

I am glad to have seen this version before the newest, German-made film from 2022. Though the new film is technically marvelous, with impressive realism and beautiful cinematography, much of the story is changed and I think lacks the heart and tragedy of this original. 

I rate this 7/10.

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